Declare Pre-arrival earnings?

[rob999 51]

Hi - I'm filling in my tax returns using turbo tax. I arrived in August on a K1 and started work in November in the US. I worked in the UK from Jan until July. Do I have to declare that income for the year even though I did not have presence in the US at that time?

Thanks!

Rob

[IcezMan_IcezLady 582]

I believe just your US income. you can reach out to your local irs office for some detailed answers or just google.

[S + E 1]

I'd say it will come down to whether you are/were considered a resident for tax purposes for 2015.

I just filed jointly with my husband for 2015 and we did following..... I arrived in November, we got married in December. I worked in my home country (which has a tax treaty with USA) 1-10/2015 and had no income from the US for 2015.

When filing we added form 2555 to the federal return to show my income overseas (I filed taxes there already for 2015 of course). I have lived and worked intermittently in the US in 3 previous years so I am considered a tax resident even for 2015. Therefore on federal form 1040 top line (total joint income) was my husband's US income and my overseas income in USD, but then we subtracted my income so the taxable income was what my husband made in the US....it had no impact on our tax refund but we showed the full picture.

So I would say first decide whether you are a resident for tax purposes or not and go from there ... I would consult with someone who understands area of international tax.

Also I think another route is to declare foreign income and get credit for taxes paid abroad ... it will depend on your specific situation. At least that's what my friend who does taxes for expats at E&Y suggested. I thought it was going to apply to me as well, but then after looking in more details and being tax resident and what not it turned slightly differently for us.

Good Luck!

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Hi - I'm filling in my tax returns using turbo tax. I arrived in August on a K1 and started work in November in the US. I worked in the UK from Jan until July. Do I have to declare that income for the year even though I did not have presence in the US at that time?

Thanks!

Rob

Rob--if you file a joint return with the wife, then worldwide Income for the entire year has to be reported. In TurboTax, you will find a section called "Less Common Income" which handles foreign earned income and the exclusion you are allowed using Form 2555. You will be considered a resident for tax purposes for the entire year.

IRS says: You are a resident for tax purposes if you are a lawful permanent resident of the United States at any time during calendar year 2015. (However, see Dual-Status Aliens , later.) This is known as the green card test. You are a lawful permanent resident of the United States at any time if you have been given the privilege, according to the immigration laws, of residing permanently in the United States as an immigrant. You generally have this status if the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) (or its predecessor organization) has issued you an alien registration card, also known as a green card. You continue to have resident status under this test unless the status is taken away from you or is administratively or judicially determined to have been abandoned.

If you want to be dual-status for 2015 and report only income earned after becoming a resident, then you can't file a joint return. It will not benefit you to do it that way.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

More from me--

TurboTax tips:

When it asks in personal info of you were a resident of Texas all year, say YES. Turbo is just trying to figure out of you have to file state income tax returns. You don't have a state return in Tx. . Does not affect anything on your federal tax return. It just keeps TurboTax from trying to sell you a state return package.

When you are in the Foreign income section it will ask if you were a resident all year. Yes for tax purposes as noted above. This is a tax question, not an immigration question. To the IRS, you are being treated as a resident for the entire year.

When it asks in foreign Income Exclusion if you had a visa to earn that foreign income, it isn't a K1 visa. They are asking if you had a visa that allowed you to work in the UK. It is worded for Americans who work abroad and gets confusing. You can pick "other" and type in "none". TurboTax needs an answer to move on and there's no place to tick "I didn't need a bloody visa to work in my own country." If you don't fill in something, you will get an error when it runs a final check. A lot of the questions you answer are not even for the IRS. They are for TurboTax programming to move you along the path.