2009 Tax Return Filing Jointly (wife K1 doing AOS)

[Leo&Farah 0]

Hi guys,

We are planning to file 2009 taxes as married, filing jointly. According to IRS, you can file jointly even if one spouse has no income or deductions.

IRS also states that:

Nonresident alien or dual-status alien. A joint return generally cannot be filed if either spouse is a nonresident alien at any time during the tax year. However, if one spouse was a nonresident alien or dual-status alien who was married to a U.S. citizen or resident alien at the end of the year, the spouses can choose to file a joint return. If you do file a joint return, you and your spouse are both treated as U.S. residents for the entire tax year.

So correct me if I'm wrong, my wife is able to file jointly with me, despite being a K1-AOS in progress (we got married in December 2009) and despite the fact that she earned no income in 2009.

My question is, what forms etc do we need to do all this? Is a simple turbo tax good enough and no accompanying forms needed?

Also, can I claim her as a personal exemption? Both of us are not dependants of anyone else

Kinda new to this tax things so bear with me please. Does married filing jointly mean we get a bigger return than what I got last year filing as a single with no dependants? Also, if we file jointly, can I list my wife as a dependant?

Thanks in advance from the tax newbie.

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

Yes, you'll have a smaller tax bill than last year. That should result in a larger refund if you paid in more than your tax. I think you'll get a lot of information from this thread that's being going for awhile. http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=235947

[Leo&Farah 0]

Thanks for the heads up. we had read the thread earlier but wasnt sure we wanted to hijack it since his wife had an income in Canada and was not yet in US. So we started a specific situation thread.

We filed out joint tax return today so hopefully it gets accepted by the gov. I have to say, married filing jointly gave us a HUGE return especially since my hubby practices taking as much tax as he can on his paychecks so he can slowly 'save' money by getting a bigger return.

This was my first time ever filing taxes, so yay to that! Even though I had zero income

-Farah-

[B*J 1]

Thanks for the heads up. we had read the thread earlier but wasnt sure we wanted to hijack it since his wife had an income in Canada and was not yet in US. So we started a specific situation thread.

We filed out joint tax return today so hopefully it gets accepted by the gov. I have to say, married filing jointly gave us a HUGE return especially since my hubby practices taking as much tax as he can on his paychecks so he can slowly 'save' money by getting a bigger return.

This was my first time ever filing taxes, so yay to that! Even though I had zero income

-Farah-

Along this same line of inquiry...Anyone know if wife can be filed as dependent even though she has not yet received her green card?

[paul. 0]

I don't have anything to add to your question, but a quick tip though.

Withholding more from work makes the government earn interest on YOUR money, so when you think you're getting a good amount of money back at the end of the year, you're really only getting a 0% interest return on what you saved. If he took the minimum out of his wages and put it into a high-yield savings account, you'd make interest all year long and then would have enough money to pay any taxes you'd still owe at the end of the year, plus some spare from the interest! People are kidding themselves that by getting a large sum at the end of the year, they are somehow better off than paying the government what they still owe. It's simple math, but often people don't think about it as a nice, large check is juicy, I get it. But anyway, think about it!

[Leo&Farah 0]

I get where youre going at with the argument. So far, my hubby has never owed any taxes and always got refunds from both federal and state. Although I would love getting more from a paycheck instead of having close to 25% deducted each time, I think he is set in his ways as he learned the practice from his dad.

Another thing to consider is people with the inability to save. Doing it this way, makes sure we dont go on a spending spree simply because we can. Still trying to discipline ourselves, or at least, I am but somehow money just slips away over the smallest things and next thing you know, youve spend a few hundred and have nothing to show for it. I hate that feeling!

[paul. 0]

Hey, trust me, I get the feeling too! My Wife is also set in her ways through her Father, so she too has more put away each paycheck than she needs too. I graduated business school and am a frugal person by nature, so to me it itches at me, you know, that the government is making more money off of MY hard work. I'm happy to pay my taxes, but not more than they ask for and that's how I feel doing it her way and your Husband's way!

[Nate and Aca 0]

I have a related question to this same situation. Does my wife need to have a SSN or ITIN in order for us to file jointly?