Tax Filing for 2017 for who worked outside of US and got PR in October

[ConfusedFellow 0]

My spouse was my dependent during i485. I received my PR earlier in the year 2017 (was on H1b and legal resident per tax definition). However, my spouse got his PR in October. While he was "staying" here as mentioned in i485 his job was based outside of the US in a country which didn't tax at all.

 

Since he got his PR in Oct I was wondering how I should go about filing a tax return. Does he declare the income for the whole year of 2017 and pay taxes for all the months (even when he wasn't a PR) or does he need to declare the earnings for months of Oct Nov and Dec?

 

This has been very confusing. Any recommendations on immigration tax accountant or a professional who could help with this?

 

 

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

He files a dual return as non resident for the period before he became an LPR, and resident thereafter. He can choose to file as resident for the full year if he wants.

 

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/alien-residency-green-card-test

 

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/dual-status-aliens

 

Edited September 19, 2018 by SusieQQQ

[ConfusedFellow 0]

So, does that mean I have to file married but separate then? Then have him fill out the married but filing separate also. Another complication is we don't know how much he made in 2017. We don't have paystubs from that company and the bank account located overseas was close before he came here and no statements can be found.

[ConfusedFellow 0]

To continue further,

 

The residency start date for him would be in October because he passes the green card test but not the substantial presence test.

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/residency-starting-and-ending-dates

 

I spoke with a tax accountant (not sure how good he was) but he said that my spouse will need to declare the foreign income of Oct, Nov and Dec and not for the entire year. Only the portion that you earned after you became the PR matters.

 

Can anyone shed more light on this please?

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

On 9/19/2018 at 2:22 PM, ConfusedFellow said:

To continue further,

 

The residency start date for him would be in October because he passes the green card test but not the substantial presence test.

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/residency-starting-and-ending-dates

 

I spoke with a tax accountant (not sure how good he was) but he said that my spouse will need to declare the foreign income of Oct, Nov and Dec and not for the entire year. Only the portion that you earned after you became the PR matters.

 

Can anyone shed more light on this please?

The links I posted above say pretty much exactly that, direct from the IRS...

 

how does he not have paystubs? Surely he can ask the company to re-issue them? You can’t just write numbers plucked from the air on a tax return. 

 

 

Edited September 21, 2018 by SusieQQQ