Tax Filing Question (MFJ) Tax Year Differences

[Derek & Cece 27]

I know there are a lot of these topics and I tried to read through them to find the answer to my question but I didn't see this situation so here goes... My wife came to the US from Australia in OCT 2019 on a K-1 visa. We were married in NOV of 2019. Her tax year runs from July 1st until June 30th and she already filed taxes for that fiscal year in Australia before she left. Now I'm preparing to file my taxes and from what I understand, I can either file separately and treat her as a non-resident alien in which case she wouldn't need to file taxes at all since she hasn't earned any income in the US,  or we can file jointly by having her treated as a resident for tax purposes in which case I need to report her income in AU for 2019. The problem is that because of when her tax year is, she only has documentation from her work that covers the period of July 1st, 2018 until June 30th, 2019. It doesn't separate her 2018 income from 2019 on that form. She won't get her 2019-2020 W2 equivalent until July or August of 2020.

My question is: Am i expected to calculate her total earnings and what taxes were withheld from her in 2019 via her paystubs (assuming she has/can get them all), do I need to file an extension and wait for her 2019-2020 tax documentation, or do I just report what this paper shows even though I know she earned income from JUL-OCT of 2019 that this documentation does not reflect?

Thanks in advance for your help!

[geowrian 22,337]

You must report her entire worldwide income for the entire year. She can calculate it herself. No proof of foreign earnings is required at the time of filing - retain the records for at least 3 years in case you get audited (just like you would a W-2).

She should see if she qualifies for the FEIE so all that foreign income can be excluded from actually being taxed.

[Derek & Cece 27]

14 minutes ago, geowrian said:

You must report her entire worldwide income for the entire year. She can calculate it herself. No proof of foreign earnings is required at the time of filing - retain the records for at least 3 years in case you get audited (just like you would a W-2).

She should see if she qualifies for the FEIE so all that foreign income can be excluded from actually being taxed.

The problem is her former employer never furnished her with any payslip/stubs that break things down month to month on her earnings and withholdings. While we are reaching out to try and get that information, as for proof to retain in the event of an audit, we wouldn't have complete records to provide.

[geowrian 22,337]

3 minutes ago, Derek & Cece said:

The problem is her former employer never furnished her with any payslip/stubs that break things down month to month on her earnings and withholdings. While we are reaching out to try and get that information, as for proof to retain in the event of an audit, we wouldn't have complete records to provide.

No pay stubs (or contract)? Odd, but idk the norm in that country.

Assuming she was paid via direct deposit, it shouldn't be too hard to add up the deposits.

If she was paid via cash, then it becomes more difficult to track those down to get a proper number.

[Derek & Cece 27]

Just now, geowrian said:

No pay stubs (or contract)? Odd, but idk the norm in that country.

Assuming she was paid via direct deposit, it shouldn't be too hard to add up the deposits.

If she was paid via cash, then it becomes more difficult to track those down to get a proper number.

I get the impression from what my wife has told me that her boss was a little shady when it came to taxes. She was paid via direct deposit though so we can probably figure out how much she earned, but as far as how much they withheld that become more difficult.

[Duke & Marie 1,389]

1 hour ago, Derek & Cece said:

I know there are a lot of these topics and I tried to read through them to find the answer to my question but I didn't see this situation so here goes... My wife came to the US from Australia in OCT 2019 on a K-1 visa. We were married in NOV of 2019. Her tax year runs from July 1st until June 30th and she already filed taxes for that fiscal year in Australia before she left. Now I'm preparing to file my taxes and from what I understand, I can either file separately and treat her as a non-resident alien in which case she wouldn't need to file taxes at all since she hasn't earned any income in the US,  or we can file jointly by having her treated as a resident for tax purposes in which case I need to report her income in AU for 2019. The problem is that because of when her tax year is, she only has documentation from her work that covers the period of July 1st, 2018 until June 30th, 2019. It doesn't separate her 2018 income from 2019 on that form. She won't get her 2019-2020 W2 equivalent until July or August of 2020.

My question is: Am i expected to calculate her total earnings and what taxes were withheld from her in 2019 via her paystubs (assuming she has/can get them all), do I need to file an extension and wait for her 2019-2020 tax documentation, or do I just report what this paper shows even though I know she earned income from JUL-OCT of 2019 that this documentation does not reflect?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Tell her to log into her “My Gov” account then press”My Tax”  and “Past Returns” links.. her tax transcripts for the last 5 years are stored in there by the ATO..

 

shell have an account, it’s needed to submit returns so she should be able to print them off no problem

[Derek & Cece 27]

Just now, Duke & Marie said:

Tell her to log into her “My Gov” account then press”My Tax”  and “Past Returns” links.. her tax transcripts for the last 5 years are stored in there by the ATO..

 

shell have an account, it’s needed to submit returns so she should be able to print them off no problem

That will only cover her up to June 30th, 2019 because that was the last tax year she filed.

[Duke & Marie 1,389]

14 minutes ago, Derek & Cece said:

I get the impression from what my wife has told me that her boss was a little shady when it came to taxes. She was paid via direct deposit though so we can probably figure out how much she earned, but as far as how much they withheld that become more difficult.

Tax withheld is 33% for singles with no kids

 

All employers here pay direct deposit.. it’s shady if paid any other way 😂 that’s how our tax office knows you don’t do deals under the table they have full access to our accounts, and auto fill interest earned etc 😂

Edited January 31, 2020 by Duke & Marie

[Duke & Marie 1,389]

7 minutes ago, Derek & Cece said:

That will only cover her up to June 30th, 2019 because that was the last tax year she filed.

It keeps all years... even if unemployed... the government auto transfers all figures paid to ATO.. she could also go Centrelink page if she was unemployed or a student at uni... they keep a copy in there under document requests, printable in PDF 30 days after tax year ends

Edited January 31, 2020 by Duke & Marie

[Derek & Cece 27]

32 minutes ago, Duke & Marie said:

It keeps all years... even if unemployed... the government auto transfers all figures paid to ATO.. she could also go Centrelink page if she was unemployed or a student at uni... they keep a copy in there under document requests, printable in PDF 30 days after tax year ends

All we can find on there is the return she filed for 2018-2019 and how much her refund was. There is nothing for the income she made from July 1st, 2019 until October 29th, 2019 when she left. We can guess, but if it's wrong I assume that's just as bad as not reporting her income at all.

[Duke & Marie 1,389]

19 minutes ago, Derek & Cece said:

All we can find on there is the return she filed for 2018-2019 and how much her refund was. There is nothing for the income she made from July 1st, 2019 until October 29th, 2019 when she left. We can guess, but if it's wrong I assume that's just as bad as not reporting her income at all.

Ah because 19/20 tax year is still current.. 

 

she needs to request her “group certificate” from her last employer.. they’re required to provide it to her within 3 days of ending employment.. they usually email it then mail via the snail.. it could be in a PDF attached to her last pay slip.. she should check

 

tell her to call old old boss and request an electronic version.. 

 

also so tell her to file her taxes early “now” via my gov, she can because has left the country.. she’ll get all her taxes withheld back, because she was here less than 185 days during the tax year.. 

Edited January 31, 2020 by Duke & Marie

[EnglishLove 112]

2 hours ago, Derek & Cece said:

The problem is her former employer never furnished her with any payslip/stubs that break things down month to month on her earnings and withholdings. While we are reaching out to try and get that information, as for proof to retain in the event of an audit, we wouldn't have complete records to provide.

This is were I'm at. My husband (who came on K-1 from England) worked and never received anything about taxes. We looked it up on gov.uk. So I go into Turbo and enter in my income and then his based on that website as MFJ  and it just cut over $3,500 in my refund. 

[geowrian 22,337]

3 minutes ago, Derek & Cece said:

I get the impression from what my wife has told me that her boss was a little shady when it came to taxes. She was paid via direct deposit though so we can probably figure out how much she earned, but as far as how much they withheld that become more difficult.

How much they withheld doesn't matter for US tax purposes. They just need a number for how much was earned (gross).

Assuming the FEIE applies and the earned amount is under ~$100k, I wouldn't be too worried with the exact amount as it will all be excluded anyway. This doesn't mean don't do you due diligence to get the best number possible, but don't freak out if it turns out not to be exact.

 

1 hour ago, Pooley said:

So I go into Turbo and enter in my income and then his based on that website as MFJ  and it just cut over $3,500 in my refund. 

Nice! Yeah, it added ~$5000 the first year my wife came over. Certainly not as good as her working, but it was a big help in getting us going with her life in the US.

[EnglishLove 112]

2 hours ago, geowrian said:

How much they withheld doesn't matter for US tax purposes. They just need a number for how much was earned (gross).

Assuming the FEIE applies and the earned amount is under ~$100k, I wouldn't be too worried with the exact amount as it will all be excluded anyway. This doesn't mean don't do you due diligence to get the best number possible, but don't freak out if it turns out not to be exact.

 

Nice! Yeah, it added ~$5000 the first year my wife came over. Certainly not as good as her working, but it was a big help in getting us going with her life in the US.

I got on the gov.uk and have exactly what he made but when I put it in, it takes my entire refund away... 

[geowrian 22,337]

12 minutes ago, Pooley said:

I got on the gov.uk and have exactly what he made but when I put it in, it takes my entire refund away... 

Did you complete the FEIE (2555/2555EZ) to then exclude the income?