Filing taxes while aos is going on?

[SamAndDorothy 0]

I looked and looked for answers,just doesnt make sence.

Here is the question!

My wife got here in Oct and we were married in Oct,we got that first ss#,that says not for legal work.So,for the purpose of filing this years taxes while going threw the whole aos process.How does one file their taxes?

I read you claim her income from overseas?You fill out some w-7?I really dont understand!

So how are my follow AOS people going to file thier taxes this year?

I called H@R blocked and they seemed lost as the show lost.

[K and L 27]

I'm not an accountant, but I have been looking into it in anticipation of my own taxes next year.

The answer to your question regarding her non-US income hinges on the question: Is your wife considered to be a nonresident alien for tax purposes? According to this: if she does not posses a green card ("the green card test") and has not been in the US for 183 days in the previous three years ("the substantial presence test"), she is considered to be a nonresident alien.

Since she did not have a green card in 2009, and given she's from the Phillipines, I'm going to guess that she probably has not hit the 183 days-over-three-years mark either, so probably, she is considered a nonresident alien.

As a nonresident alien, there are a handful of reasons that she would need to claim her non-US derived income, and the one that would be the most relevant is probably whether or not she engaged in "a trade or business" in the US. Obviously she does not have a job, but if she owns rental property or the like in the US, she would need to file taxes (and the nonresident taxes do some song and dance about splitting up the US earnings from the non-US earnings).

But most likely, it seems as though she would not have to file for US taxes.

Therefore, if you're filing jointly, I believe you can entirely exclude her non-US income.

If it would set your mind at ease, you could file separately as married, and have her fill out at 1040NR (excluding her non-US earnings if she meets the criteria linked to earlier), but I don't know if you would get the additional tax credits from being married.

ETA: At the end of the day... in all honesty, you need to find a competent tax accountant. Don't even bother with H&R and the ilk (hint: if they're in the mall or Walmart and don't have a year-round presence, they are NOT someone you want to be asking highly technical questions like this) -- most of them are far too uneducated to help our sort of situation. Most of them are barely competent for someone with straight-forward taxes.

Edited January 5, 2010 by K and L

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I looked and looked for answers,just doesnt make sence.

Here is the question!

My wife got here in Oct and we were married in Oct,we got that first ss#,that says not for legal work.So,for the purpose of filing this years taxes while going threw the whole aos process.How does one file their taxes?

I read you claim her income from overseas?You fill out some w-7?I really dont understand!

So how are my follow AOS people going to file thier taxes this year?

I called H@R blocked and they seemed lost as the show lost.

Filing taxes has nothing to do with AOS. You will file "Married filing joint" I assume. It would probably be the best way for you but I do not know your tax situation. Neither does H&R Block unless you oay them to do your taxes.

I fail to see the confusion. File your taxes on or before April 15 whenever you are ready. Use the social security number she has, it is her SS number, it will never change.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I'm not an accountant, but I have been looking into it in anticipation of my own taxes next year.

The answer to your question regarding her non-US income hinges on the question: Is your wife considered to be a nonresident alien for tax purposes? According to this: if she does not posses a green card ("the green card test") and has not been in the US for 183 days in the previous three years ("the substantial presence test"), she is considered to be a nonresident alien.

Since she did not have a green card in 2009, and given she's from the Phillipines, I'm going to guess that she probably has not hit the 183 days-over-three-years mark either, so probably, she is considered a nonresident alien.

As a nonresident alien, there are a handful of reasons that she would need to claim her non-US derived income, and the one that would be the most relevant is probably whether or not she engaged in "a trade or business" in the US. Obviously she does not have a job, but if she owns rental property or the like in the US, she would need to file taxes (and the nonresident taxes do some song and dance about splitting up the US earnings from the non-US earnings).

But most likely, it seems as though she would not have to file for US taxes.

Therefore, if you're filing jointly, I believe you can entirely exclude her non-US income.

If it would set your mind at ease, you could file separately as married, and have her fill out at 1040NR (excluding her non-US earnings if she meets the criteria linked to earlier), but I don't know if you would get the additional tax credits from being married.

ETA: At the end of the day... in all honesty, you need to find a competent tax accountant. Don't even bother with H&R and the ilk (hint: if they're in the mall or Walmart and don't have a year-round presence, they are NOT someone you want to be asking highly technical questions like this) -- most of them are far too uneducated to help our sort of situation. Most of them are barely competent for someone with straight-forward taxes.

it is really not a technical question. (but you are correct, asking H&R Block is a waste of time) It is covered in the instructions. Read them or pay someone to read them for you. We here cannot advise you without knowing the deatils of your tax situation. It is unlikely she will have to pay any TAX on her overseas earnings unless she made a LOT and brought it here. It is merely a paper exercise to show the income and show the exemption.

[payxibka 10,045]

I'm not an accountant, but I have been looking into it in anticipation of my own taxes next year.

The answer to your question regarding her non-US income hinges on the question: Is your wife considered to be a nonresident alien for tax purposes? According to this: if she does not posses a green card ("the green card test") and has not been in the US for 183 days in the previous three years ("the substantial presence test"), she is considered to be a nonresident alien.

Since she did not have a green card in 2009, and given she's from the Phillipines, I'm going to guess that she probably has not hit the 183 days-over-three-years mark either, so probably, she is considered a nonresident alien.

As a nonresident alien, there are a handful of reasons that she would need to claim her non-US derived income, and the one that would be the most relevant is probably whether or not she engaged in "a trade or business" in the US. Obviously she does not have a job, but if she owns rental property or the like in the US, she would need to file taxes (and the nonresident taxes do some song and dance about splitting up the US earnings from the non-US earnings).

But most likely, it seems as though she would not have to file for US taxes.

Therefore, if you're filing jointly, I believe you can entirely exclude her non-US income.

If it would set your mind at ease, you could file separately as married, and have her fill out at 1040NR (excluding her non-US earnings if she meets the criteria linked to earlier), but I don't know if you would get the additional tax credits from being married.

ETA: At the end of the day... in all honesty, you need to find a competent tax accountant. Don't even bother with H&R and the ilk (hint: if they're in the mall or Walmart and don't have a year-round presence, they are NOT someone you want to be asking highly technical questions like this) -- most of them are far too uneducated to help our sort of situation. Most of them are barely competent for someone with straight-forward taxes.

Yes, you are not an accountant...

Why if she is from the PI she has not been here for 183 days? According to the timeline the visa was issued in October so that is the indicator of lack of presence not that she is from the PI

A non-resident alien spouse can be treated as a resident alien for tax purposes either by meeting one of the two tests described above (greencard, substantial presence) OR by special election...

A 1040NR is not appropriate here... other than provide a much larger tax liability...

Edited January 5, 2010 by payxibka

[SamAndDorothy 0]

Well,she hasnt been here 183 days,no rental property,no source of income from the philippines.She was a teacher there i think her total income converted in american money would be about $3500.

I was just seeing how others were going to file this year

[payxibka 10,045]

Well,she hasnt been here 183 days,no rental property,no source of income from the philippines.She was a teacher there i think her total income converted in american money would be about $3500.

I was just seeing how others were going to file this year

Fill out your taxes in each of the possible scenarios and choose the one that provides the lowest tax liability... most likely MFJ (electing to treat your spouse as a resident alien by special election)

[Darnell 8,478]

Well,she hasnt been here 183 days,no rental property,no source of income from the philippines.She was a teacher there i think her total income converted in american money would be about $3500.

I was just seeing how others were going to file this year

1. you file married-filing jointly

2. if you use electronic system or software or even a service provider, she may FAIL on the built-in checks that are required. That is normal, only because she is a first time filer. She may not fail, on those checks, also, is not easy to figure out, that first use of SSN.

3. Suggest you file a paper return this year, instead, but have the refund come back electronically. You may have issues if you don't have a joint bank account already, but if you don't have a joint bank account - hey - get one / make one / get her added in to yours.

Good Luck !

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

We had much forum discussion on this last tax year. Here's some excerpts I found from my old posts, but keep in mind the dates are for filing last year and the $600 incentive was last year too:

To be a resident alien you have to have green card or basically be present in the US for 183 days. If you've got either then you're a resident alien with no statement. That should cover anybody who got here by roughly July 1. Done deal. File joint like an American and e-file.

(There's this complicated test of presence whereby if you're a few days short you can get some days from being in the US in 2006 and 2007. Just read about that if you need fine technicalities to qualify. It doesn't apply to me so I didn't study it)

If you don't meet one of the tests (green card or presence) then you are a non-resident alien. This is where the statement comes in. You can "elect" or choose to be treated as a resident alien for tax purposes if you are married to a US citizen and you both sign a statement. Then you just file like an American would, but if alien earned income abroad in 2008 it has to be claimed as wages and later deducted using Form 2555. A little more complicated but what you have to do if you got here the last half of 2008 and still want to file joint. I don't believe e-file allows for personal statements to be submitted, so that's why you have to mail. It will take you a few weeks longer to get a refund but could be some extra bucks...like claiming the alien's $600 rebate from last year and getting that extra exemption to reduce your taxes, thus increase your refund.

Anybody who needs to "elect" to be resident alien, see this publication http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p519.pdf

Skip to page 10, middle column and then top of third column talks about the statement.

If you are getting other government benefits then the extra income from the spouse might affect it, so it's best to try it both ways

1. Filing joint or

2. USC files "married filing separately" and alien doesn't file if they had no US income.

I highly recommend that you don't use online software. It doesn't really work that well in this immigrant situation. I use TurboTax Basic, the software that you buy and install. H&R Block screwed up a lot of people last year because they weren't familiar with Publication 519. People after reading the forums, went back and did their taxes over. Here's where to report the foreign income in TurboTax then you exclude it with form 2555. It's also from last year, so 2009 TurboTax may change it up a bit, but perhaps it will help you find where to report the foreign income. BTW Foreign Income is reported in US dollars. Just pick an average exchange rate based on when it was earned. There's no official form for doing this, so just make notes of the income, how you did the exchange rates to US$ and save those with your records so you'll remember what you did. You don't send anything to the IRS that proves the foreign income or the exchange rate. It's basically your word, but have something to back up your entries on the off-chance you would get audited.

In the TurboTax questions that guide you through, do the section "Miscellaneous Income, 1099-A, 1099-C. There is a check box for "Wages not already reported". If you follow the step-by-step questions, skip all of them until you come to "Foreign Earned Income". Then there will be Yes/No question about whether you are eligible for the "Foreign Income Exclusion". Click Yes and continue until you finish this section. At this point TurboTax knows about your foreign income and it is included in the total.

After that you can go back to "Less Common Income" again, this time selecting "Foreign Earned Income" and entering all the information for your foreign income exclusion. Once you are finished with that, TurboTax subtracts it from the total.

Edited January 5, 2010 by Nich-Nick

[lucyrich 20]

I'll add one more point: Someone who is considered a non-resident alien cannot file a joint return. If the joint return option is off the table, then the USC spouse would then probably be forced to file "married filing separately" ("single" is not an option for a married US Citizen, even one married to a nonresident alien spouse, and "Head of Household" has other requirements that most VJ'ers won't meet. The only other status would be "qualifying widower", which wouldn't apply to someone who was currently in a marriage with a live human being). The "married filing separately" filing status generally has the highest tax rates.

If the alien spouse doesn't meet the green card test or the substantial presence test, you have to decide whether to elect to consider him/her a nonresident alien or a resident alien for tax purposes.

If they choose to consider the spouse to be a resident alien, then the couple can file joint return, and the alien spouse must declare all worldwide income. Some (maybe all) of the alien spouse's income may be excluded from taxation, but it must be declared.

If they don't make the choice, and let the spouse be considered a nonresident alien, then the USC spouse generally must file "married filing separately", and the alien spouse probably has no need to file a return at all.

Which of these scenarios results in less tax being paid depends on the individual financial situation. But if the alien spouse has little income that will be subject to US taxation, then it's common for the advantage of a joint return to be worth the trouble of making that election to treat the nonresident spouse as a resident.

I'd suggest that, whether you're doing your own taxes or hiring them out, the IRS tax guide for aliens, publication 519, is a "must read".

http://www.irs.gov/publications/p519/index.html

[SamAndDorothy 0]

I just got off the phone with the IRS!I got a very nice lady that explained the best plan for filing would be to file her as a resident alien and file married jointly.

Fill out the 2555ez with mine and claim her income and then it would be turned around and taken off cause she made less than 93,000.The only drawback would be i would have to mail it in,instead of electronic,cause you have to attach a written statement saying you wanna treat her as a resident alien.

[wratran 0]

We got married in December. My wife does not work and still have not received her SSN.

1) do i file "married file separately"...I can assume ...I cannot file "single".

2) Does the IRS asked for SSN if file separately?

My wife technically doesnt exist without an SSN.

[Darnell 8,478]

I just got off the phone with the IRS!I got a very nice lady that explained the best plan for filing would be to file her as a resident alien and file married jointly.

Fill out the 2555ez with mine and claim her income and then it would be turned around and taken off cause she made less than 93,000.The only drawback would be i would have to mail it in,instead of electronic,cause you have to attach a written statement saying you wanna treat her as a resident alien.

Great! Excellent path, IMO.

We got married in December. My wife does not work and still have not received her SSN.

1) do i file "married file separately"...I can assume ...I cannot file "single".

2) Does the IRS asked for SSN if file separately?

My wife technically doesnt exist without an SSN.

GO back to the SSA office today, and apply again.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

We got married in December. My wife does not work and still have not received her SSN.

1) do i file "married file separately"...I can assume ...I cannot file "single".

2) Does the IRS asked for SSN if file separately?

My wife technically doesnt exist without an SSN.

If you haven't gone to the SS office, go now and get her a SSN. K1 are eligible to receive a card now. Look in the guides if you're not familiar with how to explain that to SS workers who don't know that. Ask to speak to a supervisor if needed. Use her maiden name (as it appears on the visa) for them to search the database for her legal entry into the US. Even if you have to get the card in her maiden name, it's ok because the number will be hers for life. You can change the name later after she gets her green card if the SS office you go to can't do the name change at the same time.

AND you don't have to file your taxes until April 15, so wait on a SSN because it will probably be $ in your pocket to file jointly rather than married filing separately.

[payxibka 10,045]

We got married in December. My wife does not work and still have not received her SSN.

1) do i file "married file separately"...I can assume ...I cannot file "single".

2) Does the IRS asked for SSN if file separately?

My wife technically doesnt exist without an SSN.

1) you can file seperately or jointly

2) yes (or ITIN)