Tax claim and immigration

[hsbn 1]

Hello everyone, first of I would like to thank you everyone for helping me out during the application process. My wife has been to the US for 3 weeks now. Thank you again.

I have a question about tax claim. We got married in Jan 2010. She came here on Feb 24, 2011 and just got her SSN last week. I am going to file 2010 Tax soon. But I wonder if I can claim her. Thank you in advance.

PS: I was sending money back to supporting her before she came to the U.S if it could be any help. Thank you again.

[LADYDARE 28]

She's your spouse so you will be filing jointly..you can't claim her as a dependant.

[hsbn 1]

Thank you. That's what I meant. But since she is not in the States during 2010, would I still be able to file jointly for 2010 Tax ? Sorry if the question is stupid.

[Audy_Rob 26]

Yes, you can file your taxes as Married - Filing jointly but you will need to include your worldwide income. This means any income from foreign sources such as interest on bank accounts, was your wife working and any foreign investments.

You cannot file Electronically because you will need to attach a special hand drawn letter of including wife as a resident on taxes. This is covered in the Publications on Foreigners, Non-residents and residents.

Good luck

[justashooter 430]

She's your spouse so you will be filing jointly..you can't claim her as a dependant.

wrong.

rob has it right. you can get the benefit of the joint filing and the benefit of the personal exemption. you just have to report her income and go thru the hoops of proving that she paid tax on it in her home country, or pay tax on it here.

[Karee 4,189]

Yes, you can file your taxes as Married - Filing jointly but you will need to include your worldwide income. This means any income from foreign sources such as interest on bank accounts, was your wife working and any foreign investments.

You cannot file Electronically because you will need to attach a special hand drawn letter of including wife as a resident on taxes. This is covered in the Publications on Foreigners, Non-residents and residents.

Good luck

I have never done that. I thought as long as she has a SS#, and we are married, and she's a PR we're good to go. I actually went all the way back to 2006 once she got here in 2009 and amended married filing jointly.

[K and L 27]

If she wasn't a PLR for the tax year in question (or wasn't for enough of the year), you are supposed to include a letter waiving her right to be treated as a non-resident for the tax year.

If she is treated as a non-resident, your spouse's foreign earnings do not need to be included unless it can be connected with trade/business in the US (such as the portion of a salary earned while on a business trip to the US) or income that is US sourced (such as interest or stocks). You can file as married, filing separately if you wish to have records of both of you filing as married for TY 2010.

And if she is treated as a non-resident, you can STILL include her as a dependent:

Claiming Exemptions

You can claim personal exemptions and exemptions for dependents according to the dependency rules for U.S. citizens. You can claim an exemption for your spouse on a Married Filing Separate return if your spouse had no gross income for U.S. tax purposes and was not the dependent of another taxpayer. You can claim this exemption even if your spouse has not been a resident alien for a full tax year or is an alien who has not come to the United States. You can claim an exemption for each person who qualifies as a dependent according to the rules for U.S. citizens. The dependent must be a citizen or national of the United States or be a resident of the United States, Canada, or Mexico for some part of the calendar year in which your tax year begins. Get Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information for more information. Refer also to Aliens--How Many Exemptions Can Be Claimed?

It's your call. A slower refund, if you're owed one, is not the end of the world.