Jump to content

27 posts in this topic

Recommended Posts

Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Country: India
Timeline
Posted (edited)

Hi all, looking to see if anyone has some info on this topic.

I will be marrying an Indian citizen in 2013 (in India), and she will probably get her green card in mid-2014. Can I file "married filing jointly" for both 2013 and 2014? She has no income (student) so I suppose this will get me a bigger refund. I realize she doesn't have a SSN to I would have to obtain a TIN.

Thoughts?

Edited by dirk_diggler
Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Country: India
Timeline
Posted

I believe you should be able to file jointly for both years, as long as you are married by the end of the year. I'm not 100% certain on this though... we got married back when I was a student, so I didn't file taxes until a few years later.

In my case, I've been filing as married, filing seperately and claiming my husband as a dependant since he has no income. I know we can file jointly though, I just wanted to keep things simpler in case he ever does start making money over there and I think it's frowned upon if you switch back and forth.

If you go the same route as I do, make sure to send in a letter explaining the extra exemption... the first time I did that, they sent it back to me with a ~$400 bill saying I'd claimed too many exemptions, but I sent a letter explaining it was for my husband because he has no income. They apparently accepted this, and sent the return I'd been expecting with no comment.

Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Country: Canada
Timeline
Posted

I believe you should be able to file jointly for both years, as long as you are married by the end of the year. I'm not 100% certain on this though... we got married back when I was a student, so I didn't file taxes until a few years later.

In my case, I've been filing as married, filing seperately and claiming my husband as a dependant since he has no income. I know we can file jointly though, I just wanted to keep things simpler in case he ever does start making money over there and I think it's frowned upon if you switch back and forth.

If you go the same route as I do, make sure to send in a letter explaining the extra exemption... the first time I did that, they sent it back to me with a ~$400 bill saying I'd claimed too many exemptions, but I sent a letter explaining it was for my husband because he has no income. They apparently accepted this, and sent the return I'd been expecting with no comment.

did you not realize you could file joint whether hubby makes income or not?

oldlady.gif

Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Country: India
Timeline
Posted

did you not realize you could file joint whether hubby makes income or not?

Oh I did... I would prefer to file that way, because I'd get more back. The problem would be if he started to make money over there. (Small risk of that, but he still thinks he can get his "business" running. A big source of disagreement between us... but that's a side issue) If he did and we were filing jointly, then he would have to pay US taxes. Of course he will when he gets here, but up until now that wasn't something we were actively planning for. So we don't file jointly so he can leave his options open.

Dumb, yes... but who out there doesn't have a spouse who makes life difficult.

:wacko:

Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Country: Canada
Timeline
Posted

Oh I did... I would prefer to file that way, because I'd get more back. The problem would be if he started to make money over there. (Small risk of that, but he still thinks he can get his "business" running. A big source of disagreement between us... but that's a side issue) If he did and we were filing jointly, then he would have to pay US taxes. Of course he will when he gets here, but up until now that wasn't something we were actively planning for. So we don't file jointly so he can leave his options open.

Dumb, yes... but who out there doesn't have a spouse who makes life difficult.

:wacko:

No. Foreign income is exempt up to a certain amount.

It might have to do with tax treaties and things like that, unfortunately I only know for myself dealing with Canada, but perhaps you should look more into it!

You could be screwing yourself out of much needed/earned money.

oldlady.gif

Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Country: India
Timeline
Posted

No. Foreign income is exempt up to a certain amount.

It might have to do with tax treaties and things like that, unfortunately I only know for myself dealing with Canada, but perhaps you should look more into it!

You could be screwing yourself out of much needed/earned money.

Hmm... perhaps I'll consider switching for the 2012 filing. Of course since he'll be coming over relatively soon, I'd be switching anyway.

It would have been nice to do that years ago, but he lives in this little fantasy where he thinks he's going to be making billions of dollars... once everything is online... really, it'll be any month now....

~sigh~

He's been saying that for years now.

Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Country: Canada
Timeline
Posted

Hmm... perhaps I'll consider switching for the 2012 filing. Of course since he'll be coming over relatively soon, I'd be switching anyway.

It would have been nice to do that years ago, but he lives in this little fantasy where he thinks he's going to be making billions of dollars... once everything is online... really, it'll be any month now....

~sigh~

He's been saying that for years now.

Ahhh... big dreams... I prefer to be a little more realistic, myself.

Though I do have this tiny idea of starting up a sport bra business.

However, that was busted when I googled and realized how difficult it is to make a sports bra >=[

oldlady.gif

Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Country: India
Timeline
Posted

Ahhh... big dreams... I prefer to be a little more realistic, myself.

Though I do have this tiny idea of starting up a sport bra business.

However, that was busted when I googled and realized how difficult it is to make a sports bra >=[

Haha it is good to find a good sports bra... I actually realized I prefer to wear a normal one while working out. The sports ones don't seem to do much, and uniboob is just not attractive.

Filed: K-1 Visa Country: Philippines
Timeline
Posted

I believe you should be able to file jointly for both years, as long as you are married by the end of the year. I'm not 100% certain on this though... we got married back when I was a student, so I didn't file taxes until a few years later.

In my case, I've been filing as married, filing seperately and claiming my husband as a dependant since he has no income. I know we can file jointly though, I just wanted to keep things simpler in case he ever does start making money over there and I think it's frowned upon if you switch back and forth.

If you go the same route as I do, make sure to send in a letter explaining the extra exemption... the first time I did that, they sent it back to me with a ~$400 bill saying I'd claimed too many exemptions, but I sent a letter explaining it was for my husband because he has no income. They apparently accepted this, and sent the return I'd been expecting with no comment.

You can't claim your spouse as a dependent. They are your spouse. If you file separately, then you can only claim an exemption for yourself. As far as switching back and forth, you can do that. You can file joint one year and then separate the next year, no problem. You can even file separately for a year and later amend to filing jointly. What you can't do is file a joint return and then amend that joint return to separate. Each year stands on its own. As a matter of fact, many tax software packages will allow you to do a comparison on which way gives a lower tax so you can optimize your filing status.

Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Australia
Timeline
Posted

Haha it is good to find a good sports bra... I actually realized I prefer to wear a normal one while working out. The sports ones don't seem to do much, and uniboob is just not attractive.

I used to have to wear 2 bras to get the support while working out until i got a good sports bra that holds me down. It wasn't cheap, and my word it's hard to get into.. .but that makes it harder for "them" to escape :P

Filed: K-1 Visa Country: Philippines
Timeline
Posted

Hmm... perhaps I'll consider switching for the 2012 filing. Of course since he'll be coming over relatively soon, I'd be switching anyway.

It would have been nice to do that years ago, but he lives in this little fantasy where he thinks he's going to be making billions of dollars... once everything is online... really, it'll be any month now....

~sigh~

He's been saying that for years now.

Maybe billions of rupees is more doable.

Filed: Timeline
Posted

You can't claim your spouse as a dependent. They are your spouse. If you file separately, then you can only claim an exemption for yourself. As far as switching back and forth, you can do that. You can file joint one year and then separate the next year, no problem. You can even file separately for a year and later amend to filing jointly. What you can't do is file a joint return and then amend that joint return to separate. Each year stands on its own. As a matter of fact, many tax software packages will allow you to do a comparison on which way gives a lower tax so you can optimize your filing status.

Actually you can. If you file married filing separately you are entitled to take an exemption for your spouse but there are certain conditions, one being your spouse has no income. However the tax rates for married filing sep are higher then married filing jointly, so I dont know how much of a benefit the poster had filing this route vs filing jointly.

Filed: K-1 Visa Country: Philippines
Timeline
Posted (edited)

Actually you can. If you file married filing separately you are entitled to take an exemption for your spouse but there are certain conditions, one being your spouse has no income. However the tax rates for married filing sep are higher then married filing jointly, so I dont know how much of a benefit the poster had filing this route vs filing jointly.

Interesting...

I just read that if your spouse is a nonresident alien, has no income from US sources, and is not a dependent of another person, you can claim an exemption for your spouse on a separate return. That sounds like to me, that even if they earned a billion dirhams, rupees, etc in their own country, you can still claim an exemption since they had no income from US sources. Also, if the US citizen has other dependent children say, you can even claim head of household and take the spousal exemption assuming the same requirements are fulfilled.

Of course, if your spouse has zero income from any source, it would seem more advantageous to file a joint return.

Edited by Love's JAA
Filed: Timeline
Posted (edited)

If you are married, you can file your tax return as a married person - jointly if that's beneficial. I've done that back in 2003 - the year my wife and I got married - even though she never set foot into the US until 2004. All it took was for us to make the election to treat my non-US and non-resident wife as a US citizen for tax purposes. Think that's a free form declaration we submitted with that tax return. Yes, you have to declare foreign income but some $80K of that is exempt from US taxation. My wife didn't make anything close to that so this worked out well. The extra refund easily paid for an additional trip I took to see my wife in early 2004. That was the trip when she accompanied me home. :)

Edited by Mr. Big Dog
Filed: K-1 Visa Country: Philippines
Timeline
Posted

If you are married, you can file your tax return as a married person - jointly if that's beneficial. I've done that back in 2003 - the year my wife and I got married - even though she never set foot into the US until 2004. All it took was for us to make the election to treat my non-US and non-resident wife as a US citizen for tax purposes. Think that's a free form declaration we submitted with that tax return. Yes, you have to declare foreign income but some $80K of that is exempt from US taxation. My wife didn't make anything close to that so this worked out well. The extra refund easily paid for an additional trip I took to see my wife in early 2004. That was the trip when she accompanied me home. :)

Even better, the foreign earned income exclusion is up to $95,100 for 2012. It's indexed for inflation.

 

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
- Back to Top -

Important Disclaimer: Please read carefully the Visajourney.com Terms of Service. If you do not agree to the Terms of Service you should not access or view any page (including this page) on VisaJourney.com. Answers and comments provided on Visajourney.com Forums are general information, and are not intended to substitute for informed professional medical, psychiatric, psychological, tax, legal, investment, accounting, or other professional advice. Visajourney.com does not endorse, and expressly disclaims liability for any product, manufacturer, distributor, service or service provider mentioned or any opinion expressed in answers or comments. VisaJourney.com does not condone immigration fraud in any way, shape or manner. VisaJourney.com recommends that if any member or user knows directly of someone involved in fraudulent or illegal activity, that they report such activity directly to the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement. You can contact ICE via email at Immigration.Reply@dhs.gov or you can telephone ICE at 1-866-347-2423. All reported threads/posts containing reference to immigration fraud or illegal activities will be removed from this board. If you feel that you have found inappropriate content, please let us know by contacting us here with a url link to that content. Thank you.
×
×
  • Create New...