Filing out W4 and Taxes

[DMandKM 1]

Hello! My wife is coming to the US in 2 weeks for us to get married (YAY) and I have some questions about how to fill out my W4 for my new job starting in August. My wife will be moving to the US June 25th so she will meet the 30 day requirement for this year as well as the 183-day test because (of the Substantial Presence Test) she will have be in the states from June 25-December 31 (190 days). So my questions are:

1. Can I file as married since by the end of the year she will be considered a "resident alien" through the Substantial Presence Test?

2. Can we file joint tax returns at the end of the year?

3. Or do the previous two questions not matter because she must be a resident alien for the entire tax year?

Any help would be so greatly appreciated!

[MariaR323 199]

So there's 2 different things going on here...

1. If you marry any day within 2016, you are eligible to file Married Filing Jointly since you are considered married for the entire year even if you get married on the last day of the year.

2. She will be considered a "resident alien" from the day she crosses into the U.S., in this case from June 25-Dec 31 2016. From Jan 1-June 25 she will be considered a "nonresident alien". So, she will actually be considered a "dual status alien" for 2016.

You can file MFJ and elect to treat her as a resident alien for the entire year for tax purposes by including an election statement with your tax return.

[Jeffrey&David 28]

I agree with the post above. My husband moved here 9/23/15 and we filed Married/Jointly for the 2015 tax period. We had our tax accountant prepare a statement that we were claiming him as a resident alien for the 2015 Tax Year.

If you file yourself online, that might be difficult to do, as I am not sure the software companies allow for that specific letter. I always use an accountant, so they were able to attach to my return.

Good Luck!

JB

[DMandKM 1]

Did you have to claim all of their income from Mexico on your 2015 taxes? If so, does that drastically change the expected return?

[DMandKM 1]

I agree with the post above. My husband moved here 9/23/15 and we filed Married/Jointly for the 2015 tax period. We had our tax accountant prepare a statement that we were claiming him as a resident alien for the 2015 Tax Year.

If you file yourself online, that might be difficult to do, as I am not sure the software companies allow for that specific letter. I always use an accountant, so they were able to attach to my return.

Good Luck!

JB

Did you have to claim all of their income from Mexico on your 2015 taxes? If so, does that drastically change the expected return?

[Shauneg 762]

Did you have to claim all of their income from Mexico on your 2015 taxes? If so, does that drastically change the expected return?

Yes, and I supposed whether or not it changes the expected return much or not would depend on how much they made. Wouldn't you agree?

[Adil & Jeanne 296]

why not file for SS number after marriage?

and yes, i claimed his income even when he was in morocco and I just had a ITIN

making only $90 a month didn't hurt my taxes

[belinda63 3,038]

NVM, I can't read.

You can file your W-4 however you wish all it controls is how much money is withheld from your check. I have seen some with Married/99 allowances so no taxes are held out. Or you can file as married but withhold at the single rate and 0 allowances so the maximum amount is withheld.

As to when you file your taxes next year you would be married. I would always run it both filing jointly and filing separately to see which way netted a bigger refund.

Edited June 7, 2016 by belinda63

[Jeffrey&David 28]

We did claim income earned in Mexico, and yes that is a requirement. As my husband was a student, his Mexican income for 2015 was only around $7,000.00 USD. But we did claim it, and it was fully exempted. I honestly cannot remember what the threshold amount was for exemption, but it was pretty high, so while you have to claim, there is an exemption available. You may want to check with an accountant when it comes to file your taxes next year. While there may be tax advantages to filing one way or the other based on foreign income earned, I didn't even consider that as for future proof as we continued for the AOS and eventually ROC, I wanted to make sure we were filing married/jointly.

[Russ&Caro 1,549]

I believe I've heard that the exemption from taxation of foreign based income is around $100,000. Whatever the amount, no matter how small, you do have to claim it on your US return. The IRS wants to know about it.

[NikLR 13,227]

If you file MFJ you would need to claim your wife's income from Canada but she could probably exclude it from being taxed again (form 2555.) You cant exclude any EI income she has if she claims that when she moves. (She will know what EI is.)

Or you can file as MFS that year and MFJ the nextyear.

She will also need to file her Canadian exit return this year.

Edited June 7, 2016 by NLR

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Did you have to claim all of their income from Mexico on your 2015 taxes? If so, does that drastically change the expected return?

You report it, exclude it, and it should change your return for the better.

That would be earned income like from a job.