It is TAX TIME!

[honestlyspkng 0]

But bear with those of us who go to the mountain for the first time. My wife who has had her I-130 approved, works in Ukraine, and because she is not here yet, I am sending along with the 1040 and the W-7 that goes to Texas, a letter of choice that states she wants to be treated as a resident for tax purposes. All of this so we can file jointly. Do I include any of her income and how would I do it?

I am sure that if her income is not taxable, the IRS will want to practice stupidity as they do, and at least report her income on one document, and show it to be excluded on another, but if it is to be taxable, how do I report it with a 1040 filing jointly?

I want to be correct as the State Dept will have a record of her employment for the last ten years and hopefully a copy of this completed tax return.

Thanks all

[payxibka 10,044]

there are three or four active or reasonably active tax threads that discuss this exhaustively.... Use VJ google

[Waldo 0]

But bear with those of us who go to the mountain for the first time. My wife who has had her I-130 approved, works in Ukraine, and because she is not here yet, I am sending along with the 1040 and the W-7 that goes to Texas, a letter of choice that states she wants to be treated as a resident for tax purposes. All of this so we can file jointly. Do I include any of her income and how would I do it?

I am sure that if her income is not taxable, the IRS will want to practice stupidity as they do, and at least report her income on one document, and show it to be excluded on another, but if it is to be taxable, how do I report it with a 1040 filing jointly?

I want to be correct as the State Dept will have a record of her employment for the last ten years and hopefully a copy of this completed tax return.

Thanks all

According to Publication 56 page 26 you HAVE to list her income if you are filing jointly. The other way is to file as married filing seperate with the W7. You can claim her as an exemption IF she has never had any taxable income in the US, has no accounts in the US, and has not been to the US in the year of 2008. This last one is the easier way

[honestlyspkng 0]

Do I still need the W-7 if I file seperate? The bummer is that seperate means I lose big time because by the guidelines, I cannot claim her as a dependent. I understand that with form 2555

she can exclude her foreign income because she has never been here and has a tax home in another country and did not work for the US government there. Its worth 2 grand to file jointly.

You have any idea how to find the tax threads on VJ?