January 2018 AOS Filers

[BahamaIslander242 244]

Has anyone that is applying for AOS dealt with their 2017 taxes yet? I'm at a complete loss on how to go about this. Tax guy says that if we file jointly, i have to file as a resident. Which is fine if we claim a foreign income exemption from income tax but he's also saying that we'd still be on the hook for social security and medicare taxes for that foreign income. Is this right?

 

Wondering if I should file at all since I really don't have to and just let my wife file "married filing separately" and be done with it.... Why is this so complicated?

[Nouchigang 200]

10 hours ago, Stt said:

walked in and got Biometrics done!! Was easy peasy in and out mins! They were super nice didn't even acknowledge the appt date. They opened 15 mins early and I got there before they opened lol and I'm glad I did becuz at 8 the original open time ppl started flooding in and by then I was already done 😂😂

Good awesome, hopefully you hear from your EAD soon.

I am still waiting on my RFE to actually to get to me and see what it is about.

[Orkey 69]

30 minutes ago, BahamaIslander242 said:

Has anyone that is applying for AOS dealt with their 2017 taxes yet? I'm at a complete loss on how to go about this. Tax guy says that if we file jointly, i have to file as a resident. Which is fine if we claim a foreign income exemption from income tax but he's also saying that we'd still be on the hook for social security and medicare taxes for that foreign income. Is this right?

 

Wondering if I should file at all since I really don't have to and just let my wife file "married filing separately" and be done with it.... Why is this so complicated?

Well, I believe you can still file jointly and won't have to worry about any of that,  provided you are still unemployed here in the USA.  Your wife can file jointly based on her income alone. 

You need to have your SSN or ITIN number before you can file jointly tho. 

[Stt 225]

21 minutes ago, Nouchigang said:

Good awesome, hopefully you hear from your EAD soon.

I am still waiting on my RFE to actually to get to me and see what it is about.

Yea i hope so too! I pray your RFE is just minor, Keep me posted!

[Stt 225]

53 minutes ago, BahamaIslander242 said:

Has anyone that is applying for AOS dealt with their 2017 taxes yet? I'm at a complete loss on how to go about this. Tax guy says that if we file jointly, i have to file as a resident. Which is fine if we claim a foreign income exemption from income tax but he's also saying that we'd still be on the hook for social security and medicare taxes for that foreign income. Is this right?

 

Wondering if I should file at all since I really don't have to and just let my wife file "married filing separately" and be done with it.... Why is this so complicated?

My husband and i filed jointly even tho I had no income for 2017. I suggest you get a second opinion consult for your taxes. 

[cherryblossoms916 216]

Does ead comes with ssn already upon approval?

[Orkey 69]

16 minutes ago, Stt said:

My husband and i filed jointly even tho I had no income for 2017. I suggest you get a second opinion consult for your taxes. 

Same here! 

[DebbieRaney 126]

50 minutes ago, cherryblossoms916 said:

Does ead comes with ssn already upon approval?

I've read that it should come one to two weeks after we receive the EAD card if you requested one to be sent to you.

[DebbieRaney 126]

44 minutes ago, Orkey said:

Same here! 

My husband and I filed taxes with TurboTax and we already received the tax return. I'm not sure if the IRS will ask us for more info but it all went pretty smoothly.

I know there's a thread about filing taxes in the first year after k1 but it's all too confusing.

[BahamaIslander242 244]

1 hour ago, Orkey said:

Well, I believe you can still file jointly and won't have to worry about any of that,  provided you are still unemployed here in the USA.  Your wife can file jointly based on her income alone. 

You need to have your SSN or ITIN number before you can file jointly tho. 

 

1 hour ago, Stt said:

My husband and i filed jointly even tho I had no income for 2017. I suggest you get a second opinion consult for your taxes. 

 

36 minutes ago, DebbieWRaney said:

My husband and I filed taxes with TurboTax and we already received the tax return. I'm not sure if the IRS will ask us for more info but it all went pretty smoothly.

I know there's a thread about filing taxes in the first year after k1 but it's all too confusing.

Did any of you file as a “resident for tax purposes”? That’s what I was told was a requirement to file jointly. Did you have any foreign income in 2017? Did you then have to file a foreign income tax exemption on it?

 

I’ve tried reading through the forums but I keep seeing contradicting information. 

[Lenchick 133]

4 minutes ago, BahamaIslander242 said:

 

 

Did any of you file as a “resident for tax purposes”? That’s what I was told was a requirement to file jointly. Did you have any foreign income in 2017? Did you then have to file a foreign income tax exemption on it?

 

I’ve tried reading through the forums but I keep seeing contradicting information. 

Yes, I did. You get itin or if you ever traveled to the us on a particular visa you can use limited ssn if you have. 

[BahamaIslander242 244]

24 minutes ago, Lenchick said:

Yes, I did. You get itin or if you ever traveled to the us on a particular visa you can use limited ssn if you have. 

I have a SSN already, thats not the problem. The problem is that I'm being told that the foreign income exemption only covers an exemption from income tax. It does not exempt you from having to pay social security/medicare tax if you didn't pay similar tax already on income made in your home country. So filing jointly and as a tax resident would cost us money rather than save us money.

 

 

Edited February 15, 2018 by BahamaIslander242

[Lenchick 133]

4 minutes ago, BahamaIslander242 said:

I have a SSN already, thats not the problem. The problem is that I'm being told that the foreign income exemption only covers an exemption from income tax. It does not exempt you from having to pay social security/medicare tax if you didn't pay similar tax already in your home country. So filing jointly and as a tax resident would cost us money rather than save us money.

 

 

Read here https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/nonresident-alien-spouse

"You and your spouse are treated, for federal income tax purposes, as residents for all tax years that the choice is in effect. However, for Social Security and Medicare tax withholding purposes, the nonresident alien may still be treated as a nonresident alien."

[cherryblossoms916 216]

1 hour ago, DebbieWRaney said:

I've read that it should come one to two weeks after we receive the EAD card if you requested one to be sent to you.

So I don’t need to go to ssa after receiving ead card?

[BahamaIslander242 244]

35 minutes ago, Lenchick said:

Read here https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/nonresident-alien-spouse

"You and your spouse are treated, for federal income tax purposes, as residents for all tax years that the choice is in effect. However, for Social Security and Medicare tax withholding purposes, the nonresident alien may still be treated as a nonresident alien."

Thank you so much! I knew there had to be some way but my tax guy kept telling me different and I could not find a legitimate  source to prove it to him. 

 

I will show this to him in the morning and see what he says.