Filling married taxes while waiting for my AOS

[Lais Guzik 0]

Hi! This is my first time posting here on Visa Journey. Hope I'm doing this right!

I've looked other posts but none of them clearly answered my question.

I came to US under a J-1 visa in 2011. For the 2011 tax year I filled up the form for non-resident alien. I got married in November of 2012. For this year, can I fill taxes with my husband even if I still don't have my green card? I got my work permit, but our interview will just be in April, 19th. Since I just made basically enough money to pay taxes and my husband makes away more, we would get a really good refund. He uses turbotax and so far we didn't figured out how we could do our taxes together.

Any ideas? Past experiences??

Thank you in advance.

[X Factor 1,112]

I got married in November too and we filed taxes jointly. It increased our refund by around $1700. Do you have a social security number?

[Lais Guzik 0]

I do have it. But I haven't changed my name there, cause a friends told me that I should wait for my green card to do it. Did you use any programs like turbo tax to do it??

[Kehinde 45]

I do have it. But I haven't changed my name there, cause a friends told me that I should wait for my green card to do it. Did you use any programs like turbo tax to do it??

If you are legally married then you should change your name on everything. Immigration will not look kindly on someone who is hiding their marriage. You will run into problems if you wait cos they are going to want to no why everything is hidden. Change your name and file your taxes like normal married couples.

[UK-USA-K1 128]

I do have it. But I haven't changed my name there, cause a friends told me that I should wait for my green card to do it. Did you use any programs like turbo tax to do it??

I don't use turbo tax, but I've used tax software for many years, and if you both have social security numbers, the IRS doesn't really care what your names are. If you are legally married, you can file either Married/Jointly or Married/Separately. The choice is yours. One spouse fills in their information, then when they check that they are filing as married (either joint or separately) they should be asked for the spouse information (name, social security number). If filing jointly, you will have to put in your information along with his. The totals will all be added and the tax (or refund) figured for you.

[X Factor 1,112]

I do have it. But I haven't changed my name there, cause a friends told me that I should wait for my green card to do it. Did you use any programs like turbo tax to do it??

Yes and I used her unmarried name that is on the social security card to file electronically. Once the refund is in the bank we will go and change her social security card name to her married name. If the name on the tax return doesn't match the social security card there could be issues.

[Lais Guzik 0]

So I won't change my name yet. Let me ask you something, does your wife already has her green card?

[X Factor 1,112]

So I won't change my name yet. Let me ask you something, does your wife already has her green card?

No she only got her EAD and AP. We sent in the AOS package in December.

[Lais Guzik 0]

Exactly the same here. I will try to taxes this weekend with him and see how things go!! Thanks you!

[X Factor 1,112]

Exactly the same here. I will try to taxes this weekend with him and see how things go!! Thanks you!

You are welcome

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Hi! This is my first time posting here on Visa Journey. Hope I'm doing this right!

I've looked other posts but none of them clearly answered my question.

I came to US under a J-1 visa in 2011. For the 2011 tax year I filled up the form for non-resident alien. I got married in November of 2012. For this year, can I fill taxes with my husband even if I still don't have my green card? I got my work permit, but our interview will just be in April, 19th. Since I just made basically enough money to pay taxes and my husband makes away more, we would get a really good refund. He uses turbotax and so far we didn't figured out how we could do our taxes together.

Any ideas? Past experiences??

Thank you in advance.

To be a resident for taxes you must meet the green card test or physical presence test. If you were in the US all of 2012, then you easily meet the physical presence test whether you married or not and could file as a resident alien. If you were brand new to the US in November and married a US citizen, then you could write a statement electing to be treated as a resident alien for taxes, even if you did not have a greencard or were not physically present all year.

You can file jointly with your husband on a normal 1040 return. You can use your maiden name or married name--whatever you go by. The last names don't have to be same on a joint tax return. My husband and I have filed 5 tax returns together with different last names. If your greencard is coming in your married name, then I would go ahead and use it on the tax return if that's the name you will be using in the future.

For TurboTax, just answer the questions. We're you married in 2012? Yes. What is your spouses name? _______What is her SSN? _______ Did your spouse have any W2s? Yes.......there is nothing special to do.

Edited March 16, 2013 by Nich-Nick

[lvs1313 0]

I got married in November too and we filed taxes jointly. It increased our refund by around $1700. Do you have a social security number?

Hi! I'm a US citizen and my husband and I were married in August. He now has his AED/AP card and a social security number however every time I try to file my taxes via turbo tax it gets rejected. I called the SS office and they said its because his status is pending. How did you file your taxes jointly? Any advice would be awesome!

Thanks!

[Lais Guzik 0]

So, we are still doing our taxes. My husband called turbo tax and they asked for my W-2. I was an au pair before, so the agency don't provide us one. We are still looking on how we are going to do that. What I would recommend you to do, is call turbo tax. That was how my husband got some infos. Best of luck for us!

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Hi! I'm a US citizen and my husband and I were married in August. He now has his AED/AP card and a social security number however every time I try to file my taxes via turbo tax it gets rejected. I called the SS office and they said its because his status is pending. How did you file your taxes jointly? Any advice would be awesome!

Thanks!

If you were married in 2012, but you husband doesn't have a greencard and only entered the US in 2012, your situation is a little different. You can write a statement electing for him to be treated as a resident alien for tax purposes for all of 2012. If he earned any income in his foreign country, that must be reported. Otherwise you have to file "married filing separately" Foreign Income can also be excluded using Form 2555. There is a thread with a sample statement to write and how to do the foreign income exclusion on TurboTax. http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/412125-turbotax-help-for-joint-filing-2012/

For the SSN problem, you can always print out a paper copy and put it in the mail. When you file with the statement electing for him to be treated as a resident alien, IRS told me that must be mailed as a paper return.