Filing taxes 2010. J-1 holder married to USC

[indiansummmer 0]

Hi,

I was an Au Pair in 2010 on J-1 visa and now I am married to US citizen. In 2009 I filed 1040EZ form for my taxes, and this year I have a choice of filing taxes jointly or separately. I am trying to figure out which has more benefits for me and my husband, filing taxes "married filing jointly", or "married filing separately"?

Has anybody had the same experience?

Thank you for your advice!

[CarlosAndSveta 808]

Hi,

I was an Au Pair in 2010 on J-1 visa and now I am married to US citizen. In 2009 I filed 1040EZ form for my taxes, and this year I have a choice of filing taxes jointly or separately. I am trying to figure out which has more benefits for me and my husband, filing taxes "married filing jointly", or "married filing separately"?

Has anybody had the same experience?

Thank you for your advice!

Usually filing jointly results in the lowest tax liability but if you are using software to do your taxes you can easily do the computations both ways to see which one gives you the lowest tax liability.

[coraliesolms 47]

Yeah, filing as married usually works out better than filing seperately. I know it did for us this year (Thank you Uncle Sam!!)

[indiansummmer 0]

Thanks! We are going to see a tax guy soon, hopefully he does his job well and chooses the right way for us to file our taxes!

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Hi,

I was an Au Pair in 2010 on J-1 visa and now I am married to US citizen. In 2009 I filed 1040EZ form for my taxes, and this year I have a choice of filing taxes jointly or separately. I am trying to figure out which has more benefits for me and my husband, filing taxes "married filing jointly", or "married filing separately"?

Has anybody had the same experience?

Thank you for your advice!

Joint filing is usually best but each persons tax situation is different. Try it both ways, particularly with computer based or online programs, it is easy to run through it both ways and see what is better

Yeah, filing as married usually works out better than filing seperately. I know it did for us this year (Thank you Uncle Sam!!)

Thank you? For paying back money the government confiscated from you without interest?

[Audy_Rob 26]

Yeah, filing as married usually works out better than filing seperately. I know it did for us this year (Thank you Uncle Sam!!)

Well, they have to file as MARRIED. There is no other choice. The question is whether to file Married - Separately or Married - Jointly and usually Married - Jointly does result in the lower tax liability.

One reason it might not be good to file Jointly is if you have a large Worldwide Income. Then the US Citizen resident would want to file Married Separately on a 1040, 1040A or 1O40-EZ while you file using a 1040NR or 1040NR-EZ.

[xxtinaxx 14]

Well, they have to file as MARRIED. There is no other choice. The question is whether to file Married - Separately or Married - Jointly and usually Married - Jointly does result in the lower tax liability.

One reason it might not be good to file Jointly is if you have a large Worldwide Income. Then the US Citizen resident would want to file Married Separately on a 1040, 1040A or 1O40-EZ while you file using a 1040NR or 1040NR-EZ.

The thing is that at the end of tax year, she is not a US resident yet. So she can file as a non-resident. In the other hand, she married USC by 12/31/2010, her husband can choose to treat her as a US resident. If he makes this choice, they MUST file jointly and attach a statement, signed by both spouses, to their joint return for the first tax year for which the choice applies. It should contain the following information:

-A declaration that one spouse was a nonresident alien and the other spouse a U.S. citizen or resident alien on the last day of your tax year, and that you choose to be treated as U.S. residents for the entire tax year

-The name, address, and identification number of each spouse. (If one spouse died, include the name and address of the person making the choice for the deceased spouse.)

However, they can file joint or separate returns in later years.

From IRS, it states " If, at the end of your tax year, you are married and one spouse is a U.S. citizen or a resident alien and the other is a nonresident alien, you can choose to treat the nonresident as a U.S. resident. This includes situations in which one of you is a nonresident alien at the beginning of the tax year, but a resident alien at the end of the year, and the other is a nonresident alien at the end of the year "

Hope it helps.