Income Tax filing newly married

[Craig & Julia 0]

Just married in November... My wife has not worked in the US this year. How will this effect income tax filing for 2008? Do I file jointly with her at 0 income? She has a SSN already.

Thanks

[rin and john 71]

Just married in November... My wife has not worked in the US this year. How will this effect income tax filing for 2008? Do I file jointly with her at 0 income? She has a SSN already.

Thanks

Did your wife work overseas this year? Foreign income has to be reported if you include her on your US income tax. Rin had no 2006 income tax (we married Oct 2006), so I filed "married filing jointly". If your wife had foreign income it will be have to be reported when you file (if filing "married filing jointly"), however a certain amount of foreign income may be excluded from US tax.

Check www.irs.gov and do a search for foreign income.

[Ban Hammer 12,836]

mbc from K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures General to Moving Here and Your New Life In America

[lucyrich 19]

See these IRS publications:

http://www.irs.gov/publications/p519/index.html

http://www.irs.gov/publications/p501/index.html

The main point to remember is that single status is not available to married people. If you were legally married as of December 31, then you cannot file as single. Filing as single not only is a violation of IRS rules, but it also may cause problems with immigration -- you'll probably have to show the tax returns at adjusment of status, removal of conditions, and/or a future citizenship application, and it would put you in an odd position of trying to convince the USCIS that your marriage is bona fide while showing them a document where you claim to the IRS that you are not married at all.

You can either file as "married filing separately" or "married filing jointly". There may be some chance you would qualify as "head of household", but the circumstances for that would be unusual (you'd have to have a qualifying dependent living with you, and your spouse could not have lived with you during the last 6 months of the year).

If you file a joint return, then the two of you will file the return jointly. You'll both sign it, and you'll each need your social security numbers. If your alien spouse isn't eligible for a SSN yet, you'll file a W-7 and request an ITIN. For a joint return, the alien spouse will have to declare all income earned worldwide for the tax year, though tax treaties will probably mean that most or all of the income earned outside the US will be free of US income tax.

If you file a joint return and your alien spouse has little or no US income, be prepared for a significant reduction in your tax bill compared to filing as a single taxpayer.

If you file a "married filing separate" return, chances are you will end up paying a higher tax than a joint return, and probably higher than you used to pay as a single individual. But it depends on individual circumstances.

A nonresident alien is ordinarily not allowed to file a joint return. However, the two of you may elect to have your nonresident alien spouse treated as a resident. If you make this election, you can file a joint return. For details, see this part of publication 519.

http://www.irs.gov/publications/p519/ch01.html#d0e1603

Edited January 7, 2009 by lucyrich

[JoeCanuk 3]

Just married in November... My wife has not worked in the US this year. How will this effect income tax filing for 2008? Do I file jointly with her at 0 income? She has a SSN already.

Thanks

Did your wife work overseas this year? Foreign income has to be reported if you include her on your US income tax. Rin had no 2006 income tax (we married Oct 2006), so I filed "married filing jointly". If your wife had foreign income it will be have to be reported when you file (if filing "married filing jointly"), however a certain amount of foreign income may be excluded from US tax.

Check www.irs.gov and do a search for foreign income.

Is this true? I didn't report any "foregin income" (as if that's the U.S. government's business) because the tax place I went to said I did not have to. And it was a place that helped immigrants too. Go figure.

I don't see how any income one makes in their home country before coming to the U.S. is any of the American government's business.

[lucyrich 19]

Just married in November... My wife has not worked in the US this year. How will this effect income tax filing for 2008? Do I file jointly with her at 0 income? She has a SSN already.

Thanks

Did your wife work overseas this year? Foreign income has to be reported if you include her on your US income tax. Rin had no 2006 income tax (we married Oct 2006), so I filed "married filing jointly". If your wife had foreign income it will be have to be reported when you file (if filing "married filing jointly"), however a certain amount of foreign income may be excluded from US tax.

Check www.irs.gov and do a search for foreign income.

Is this true? I didn't report any "foregin income" (as if that's the U.S. government's business) because the tax place I went to said I did not have to. And it was a place that helped immigrants too. Go figure.

I don't see how any income one makes in their home country before coming to the U.S. is any of the American government's business.

Yes, it's true. See here:

http://www.irs.gov/publications/p519/ch02.html#d0e1744

A resident alien's income is generally subject to tax in the same manner as a U.S. citizen. If you are a resident alien, you must report all interest, dividends, wages, or other compensation for services, income from rental property or royalties, and other types of income on your U.S. tax return. You must report these amounts whether from sources within or outside the United States.

An alien must be considered a resident alien in order to file a joint return. The alternative is to be considered a nonresident alien. Nonresident aliens generally aren't subject to tax from non-US sources, but they're also not eligible to file a joint return.

[Old Dominion 26]

Filing jointly will save you on taxes...one additional dependent. As to the immigrant spouse's overseas income, it need not be declared. For one thing, the spouse is not yet a legal permanent resident, right? And she wasn't really a resident alien, as described by the IRS.

[kaffy 2]

Yup. I don't plan on declaring my 2008 overseas earned income on my (first) US tax return this year since I became a US permanent resident after I had earned that money

[rin and john 71]

Filing jointly will save you on taxes...one additional dependent. As to the immigrant spouse's overseas income, it need not be declared. For one thing, the spouse is not yet a legal permanent resident, right? And she wasn't really a resident alien, as described by the IRS.

Yes, filing jointly will usually save you on taxes, but a spouse is not a "dependent" in the eyes of the IRS (they are a spouse and you and your spouse are entitled to one "exemption" each).

And yes, a spouse's overseas income has to be declared as 'Lucyrich' states but the majority of individuals will have that income exempted due to tax treaties.

Also a "resident alien" as defined by the IRS is not equivalent to a "legal permanent resident" as defined by the USCIS. My wife was a "resident alien" for tax purposes in 2006 and 2007, but did not become a "legal permanent resident" until November 2008. IRS publication 519 goes into great details on how to be declared a "resident alien" for tax purposes.

[rin and john 71]

Yup. I don't plan on declaring my 2008 overseas earned income on my (first) US tax return this year since I became a US permanent resident after I had earned that money

Letter of the law and what people do and get away with are two different things entirely. It is highly unlikely the IRS would find out about your foreign income/tax (unless you are the Beckham's).

I see you filed DCF. When were you married? If in 2007, did your SO (USC ) file married filing jointly, married filing separately, head of household, or single?

[rin and john 71]

A link to one of last year's (with links to previous year's) discussion on taxes. Deja vu!

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...c=111629&hl

[kaffy 2]

We married in July last year and he filed as single. Perhaps I am mistaken but I didn't think it was necessary as I was a non resident alien then and had no plans of becoming one either (our circumstances changed quite suddenly this year). Everything I have read has said that it's our choice, not a definite rule

(we will of course be filing joint for 2008 since I have become a resident and am earning a US based income)

[rin and john 71]

We married in July last year and he filed as single. Perhaps I am mistaken but I didn't think it was necessary as I was a non resident alien then and had no plans of becoming one either (our circumstances changed quite suddenly this year). Everything I have read has said that it's our choice, not a definite rule

(we will of course be filing joint for 2008 since I have become a resident and am earning a US based income)

It is your choice as to whether you declare yourself a "non-resident" or "resident" alien for tax purposes per IRS pub. 519. Living abroad, I am not sure what the USC filing status should have been, but pub 54 suggests he could potentially have filed as "head of household" vs "single". Would be an interesting question for someone with far greater tax knowledge than I have!

http://www.irs.gov/publications/p54/ch01.html

Edited January 7, 2009 by rin and john

[SupportOAFJF 0]

If you file a "married filing separate" return, chances are you will end up paying a higher tax than a joint return, and probably higher than you used to pay as a single individual. But it depends on individual circumstances.

http://www.irs.gov/publications/p519/ch01.html#d0e1603

I'm sorry if I'm slow..but what does this mean exactly ? Does it mean when u file separate u'll get a lesser return IF ur getting one?

[Jeraly 3]

So with the UK's tax year running from April to April, how am I meant to get my year's income on paper before then?? And if I have already paid taxes in the UK, why would they have to be paid here as well?