Tax Returns Issue - leading to Citizenship

[Mohammad Ahmed 0]

Dear All I need some help in regards to filing a tax return as I am new to the US.

I live in London (UK) and married to a US citizen since 2007. I have been granted 10 Years green card in October 2010 (after K3). Now we are back to London for couple of years and I have planned to visit US every 5 months to keep my green card up and running and carry on with my business in London till 2013.

Obviously it is time to file tax return in the US but before I go ahead with it I have some questions as I am entirely new to the US system.....

During the financial year my wife earned about $16000 and I earned about $1000 in the US. Now I don't want to file a joint tax return due to several reasons like my wife had late payments and a poor credit history in the US and I am very careful with my credit history in the UK and US. I never had any joint bank accounts with my wife and I don't want either. I just do not want to mix up any thing got to do with finance with her plus I am planing to buy some property in NY and I just want my financial accounts as much separate as possible from my wife.

I beleive this can also help when you get sued or buy a property as you can turn around and say we manage our accounts separately and got nothing to do with each other's liabilities/payments/mortgages.

Now my questions are

By law, Is this OK to file two separate tax returns for me and my wife ?

Is it going to be an issue when I apply for my citizen ship in few years time?

am i thinking on the right track? Any one else thinking around those lines?

what are the advantages of filing a separate tax return?

what are the Disadvantages of filing separate tax return?

Please help................................................................................................Thank you

[Dogwood_Poet 16]

Technically you have abandoned your green card by living in the UK. You have to remain in the USA to keep your card in effect.

So, don't sweat the tax returns. You should have just waited until your wife was with you in the UK and then do a DCF before you return to the US to live.

As for citizenship, they will ask you to document your time spent in the US. You have to live in the US for three years with no time spent outside the country longer than six months.

[Anh map 2,098]

The US taxes on worldwide income. So be sure to report all income on your US tax return. You may not owe US tax on income earned abroad, but it does need to be reported.

Tax returns do not impact credit ratings so your worries there are unfounded.

It is legal to file separate separately.

For tax planning advice I suggest consulting a competent US accountant. As well as information regarding foreign earned income.

Google maintaining Permanent Resident Status to learn what you must do to keep your GC. Short visits to the US may not be enough for you.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Please do not post your question in more than one forum.

Two of four quadruple postings have been removed while the third posting which had a response has been moved from the US Citizenship forum and merged with the fourth posting here - which also had a response. One of the duplicate original posts has also been removed.

[Mohammad Ahmed 0]

Please do not post your question in more than one forum.

Two of four quadruple postings have been removed while the third posting which had a response has been moved from the US Citizenship forum and merged with the fourth posting here - which also had a response. One of the duplicate original posts has also been removed.

sorry

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

Mohammad,

the Americans now have machines with incredible memory, even at the airports. They call 'em "computers." You worry about citizenship; IMNSHO you should be worried about not losing your Green Card, big time. The way you describe your situation, you are about to abandon your US residency.