Taxes

[radio_head2004 0]

Hello all,

So I get back from the tax person (HandR Block), and are rather disjointed in terms of what she had told me, and I'm not sure any of what she had to say made sense. Can anyone shed some light on my scenario?

I am the U.S. sponser to my wife (who is currently the nonresident alien here on a K-1 with her daughter - my step-daughter). I worked here in the U.S. all last year. She worked in Canada last year, and came into the U.S. on December 11th, 2005...then got married on December 13, 2005. She obviously did NOT work when she got into the U.S. in 2005, and is still not working as of this moment. We didn't even file for an EAD, so we'll be applying for an ITIN number too. All of my wife's income was gained in Canada as a supermarket customer service person, so there was nothing extra special.

I assumed for our situation that we were going to just file Married filing jointly. The tax chick starts talking about a 1040NR, which I never heard of, and subsequently trying to do so quick research on it from the IRS web site. Then she says she has to do some research on this, and get back with me. In the same conversation, she's throwing out that she needs my wife's statement from canada.....some terms like worldproperty, etc..etc..etc. then just goes on about how she's gonna look it up some more.

I'm not sure if anyone has had this happen, but I'm completely lost in terms of what is right and what is wrong here. I know this isn't the tax hotline, but I'm just trying to avoid some mistakes and crazy costs associated with preparing my taxes.

Radio

[Kelvin 0]

This isn't good. I was about to go to Block to figure out this transitional year, but maybe not.

We were married last year, but she didn't arrive until this year. So I file Married/Jointly, but my wife has no US income or taxes... not for a while from the looks of the EAD process..

KZ

[john_and_marlene 162]

If you are looking for knowledgeable tax assistance, I think the temporary workers H&R block and other mass tax preparers hire will most likely not be very helpful. There is no standard that has to be met for these tax preparers. They get some "training" and are set loose on the public.

If you want professional tax help, H&R block does offer a premium service for a much higher fee, which will provide you a skilled tax preparer in an office with an actual tax attorney or you could look for a CPA.

http://moneycentral.msn.com/quickref/quick...2&Topic=9&Sub=6

Tax preparers generally have the least amount of training and formal education. Many work for nationwide tax preparation firms, such as H&R Block, Triple Check and Jackson Hewitt. Some will charge as little as $10 for Form 1040EZ, the simplest return, or as much as $100 for an itemized 1040 "long form"

An enrolled agent has more training, plus a license to represent you before the Internal Revenue Service if you are ever audited.If your tax return is more complicated -- for example, if you own shares in a limited partnership or are self-employed -- you may want to hire a Certified Public Accountant. CPAs are at the top of their profession and have extensive training and expertise. Expect to pay at least $75 or $150 an hour.

Edited February 28, 2006 by john_and_marlene

[UmmSqueakster 54]

I'm no tax professional, but here's what happened for us:

We had our taxes done at Accountability MN because apparently we're poor and my husband volunteers there while waiting for his EAD. The volunteer who did our taxes didn't know anything about how to deal with my husband's situation, but the manager of the site did. Accountability has a lot of experience with recent immigrants, since the twin cities has a large refugee population, so I'm hoping he was right.

He said that we didn't have to fill out anything for my husband in terms of his income in Egypt because he had not worked in the United States during 2005. If he had worked in 2005, we would have had to fill out an additional form (didn't say which one).

It looks like the IRS has a publication specifically for aliens that might be good to puroose - Publication 519. I looked through it and it makes my head spin, and I'm a paralegal who deals in legal gabuldegook all day

[zyggy 9]

I'm no tax professional, but here's what happened for us:

We had our taxes done at Accountability MN because apparently we're poor and my husband volunteers there while waiting for his EAD. The volunteer who did our taxes didn't know anything about how to deal with my husband's situation, but the manager of the site did. Accountability has a lot of experience with recent immigrants, since the twin cities has a large refugee population, so I'm hoping he was right.

He said that we didn't have to fill out anything for my husband in terms of his income in Egypt because he had not worked in the United States during 2005. If he had worked in 2005, we would have had to fill out an additional form (didn't say which one).

It looks like the IRS has a publication specifically for aliens that might be good to puroose - Publication 519. I looked through it and it makes my head spin, and I'm a paralegal who deals in legal gabuldegook all day

Ummmm... no...

If your spouse does not meet the substantial presence test (generally present in the US for more than 180 days) or the green card test, if you're going to file as married filing joint, you have to opt that your spouse be treated as a resident alien for the entire tax year. If you do this, you must declare any worldwide income of your spouse. You do this by attaching a statement to your tax return stating such.

However, you can exclude this income by filling out a Form 2555 with your 1040.

This situation works with most people...

Edited February 28, 2006 by zyggy

[UmmSqueakster 54]

Oh well, I guess I can look forward to an audit.

[kaydee457 13]

Regardless of how long he/she's been in the US you can file "married, filing jointly" for the tax year in question.

Obviously if he/she arrived in 2005 but you married in 2006 you cannot file jointly for year 2005....

My wife and I married in December, 2005; shortly after her arrival.

The IRS could care less how much of the year she's been residing here; all that's necessary is that you were married in 2005. Don't over-think this; it's just the way it is.

[zyggy 9]

Regardless of how long he/she's been in the US you can file "married, filing jointly" for the tax year in question.

Obviously if he/she arrived in 2005 but you married in 2006 you cannot file jointly for year 2005....

My wife and I married in December, 2005; shortly after her arrival.

The IRS could care less how much of the year she's been residing here; all that's necessary is that you were married in 2005. Don't over-think this; it's just the way it is.

That is true.. if you are married in 2005, you must file as married in 2005.

If you want to file as married filing jointly, then you must opt to have your spouse to be considered a resident alien for the entire tax year. If you do this you have to report their income on Line 7 of the 1040. However, if they meet the physical presence test (lived outside the US for 12 concurrent months) , not necessarily in the same tax year), then you can exclude that income by filling out a Form 2555 and placeing the excludeable amoutn as a negative value on Line 21 of your 1040.

Or you can file as married filing seperately and don't include the alien spouses income at all. However, this way usually results in you paying more taxes than you need to.

And I agree that Pun 519 is totally confusing as it doesn't deal wth situations like ours very well.

[Yodrak 7]

And regardless of whether they're even in the USA, or have ever been.

Yodrak

Regardless of how long he/she's been in the US you can file "married, filing jointly" for the tax year in question.

...

The IRS could care less how much of the year she's been residing here; all that's necessary is that you were married in 2005. Don't over-think this; it's just the way it is.