Tax Return Confusion

[KandE 0]

Hello everyone,

We filed our taxes in January 2014: our accountant made a mistake and wrote down that my husband was 'single'.

In January 2014 I was still waiting for my greencard papers. We found the mistake right before the green-card interview in March but were lucky not to have been asked to show the tax papers at the interview.

After I received my green card and became a Permanent Legal Resident, we filed the AMENDED tax return where we corrected the mistake and filed as "married filing jointly'. We received the amended tax return soon after in April.

My question is: did we have to show my taxes from Russia?

When we filed the amended return I was already a greencard holder. Never worked in the US in 2013.

Did I have to show my 2013 income from when I was still living in Russia in 2013?

[Owen_London 65]

It's complicated.

For 2013, you count as a dual-status alien, only if you fulfill the IRS substantial presence test. If you don't fulfill the test, then you count as a non-resident alien. You must file married filing separately if you do this. The rules are here:

http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/Substantial-Presence-Test

http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/Taxation-of-Dual-Status-Aliens

However, as the spouse of a US citizen, you are alternatively allowed to elect to be counted as tax resident for the whole year if you so choose. You must file married filing jointly if you do this.

http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/Nonresident-Spouse-Treated-as-a-Resident

If you count as a dual-status alien, show any income from Russia received after becoming US tax resident. If you elect to be treated as tax resident for the whole year, you will need to show all income for the year. In either case, you should show the taxes related to this income if you can use them to offset US taxes under a dual taxation treaty (if there is one).

Choose the election as tax resident if overall it saves the two of you money.

You may want to find yourself a decent CPA who understands these issues. Don't use H&R Block or other tax chains, as they know next to nothing about it. Ask around for recommendations in your area.