A little confused - need tax advice

[soon2batexan 3]

Hi all,

I'm still on the fence about what to do this coming tax season, and I'm hoping my fellow Can/Am VJers can offer some advice.

I moved to TX in early Dec 2010 and we got married the same month, which I'm guessing means we'll be considered married for the 2010 tax year in both countries. Even though I earned no US income, I gather that the IRS will consider me resident alien for tax purposes, so I'll need to file US taxes with hubby.

What's the consensus - should we hire an accountant, or can we just use a program like TurboTax?

My husband has basically no deductions and I usually only have a couple. Can we get by with TurboTax? I've never used it before, so I don't know if it automatically factors in things like foreign income, etc.

Any advice would be very much appreciated! We want our taxes to be done right, but we also don't want to have to pay several hundred dollars to an accountant if we don't have to. Thanks!

[Darnell 8,478]

you can use turbo tax to 'figure it out'

but

you cannot efile with turbo tax, as you've no prior history with the IRS with yer SSN.

*** not a CR-1 visa question, moving to 'Moving Here and Your New Life In America' forum ***

Edited January 20, 2011 by Darnell

[tbaygrrl 2]

In both countries you will have to file under... Married filed jointly.

On the U.S. form, there is also a section where it will ask about residency and if you were here the whole year or partial, so you would check partial. This may affect some tax credits (as it did my husband and I, but nothing major).

In Canada, file married again, but this time make sure to check that you are filing as a non-resident, and which day you seised to be a resident of Canada. Nothing to stress about, it can sound alot more complicated than it is.

If your still uncomfortable, just go to H&R and request a supervisor there to file your taxes for the States (yr round staff and supervisors are certified accountants, not temp. staff hired off the street).

Cheers :-)

[marriedtomrg 140]

We used TurboTax last year, and I declared Foreign Earned Income (of course in my case, after converting Philippine Pesos to U.S. dollars, my wages really were negligible). It's very easy to use and you will know when to declare Foreign Income. You WILL need your SSN to file this way though. Otherwise, you will have to mail in the return with an ITIN application (IRS Form W-7 plus supporting documents). You will also need to include a statement saying you will be considered a resident alien for tax purposes.

Hi all,

I'm still on the fence about what to do this coming tax season, and I'm hoping my fellow Can/Am VJers can offer some advice.

I moved to TX in early Dec 2010 and we got married the same month, which I'm guessing means we'll be considered married for the 2010 tax year in both countries. Even though I earned no US income, I gather that the IRS will consider me resident alien for tax purposes, so I'll need to file US taxes with hubby.

What's the consensus - should we hire an accountant, or can we just use a program like TurboTax?

My husband has basically no deductions and I usually only have a couple. Can we get by with TurboTax? I've never used it before, so I don't know if it automatically factors in things like foreign income, etc.

Any advice would be very much appreciated! We want our taxes to be done right, but we also don't want to have to pay several hundred dollars to an accountant if we don't have to. Thanks!