How to file taxes - fiance has foreign income - Colombia

[CG&LGG 27]

My fiancé is entering the US on 10/30/15 with marriage on 11/7/15. His last day of work in Colombia is Friday, October 16.

• he has worked in Colombia all of 2015 up until his last day on 10/16/15
• upon leaving his job in Colombia he is cashing out his Colombian Retirement Plan (our version of a 401K), its going to be about $8,000USD after conversion from Colombian pesos

How do we file taxes? I know for IRS purposes, we will be married in tax year 2015, so even if we are in AOS and he doesn't have his green card or EAD he will still be considered a resident. I also know that all residents are required to file taxes on worldwide income.

I am posting because I am 100% certain someone else has already been through this. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

• Do we file married, separate or married jointly?
• Does he even have to file because he won't even have his EAD or green card until tax year 2016?
• If he keeps his retirement in a bank account in Colombia and he never brings it to the USA do we have to claim it?

I ask these questions because up until now I have always just done the simple tax return for myself and always get a refund. I am freaking out that this year we are going to owe the government so much money, even though they have already gotten a ####### ton from us for this K1 process.

[kris&me 572]

He will be elibible for SS card after marriage

how you file is up to you

but as your husband, he needs to file as he is bringing the money into the US

Any joint accounts or other financial assets that have one American beneficiary have to be disclosed to the U.S. government. (IRS statement)

and since he will bring in the money and not be able to open an account till he gets SS card, he is probably putting it into yours, you will have to report it for this year.

Get taxes filled our by professional this one year to avoid any problems

That is my opinion but i looked this up online when my husband was coming as he had worked almost a full year too

[Anh map 2,098]

Income earned as a citizen or LPR is taxable. Income earned prior to that is not taxable by the IRS.

If you are married in 2015 then file as married.

He's obtaining the retirement pay out prior to becoming an LPR. Not a taxable event for the US.

[Russ&Caro 1,549]

You file, married jointly.

Highly recommend pursuing SSN immediately upon arrival, even if he is contemplating a name change at or after the wedding. I don't believe you have to wait until after your wedding. This is a pretty good guide for obtaining SSN:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/405546-ssn-howto/

Get tax advice in the U.S. and in Colombia. The dollar has never been higher against the Col peso to my knowledge. So cashing out his pension/savings acct and bringing the $ to the US might not be timely, right now. Again, you should consider getting professional advice here and there.

[CG&LGG 27]

Thanks everyone.

I did some research and saw the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion. Thankfully he was in Colombia for 330 days so he qualifies. We will definitely be seeing someone to help though!

Yeah about the peso. It's absolutely INSANE how high the dollar is with it right now.

[DavidBoston 9]

Thanks for this thread. We will be in a similar situation when my fiance gets here next week or the week after. Filing jointly is going to save us a lot in taxes. And yes, as far as the exchange rate, it's great if you are going to Colombia and spending money.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

<p>I am posting because I am 100% certain someone else has already been through this. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

• Do we file married, separate or married jointly?
• Does he even have to file because he won't even have his EAD or green card until tax year 2016?
• If he keeps his retirement in a bank account in Colombia and he never brings it to the USA do we have to claim it?

You will be married so you may file Married filing separately and he files nothing because he earned no money in the U.S.

OR--You may file Married Filing Jointly. The worldwide income would be reported on a joint return. He could exclude his Colombian income on form 2555EZ. That would be your best choice but do taxes both ways just to check.

To qualify he has to be a bonafide resident of Colombia. I imagine he is a citizen thus bonafide to live in Colombia.since his birth. The form is also for Americans who work abroad so they would have to have a bonafide visa or authorization to work in Colombia or a certain number of days there. When it is an immigrant trying to exclude, they almost always qualify for bonafide resident of their native country.

TurboTax can handle your return and there is always a lot of guidance in this forum Feb-April each year.Any savings he brings is not taxable.

Edited October 21, 2015 by Nich-Nick