Tax Return and filing a joint return

[Zhen's Tiger]

After receiving an SSN you should follow the process outlined in IRS Publication 1915 to make sure you don't have mismatched records in the future.

 

What steps do I have to take when I have an ITIN and become eligible for a Social Security Number?

Make proper application for a SSN and upon receipt advise the IRS ITIN Unit in writing of your new SSN. The new SSN will become the primary number and must be used for all future filing purposes. The IRS will void the ITIN. All prior tax information under the ITIN will be associated with the new SSN.

Wow Lee, thanks a million!! I never would have known we needed to do that. I'll be writing that letter today. This really is a great thread to have pinned, this info is vital to many people here - thanks again!!

 

Steve & Zhen

Hey All,

Tax time again, so I dug up this old one just to let anyone know who is as dim-witted as I am that if you forget to write this letter to the IRS ITIN Unit after your wife receives her SSN, you should still be OK this year.

 

Lee (as always) gave great advice above which I said I would promptly act on, and then I forgot about it as quickly as I said it. So of course when we're sitting in H&R Block yesterday, the ITIN question popped up [oh crap, I fogot to write that letter Lee told me about!!]... Well, I whipped out the Cell, called the IRS ITIN 800 # and explained the situation.

 

After she put me on hold to inquire into it, she came back & said "Well, you really should've written that letter, but just mail in your Return with a letter attached referencing the ITIN & new SSN, and everything will be fine." I said great, but we're in the H&R Block Office now and were going to eFile... She put me on hold again, came back and said "That's fine also, just do everything with the new SSN & you will have no problems. BUT, you must write the letter now & send it to the IRS ITIN Unit." Which I promised (again ) that I would do.

 

So, I am not telling you to blow off writing the Letter, but if you did forget as I did...

 

Steve

[lilblimp]

wife will not come till after i file taxes should i get itin number or wait till we get her s.s. she did get a cr-1 visa

[Randy W]

wife will not come till after i file taxes should i get itin number or wait till we get her s.s. she did get a cr-1 visa

 

 

It's your call - either works just fine. But be aware that 2008 stimulus checks were denied to people who filed returns with even one ITIN.

[yemmie]

You guys are a lot smarter than me. I have been reading all of this and I'm having a hard time figuring out where my fiancee and I will fit into it. She will arrive in the U.S. on November 6, 2008. She has made some money this year in China, but not much. We will probably get married near the end of the year or just after New Years. What must we do to comply with U.S. tax law, and what should we do to get the best deal through the IRS? I had thought it was already so late in the year that filing a joint return would not be possible. Should we file jointly? If so what do we do? Should we file married, but separate? Again, if so, how do we do it?

 

I have an accountant here in the U.S., and I will let him prepare my taxes, but if I knew (understood) our options and requirements, I could give him the necessary information to do everything correctly.

 

Thanks.

[Sebastian]

wife will not come till after i file taxes should i get itin number or wait till we get her s.s. she did get a cr-1 visa

 

She'll be getting her SSN within a few weeks of arrival.

But assume worst case scenario - She gets it on April 15th of next year. You can still file on that date, so you should be good.

 

STRONGLY SUGGEST you file a married filing jointly paper return this first time around. Although SSA knows about her, the IRS doesn't, and most online tax filing portals have a way to smell out SSN's not used in prior tax years.

[Squonk]

I know this may be a ridiculous question, but I was always taught that a question not asked is even more ridiculous.

An aquaintance of mine who previously was the petitioner of a K-1 visa told me that all the fees paid to the US government in support of the K-1 visa petition and the AOS petition are tax deductible.

 

I told him "no way". He said his tax guy was able to deduct them.

 

Are these fees tax deductible?

[Randy W]

I know this may be a ridiculous question, but I was always taught that a question not asked is even more ridiculous.

An aquaintance of mine who previously was the petitioner of a K-1 visa told me that all the fees paid to the US government in support of the K-1 visa petition and the AOS petition are tax deductible.

 

I told him "no way". He said his tax guy was able to deduct them.

 

Are these fees tax deductible?

 

 

You can deduct anything you want, as long as you're not caught.

 

Perhaps he found a category to sneak them under. Hope he's not caught.

[kwn]

I am filing a 2008 joint return with my wife electing to be considered resident for whole year. She has some 2008 income in China. How does one report this income since she has no W-2 in China? Will IRS ask for proof?

 

Anyone has experience with this? Thanks.

 

 

 

I know this may be a ridiculous question, but I was always taught that a question not asked is even more ridiculous.

An aquaintance of mine who previously was the petitioner of a K-1 visa told me that all the fees paid to the US government in support of the K-1 visa petition and the AOS petition are tax deductible.

 

I told him "no way". He said his tax guy was able to deduct them.

 

Are these fees tax deductible?

 

 

You can deduct anything you want, as long as you're not caught.

 

Perhaps he found a category to sneak them under. Hope he's not caught.

[EKO1]

I am filing a 2008 joint return with my wife electing to be considered resident for whole year. She has some 2008 income in China. How does one report this income since she has no W-2 in China? Will IRS ask for proof?

 

Anyone has experience with this? Thanks.

 

 

First and foremost, Do not use the H&R block software to do your taxes if you are filling out Form 2555. After I was through I found 3 gross errors which would have cost me over 600$. I am not sure how good the other tax software is.

 

You will have to use Form 1040

 

1. You will claim her income on Line 7. My wife only worked the first 6 months of 2008. I just used her monthly income and converted it to dollars using the average monthly conversion rate. I put this on a spreadsheet and have a copy for my records. Since there is no record of her salary I am treating it the same way I would treat tips. Unless her income is over ~85,000$, the amount is a moot point (as long as you are close). You will be deducting the same amount from the total income

2. fill out Form 2555EZ ¨C You can use form 2555, but it is a lot of unnecessary work if she made less than ~85,000$

3. You will record the amount on line 21 as a negative number (unless she made over ~85,000$) and subtract it from the total income.

4. You will also have to make a statement to the IRS that your wife will be considered a resident alien when it comes to taxes for 2008. That is explained in Pub. 54.

[kwn]

Thanks.

 

I forgot to ask. What if she also has some rental income in 2008 from her apartment in China? How is this reported? Is this foreign rental income eligible for exclusion as well?

 

I am filing a 2008 joint return with my wife electing to be considered resident for whole year. She has some 2008 income in China. How does one report this income since she has no W-2 in China? Will IRS ask for proof?

 

Anyone has experience with this? Thanks.

 

 

First and foremost, Do not use the H&R block software to do your taxes if you are filling out Form 2555. After I was through I found 3 gross errors which would have cost me over 600$. I am not sure how good the other tax software is.

 

You will have to use Form 1040

 

1. You will claim her income on Line 7. My wife only worked the first 6 months of 2008. I just used her monthly income and converted it to dollars using the average monthly conversion rate. I put this on a spreadsheet and have a copy for my records. Since there is no record of her salary I am treating it the same way I would treat tips. Unless her income is over ~85,000$, the amount is a moot point (as long as you are close). You will be deducting the same amount from the total income

2. fill out Form 2555EZ ¨C You can use form 2555, but it is a lot of unnecessary work if she made less than ~85,000$

3. You will record the amount on line 21 as a negative number (unless she made over ~85,000$) and subtract it from the total income.

4. You will also have to make a statement to the IRS that your wife will be considered a resident alien when it comes to taxes for 2008. That is explained in Pub. 54.

[kwn]

Answer is in IRS Pub 54.

 

Unfortunately, passive collection of foreign rental income is unearned income and does not qualify. If person is actively involved in generating the rent, then up to 30% of the rental income may be considered earned income, and therefore eligible for the exclusion.

 

Unearned foreign income will have to be reported on Form 1040, if non-resident spouse elects to be taxed as a full year resident.

 

Thanks.

 

I forgot to ask. What if she also has some rental income in 2008 from her apartment in China? How is this reported? Is this foreign rental income eligible for exclusion as well?

 

I am filing a 2008 joint return with my wife electing to be considered resident for whole year. She has some 2008 income in China. How does one report this income since she has no W-2 in China? Will IRS ask for proof?

 

Anyone has experience with this? Thanks.

 

 

First and foremost, Do not use the H&R block software to do your taxes if you are filling out Form 2555. After I was through I found 3 gross errors which would have cost me over 600$. I am not sure how good the other tax software is.

 

You will have to use Form 1040

 

1. You will claim her income on Line 7. My wife only worked the first 6 months of 2008. I just used her monthly income and converted it to dollars using the average monthly conversion rate. I put this on a spreadsheet and have a copy for my records. Since there is no record of her salary I am treating it the same way I would treat tips. Unless her income is over ~85,000$, the amount is a moot point (as long as you are close). You will be deducting the same amount from the total income

2. fill out Form 2555EZ ¨C You can use form 2555, but it is a lot of unnecessary work if she made less than ~85,000$

3. You will record the amount on line 21 as a negative number (unless she made over ~85,000$) and subtract it from the total income.

4. You will also have to make a statement to the IRS that your wife will be considered a resident alien when it comes to taxes for 2008. That is explained in Pub. 54.

[Xu And Wang]

Hi everyone. Sorry if this is repetitive, but I searched through many threads looking for an example like ours, but I couldn't find one. Any advice is appreciated!

 

-My wife was a nonresident for all of 2008, but her income in China was non-trivial (~25K). She had 0 income related to anything with the U.S.

 

Do we file the 2555 and/or 1040NR and file jointly? She meets the bona fide resident test. Or do we check filing separately and say she has no income, where I can then claim her as an exemption.

 

We will likely have an SSN before tax filing time, as she will enter March 18, 2009.

 

Thanks!

-Ryan

[Guest Pommey]

I dont think her income earned in another country, before she married you or was here is taxable/ filable here.

 

but then again wtf do I know

[bla]

Hi, everyone

 

First of all, since my husband is so busy with his work so I am just searching around about tax filling and post this here myself, hope you guys can understand and ignore my poor English.

 

Here is my situation: I entered the U.S in Feb of 08 and was not an legal permanent residence until Jan 09. I did not work until now but my husband and I are think of filing tax jointly. But we, especially me have no clue what I should do and what forms will be involved. So hope I will get some help through candleforlove since there are so many intelligent people. Many thanks in advance!

[Randy W]

Hi, everyone

 

First of all, since my husband is so busy with his work so I am just searching around about tax filling and post this here myself, hope you guys can understand and ignore my poor English.

 

Here is my situation: I entered the U.S in Feb of 08 and was not an legal permanent residence until Jan 09. I did not work until now but my husband and I are think of filing tax jointly. But we, especially me have no clue what I should do and what forms will be involved. So hope I will get some help through candleforlove since there are so many intelligent people. Many thanks in advance!

 

Check your other post, and go to http://www.irs.gov. Download 1040EZ, 1040A, or 1040 (depending on your husband's income).