TAX SEASON! Canadian married to American but both worked abroad in Japan

[getcr1 0]

Hey all Visa Journey folk! Yes - tax season is here and it is so confusing for us! I heard everyone uses Turbo Tax here, and even though the questions are straight forward, it doesn't seem to cater towards us travelers!

Anyway, here is my situation: I am a Canadian who married my American husband back in January 2010 in Japan. We have no children. We were in Japan for about 7/8 years working and living. We finished working in Japan in March 2010 and then went traveling. I entered the USA for the first time in August 2010 and am a resident. I got a full time job at the end of August 2010, and my American husband has not found work. How am I supposed to file this? I am pretty sure that my husband has to get his Japanese tax forms and file them, but do I , considering I became a resident several months after I finished working in Japan and am a Canadian citizen with residency in the USA? Also, is it more beneficial to file jointly or to file separately? Should I use Turbotax to do my taxes or is our situation too complicated? Since I am Canadian and gave us residency there (not citizenship), I was told that I do not need to file my taxes there. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Inky 1,111]

Hmm this is a US citizenship forum section I think your tax question is in the wrong spot. Would do better in another section for work/moving here and life etc or even in the Canada tax threat in the region section.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Thread moved from US Citizenship forum to 'Moving Here and Your New Life in America' forum as this topic is not about the citizenship process and this is a more appropriate location for this discussion.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Moderator's hat off . . .

As a permanent resident you are required to file a tax return with the US government. In this case it would include both your world income (Japan) and your US income. Since you do not live in Canada and it appears you did not live in Canada in 2010 you do not need to file a Canadian return unless you have some Canadian based income (eg. investments, etc.).. Your husband also has to file a tax return even if all of his world income was in Japan - that is a requirement of US citizenship. (US taxes based upon citizenship and residency; Canada only taxes based upon residency).

It would be a good idea to work out your tax situations under both married, filing separately and married, filing jointly to see which option is the best financial choice for you. A lot will depend on what his world income is as well. I don't know how the tax relationship is between the US and Japan but I would be very surprised if there wasn't some sort of a tax treaty in place.

Again, TurboTax may not be fully set up to allow you to take advantage of the international tax situation that you face. You may have to deal with a paper return. Someone more experienced in the recent version of Turbo Tax can probably give you a better idea of that. I know when we did our first joint return, we had to paper file because of my Canadian income and electing to treat me as a tax resident for the whole year.

Edited February 23, 2011 by Kathryn41

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

You can give TurboTax a whirl. I prefer the purchased and installed version. Basic (29.99) without state is what I use. You can create multiple versions of your return that way by doing "save as" different file name.

You will be considered a US resident for tax purposes for the entire year 2010. A Non-resident alien can not file jointly with a US citizen. You fill in your US wages and withholding where asked from your w2 statement. Your husband won't have anything in that section.

Way down the list of possible incomes is a section called "Less Common Income". That's where you enter your foreign earned wages. Then TurboTax will walk you through the Form 2555 foreign earned income exclusion. You both qualify due to your length of time living in Japan. You convert your Japanese earnings for 2010 into US dollars. It is self reported and there is no documentation to send to IRS showing those wages. You choose the exchange rate, but it is supposed to be the rate at the time the money was earned. Google "historical exchange rates" to find calculators.

Your total income (both US and Japan) will show up in line7 of the 1040 tax form. The exclusion will show up on line 21 of the 1040 as a negative number. It will be subtracted from the income shown above it.

Remember you are a resident alien (for tax purposes) all year so answer any questions that way. It's not about immigration standing but by the fact that the IRS allows you to do taxes as a resident all year because you married a US citizen.

[Krikit 1,165]

You need this thread.

[getcr1 0]

Someone I suggested I post this in a different place as I didn't get success in the last place I posted...

Hey all Visa Journey folk! Yes - tax season is here and it is so confusing for us! I heard everyone uses Turbo Tax here, and even though the questions are straight forward, it doesn't seem to cater towards us travelers!

Anyway, here is my situation: I am a Canadian who married my American husband back in January 2010 in Japan. We have no children. We were in Japan for about 7/8 years working and living. We finished working in Japan in March 2010 and then went traveling. I entered the USA for the first time in August 2010 and am a resident. I got a full time job at the end of August 2010, and my American husband has not found work. How am I supposed to file this? I am pretty sure that my husband has to get his Japanese tax forms and file them, but do I , considering I became a resident several months after I finished working in Japan and am a Canadian citizen with residency in the USA? Also, is it more beneficial to file jointly or to file separately? Should I use Turbotax to do my taxes or is our situation too complicated? Since I am Canadian and gave us residency there (not citizenship), I was told that I do not need to file my taxes there. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Barbara J 115]

Someone I suggested I post this in a different place as I didn't get success in the last place I posted...

Hey all Visa Journey folk! Yes - tax season is here and it is so confusing for us! I heard everyone uses Turbo Tax here, and even though the questions are straight forward, it doesn't seem to cater towards us travelers!

Anyway, here is my situation: I am a Canadian who married my American husband back in January 2010 in Japan. We have no children. We were in Japan for about 7/8 years working and living. We finished working in Japan in March 2010 and then went traveling. I entered the USA for the first time in August 2010 and am a resident. I got a full time job at the end of August 2010, and my American husband has not found work. How am I supposed to file this? I am pretty sure that my husband has to get his Japanese tax forms and file them, but do I , considering I became a resident several months after I finished working in Japan and am a Canadian citizen with residency in the USA? Also, is it more beneficial to file jointly or to file separately? Should I use Turbotax to do my taxes or is our situation too complicated? Since I am Canadian and gave us residency there (not citizenship), I was told that I do not need to file my taxes there. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

You need to file jointly and go to H&R block or get an accountant to do it for you

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Considering you got great success to your original thread, I am merging this thread with the existing thread as the answers are already there. Posting the same thread all over again in a different forum isn't going to get you different answers.

Edited February 23, 2011 by Kathryn41