Tax Status Question

[unversedgem 0]

Hi, I'm about to start my tax return and have a question about which alien status i should use.

 

I arrived in USA late 2015 on a K1 visa. I received my Green card on Mar 1st 2016. I have been in full time employment since May 2nd 2016 and worked the rest of the calendar year.

 

I have my W2 from my employer and during the months Jan/Feb as a non-resident alien I had no income. 

 

After hours of searching (i read the pinned post etc) I'm still unsure which way to file my taxes. I will be filing as married filing separately (i have property rental income overseas to claim so figured this would be best).

 

I passed both the Green Card test and substantial presence test so think i should just file form 1040 as Resident Alien status but as I have been a dual status alien during the year do i have to go that route? I can't seem to find a definitive answer (as stated before i had no income during the 2 months as a non-resident alien).

 

Any help would be grateful!

[Charlie_AnaLynn 2]

Everyone's situation is different but what you state and according to the instructions for 1040NR under Green Card test you are a resident for tax purposes:

 

Green Card Test

You are a resident for tax purposes if you were a lawful permanent resident (immigrant) of the United States at any time during 2016, you took no steps to be treated as a resident of a foreign country under an income tax treaty, and no administrative or judicial determination of abandonment of your resident status has been made by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) or a U.S. consular office. (Also see Dual-Status Taxpayers, later.) In most cases, you are a lawful permanent resident if the USCIS (or its predecessor organization, INS) has issued you an alien registration card, also known as a green card.

 

Nevertheless because this is the first time you are filing taxes here, you have foreign (i.e., non-US) income, and are considering doing MFS (married filed separately)... you really need to sit down with a tax professional to understand what is best for you.

[MariaR323 199]

34 minutes ago, unversedgem said:

Hi, I'm about to start my tax return and have a question about which alien status i should use.

 

I arrived in USA late 2015 on a K1 visa. I received my Green card on Mar 1st 2016. I have been in full time employment since May 2nd 2016 and worked the rest of the calendar year.

 

I have my W2 from my employer and during the months Jan/Feb as a non-resident alien I had no income. 

 

After hours of searching (i read the pinned post etc) I'm still unsure which way to file my taxes. I will be filing as married filing separately (i have property rental income overseas to claim so figured this would be best).

 

I passed both the Green Card test and substantial presence test so think i should just file form 1040 as Resident Alien status but as I have been a dual status alien during the year do i have to go that route? I can't seem to find a definitive answer (as stated before i had no income during the 2 months as a non-resident alien).

 

Any help would be grateful!

 

Hi there,

 

First off, immigration status should not be confused with status for tax purposes. Since you mentioned you've been in the U.S. since 2015, that mean's you've been physically present in the U.S. for the entire year 2016 - which this means you've been a [tax] resident of the U.S. for the entire year 2016.

 

You're not a dual status resident at all for 2016. File as any normal resident would for 2016. Based on your mentioned financial circumstances, I'd highly recommend a tax preparer to help you maximize your return.

 

Maria

[unversedgem 0]

Thank you both for your help. I will be using an accountant to help but just wanted to clear the filing status up as its been making my head spin.

 

Thanks again!