Tax Questions!

[CajunKitty 8]

Hello everyone, I just registered on this but i have been a lurker since we started our K-1 journey 2yrs ago.. Now we are on the process of obtaining my greencard and will have our interview on the 25th of this month.. My question is, since it's tax season time is it ok for us to file our tax (married filing jointly) after my greencard is approve? The reason we are waiting is that we wanted to e-file to get the refund faster and also to avoid filing manually (which takes longer to process) and attaching a statement for both of us stating i wish to be treated as a resident for tax purposes..

Your answers are highly appreciated.. Thank you!

[bt1 42]

Hello everyone, I just registered on this but i have been a lurker since we started our K-1 journey 2yrs ago.. Now we are on the process of obtaining my greencard and will have our interview on the 25th of this month.. My question is, since it's tax season time is it ok for us to file our tax (married filing jointly) after my greencard is approve? The reason we are waiting is that we wanted to e-file to get the refund faster and also to avoid filing manually (which takes longer to process) and attaching a statement for both of us stating i wish to be treated as a resident for tax purposes..

Your answers are highly appreciated.. Thank you!

If you are married, you can file as a married couple whether or not you have a greencard!!

[rummy522 2]

As long as you were married on December 31st you will be considered married for the full year for income tax purposes.

[CajunKitty 8]

If you are married, you can file as a married couple whether or not you have a greencard!!

Yes! I understand that we have to file as a married couple but the thing is we cannot e-file because we have to attach a statement stating that i wish to be treated as a resident.. Our only option is to mail our tax return along with the statement (because im not a resident yet) which takes longer to process..

[rummy522 2]

Yes! I understand that we have to file as a married couple but the thing is we cannot e-file because we have to attach a statement stating that i wish to be treated as a resident.. Our only option is to mail our tax return along with the statement (because im not a resident yet) which takes longer to process..

Sorry, I misread what you were asking about before. You are asking if you can e-file a joint return where you would like to be considered as a U.S. resident for income tax purposes. I don't think you will be able to e-file your return this year as you will need to attach a statement signed by you and your spouse that you are a nonresident alien and that your spouse is either a U.S. citizen or resident alien as of the last day of your tax year that includes your both of your names, addresses, and social security numbers. Even if you got your green card today it would not matter for this year's tax return as you would have needed it on December 31st to qualify as a U.S. resident under the greencard test. However, depending on how long you've been in the U.S. you may qualify as a resident on the substantial presence test, and then you would not need to attach the statement.

[Dave&Roza 748]

Yes! I understand that we have to file as a married couple but the thing is we cannot e-file because we have to attach a statement stating that i wish to be treated as a resident.. Our only option is to mail our tax return along with the statement (because im not a resident yet) which takes longer to process..

We filed and attached the statement and it took maybe 2 weeks longer to process if that. We filed early as we were getting a sizable refund. The only issue we had with a paper return was that someone when they entered my wife's last name missed the V and put in a B. This is now correct since the second return was e-filed and her name was updated. You will have to send in the satement to the IRS as you were not a resident during the tax year you are filing for. Getting the GC this year will only help this year's tax return as you would be a LPR and there is no need to send in the statement. The other way around the statement is to file as married and file a seperate return for you and your spouse, but that might cause you to pay more in taxes.

I would mail the return in with the statement. File early and your return will be here faster than waiting for the GC. Like I said, since it is 2013 when you will receive the GC you will be a LPR for 2013 taxes, but not for 2012 as December 31, 2012 came and went and you were still out-of-status so you must ask the IRS to treat you as a LPR for tax purposes for 2012.

Good luck,

Dave

Edited January 16, 2013 by Dave&Roza

[CajunKitty 8]

Sorry, I misread what you were asking about before. You are asking if you can e-file a joint return where you would like to be considered as a U.S. resident for income tax purposes. I don't think you will be able to e-file your return this year as you will need to attach a statement signed by you and your spouse that you are a nonresident alien and that your spouse is either a U.S. citizen or resident alien as of the last day of your tax year that includes your both of your names, addresses, and social security numbers. Even if you got your green card today it would not matter for this year's tax return as you would have needed it on December 31st to qualify as a U.S. resident under the greencard test. However, depending on how long you've been in the U.S. you may qualify as a resident on the substantial presence test, and then you would not need to attach the statement.

Thank you for the reply.. I've been here since May 9th of last year.. Does that qualify me for the substantial presence test?

[CajunKitty 8]

We filed and attached the statement and it took maybe 2 weeks longer to process if that. We filed early as we were getting a sizable refund. The only issue we had with a paper return was that someone when they entered my wife's last name missed the V and put in a B. This is now correct since the second return was e-filed and her name was updated. You will have to send in the satement to the IRS as you were not a resident during the tax year you are filing for. Getting the GC this year will only help this year's tax return as you would be a LPR and there is no need to send in the statement. The other way around the statement is to file as married and file a seperate return for you and your spouse, but that might cause you to pay more in taxes.

I would mail the return in with the statement. File early and your return will be here faster than waiting for the GC. Like I said, since it is 2013 when you will receive the GC you will be a LPR for 2013 taxes, but not for 2012 as December 31, 2012 came and went and you were still out-of-status so you must ask the IRS to treat you as a LPR for tax purposes for 2012.

Good luck,

Dave

Thank you Dave! We are getting a sizable refund as well thats why we wanted to e-file if we could and maybe attach it somewhere if turbotax allows that.. So even if say i get my GC around Feb. we would still have to do the paper filing?

[rummy522 2]

Thank you for the reply.. I've been here since May 9th of last year.. Does that qualify me for the substantial presence test?

You will be considered a U.S. resident for tax purposes if you meet the substantial presence test for the calendar year. To meet this test, you must be physically present in the United States on at least:

1. 31 days during the current year, and

2. 183 days during the 3-year period that includes the current year and the 2 years immediately before that, counting:

All the days you were present in the current year, and

1/3 of the days you were present in the first year before the current year, and

1/6 of the days you were present in the second year before the current year.

So counting from May 9th you will have been in the U.S. for 209 days and thus meet the susbstantial presence test and qualify as a resident alien for U.S. tax purposes, unless you meet any of the following exceptions (which I doubt based on your story so far):

- An individual temporarily present in the United States as a foreign government-related individual

- A teacher or trainee temporarily present in the United States under a "J " or "Q " visa, who substantially complies with the requirements of the visa

- A student temporarily present in the United States under an "F, " "J, " "M, " or "Q " visa, who substantially complies with the requirements of the visa

- A professional athlete temporarily in the United States to compete in a charitable sports event

[Darnell 8,478]

Hello everyone, I just registered on this but i have been a lurker since we started our K-1 journey 2yrs ago.. Now we are on the process of obtaining my greencard and will have our interview on the 25th of this month.. My question is, since it's tax season time is it ok for us to file our tax (married filing jointly) after my greencard is approve? The reason we are waiting is that we wanted to e-file to get the refund faster and also to avoid filing manually (which takes longer to process) and attaching a statement for both of us stating i wish to be treated as a resident for tax purposes..

Your answers are highly appreciated.. Thank you!

actually, you could file 'married filing jointly' if you already have a SSN.

Did you obtain a SSN within the 90 day period after POE, or no?

forget about efile for your first year of filing as 'married filing jointly' as you have no prior history of usage with the IRS - you must paper file this first year, expecting a paper check.

Edited January 16, 2013 by Darnell

[CajunKitty 8]

actually, you could file 'married filing jointly' if you already have a SSN.

Did you obtain a SSN within the 90 day period after POE, or no?

forget about efile for your first year of filing as 'married filing jointly' as you have no prior history of usage with the IRS - you must paper file this first year, expecting a paper check.

Yes, i was able to obtain an SSN a month after i arrived here.. One more thing, do we need a statement also for state tax return or the statement only applies when filing federal tax return?

We will be fiing our return by mail this week and hopefully get the refund faster..

Thank you all for responding....

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Yes, i was able to obtain an SSN a month after i arrived here.. One more thing, do we need a statement also for state tax return or the statement only applies when filing federal tax return?

We will be fiing our return by mail this week and hopefully get the refund faster..

Thank you all for responding....

That will vary by state. If your state requires a copy of your Federal return, you are covered there.

[TBoneTX 45,273]

*** Thread moved from Introducing Our Members forum to Moving Here & Your New Life forum -- topic (chiefly taxes) seems to be discussed predominantly in the destination forum. ***

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Hello everyone, I just registered on this but i have been a lurker since we started our K-1 journey 2yrs ago.. Now we are on the process of obtaining my greencard and will have our interview on the 25th of this month.. My question is, since it's tax season time is it ok for us to file our tax (married filing jointly) after my greencard is approve? The reason we are waiting is that we wanted to e-file to get the refund faster and also to avoid filing manually (which takes longer to process) and attaching a statement for both of us stating i wish to be treated as a resident for tax purposes..

Your answers are highly appreciated.. Thank you!

Your tax return is for 2012. You did not have a greencard in 2012, so for 2012 you were a non-resident alien. If you want to file jointly, you will do the routine which I can tell you have already studied so won't repeat. Your new greencard status in 2013 will allow you to efile tax year 2013 (a year from now).

I am 100% sure there is no way to attach the statement with an efile, and your 2012 return must be a paper filing.

Edited January 17, 2013 by Nich-Nick

[CajunKitty 8]

Your tax return is for 2012. You did not have a greencard in 2012, so for 2012 you were a non-resident alien. If you want to file jointly, you will do the routine which I can tell you have already studied so won't repeat. Your new greencard status in 2013 will allow you to efile tax year 2013 (a year from now).

I am 100% sure there is no way to attach the statement with an efile, and your 2012 return must be a paper filing.

We mailed our joint tax return today along with our statement since e-filing will not apply for us.. We just filled out the forms from turbotax and printed it.. Thank you!