Taxes - First year in US

[chiggins82 87]

HI,

I am trying to get a handle on taxes. My husband has an accountant who is very, very reluctant to ours because she has never done it before for someone in my situation..

We are looking into a different accountant, but I have been exploring how to do it on my own. I have read IRS Document 519, but I am still so confused!

I am Canadian and I came to US on K-1 in March.

I have Income from a job in Canada in 2015

I have EI from Canada for 2015

I have savings accounts still in Canada

I have US income in 2015

I am a permanent resident now

My husband is US born, only has US income

From my readings on here I think we need to do taxes as married filing jointly and that I need to claim my worldwide income (Canadian and US) using the 1040. Then I can use IRS form 2555 to exclude my Canadian income for being taxed again in the US.

My questions / where I am confused:

- Do I need to write some sort of statement saying that I want to be considered a resident alien for the full tax year so that we can file jointly?

- Do I need to have any 'proof' of my incomes in Canada (i.e. do they want my Canadian T4, or is simply giving the amounts good enough)

- Am I missing any other forms?

- Can this be done on Turbo tax?

I know taxes are very specific to every individual. Hoping for some advice just on filing basic income listed above and then how to exclude it so I don't get taxed twice.

Thanks!

Edited January 27, 2016 by chiggins82

[MariaR323 199]

HI,

I am trying to get a handle on taxes. My husband has an accountant who is very, very reluctant to ours because she has never done it before for someone in my situation..

We are looking into a different accountant, but I have been exploring how to do it on my own. I have read IRS Document 519, but I am still so confused!

I am Canadian and I came to US on K-1 in March.

I have Income from a job in Canada in 2015

I have EI from Canada for 2015

I have savings accounts still in Canada

I have US income in 2015

I am a permanent resident now

My husband is US born, only has US income

From my readings on here I think we need to do taxes as married filing jointly and that I need to claim my worldwide income (Canadian and US) using the 1040. Then I can use IRS form 2555 to exclude my Canadian income for being taxed again in the US. Correct.

My questions / where I am confused:

- Do I need to write some sort of statement saying that I want to be considered a resident alien for the full tax year so that we can file jointly? Yes, it's an election statement. Following this IRS link on how to write it and what info to include: https://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/Nonresident-Spouse-Treated-as-a-Resident

- Do I need to have any 'proof' of my incomes in Canada (i.e. do they want my Canadian T4, or is simply giving the amounts good enough) I'd say keep your documents for backup but they are not needed; just enter the foreign income amounts.

- Am I missing any other forms? As far as for the election and foreign income exclusion, no.

- Can this be done on Turbo tax? Yes; except for the election statement. You won't be able to e-File; print a hardcopy return and attached your election statement and mail it via Certified Mail.

I know taxes are very specific to every individual. Hoping for some advice just on filing basic income listed above and then how to exclude it so I don't get taxed twice.

Thanks!

Hope that helps.

[chiggins82 87]

Thanks, that does help!