Please help with taxs

[Ju@Lu 1]

Hello VJ Friends,

We need your help. I came here with K1 visa on the 24 of AUG12, we got married at the end of AUG12. I had received a salary in Poland prior to arrival in the USA (last pay day was 10 of SEP12)and already paid all the required taxes in Poland . Since I am here, I did not work or receive any income. My Husband is now starting to do his income tax for the year 2012 and we are not sure how to handle if we file jointly. H&R Block instructions state that I should complete a form declaring my income overseas. However, other tax prepares have told us that income overseas should not be reported if taxes were already paid in the forgein country. Does anyone have such experience? What is the correct way to file the joint return? Or should my husband file a "Married but filing single" return?

If there is anybody who had a similar situation and wants to share their experance with us, we would appreciate it....

[Fight for Love 98]

just on the safe side i will included it unless u getting paid under the table in your country. also, if you aren't aware u could able to use moving expense as a deductible (such flight ticket, visa fee, medical fee and etc)

[Peter_Pan 661]

I worked back home until July 2012. I did not include those in any way, since at that point, I had no connection to the US, that is I was not a legal resident or deriving any income from the US.

My husband's taxes were handled by H&R, there was no mentioning of any statement from me, and I was put down as "homemaker" (the irony's still killing me!).

[Ju@Lu 1]

just on the safe side i will included it unless u getting paid under the table in your country. also, if you aren't aware u could able to use moving expense as a deductible (such flight ticket, visa fee, medical fee and etc)

Well, I mentioned , that I paid taxis already, so my salary wasn't under the table .. I didn't know that flight ticket, visa and medical exp are deductible..pity , I didn't keep any receipts.. stupid me Any way thank you for info.. I appreciate..

[Ju@Lu 1]

I worked back home until July 2012. I did not include those in any way, since at that point, I had no connection to the US, that is I was not a legal resident or deriving any income from the US.

My husband's taxes were handled by H&R, there was no mentioning of any statement from me, and I was put down as "homemaker" (the irony's still killing me!).

..I still don't have a green card so I am not ''full'' resident yet..but looks like I am ''home maker'' too .. agree, sounds strange

[Gosia & Tito 199]

Hello VJ Friends,

We need your help. I came here with K1 visa on the 24 of AUG12, we got married at the end of AUG12. I had received a salary in Poland prior to arrival in the USA (last pay day was 10 of SEP12)and already paid all the required taxes in Poland . Since I am here, I did not work or receive any income. My Husband is now starting to do his income tax for the year 2012 and we are not sure how to handle if we file jointly. H&R Block instructions state that I should complete a form declaring my income overseas. However, other tax prepares have told us that income overseas should not be reported if taxes were already paid in the forgein country. Does anyone have such experience? What is the correct way to file the joint return? Or should my husband file a "Married but filing single" return?

If there is anybody who had a similar situation and wants to share their experance with us, we would appreciate it....

We had same exact situation, just a year earlier -inclusive to time of arrival to the US...I did the taxes myself (with Turbo Tax). Send me a PM, I'll be more than happy to get you the details and the specific forms you would need to file

[newacct 688]

Hello VJ Friends,

We need your help. I came here with K1 visa on the 24 of AUG12, we got married at the end of AUG12. I had received a salary in Poland prior to arrival in the USA (last pay day was 10 of SEP12)and already paid all the required taxes in Poland . Since I am here, I did not work or receive any income. My Husband is now starting to do his income tax for the year 2012 and we are not sure how to handle if we file jointly. H&R Block instructions state that I should complete a form declaring my income overseas. However, other tax prepares have told us that income overseas should not be reported if taxes were already paid in the forgein country. Does anyone have such experience? What is the correct way to file the joint return? Or should my husband file a "Married but filing single" return?

If there is anybody who had a similar situation and wants to share their experance with us, we would appreciate it....

You are dual-status, which normally requires you to file separately. You are using the "nonresident spouse treated as reasident" in order to file jointly. This makes you a resident for the whole year and you would have to report your income from abroad before you came here.

However, you can use the Foreign Tax Credit to account for taxes you already paid to Poland. In other words, you will only have to pay the difference between what you paid to Poland and what you would have to pay to the U.S.

Whether this is better vs. filing separately (in which case you wouldn't have to pay taxes on that foreign income) is for you to decide. You need to compute it both ways.

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

I worked back home until July 2012. I did not include those in any way, since at that point, I had no connection to the US, that is I was not a legal resident or deriving any income from the US.

My husband's taxes were handled by H&R, there was no mentioning of any statement from me, and I was put down as "homemaker" (the irony's still killing me!).

The IRS says if you file jointly with your spouse, you must report worldwide inome for both parties. The alternative is your husband would file married filing separately, which must be what he did if your income was not reported. Look at your tax return. H&R made a mistake if you filed a joint return and didn't report the foreign income.

Edited March 30, 2013 by Nich-Nick

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

You are dual-status, which normally requires you to file separately. You are using the "nonresident spouse treated as reasident" in order to file jointly. This makes you a resident for the whole year and you would have to report your income from abroad before you came here.

However, you can use the Foreign Tax Credit to account for taxes you already paid to Poland. In other words, you will only have to pay the difference between what you paid to Poland and what you would have to pay to the U.S.

Whether this is better vs. filing separately (in which case you wouldn't have to pay taxes on that foreign income) is for you to decide. You need to compute it both ways.

The Foreign Income Exclusion might work out better than the Foreign Tax Credit. You can't take both on the same income.

[Ju@Lu 1]

We had same exact situation, just a year earlier -inclusive to time of arrival to the US...I did the taxes myself (with Turbo Tax). Send me a PM, I'll be more than happy to get you the details and the specific forms you would need to file

Gosia, thank you, I appreciate.. what is PM ??

You are dual-status, which normally requires you to file separately. You are using the "nonresident spouse treated as reasident" in order to file jointly. This makes you a resident for the whole year and you would have to report your income from abroad before you came here.

However, you can use the Foreign Tax Credit to account for taxes you already paid to Poland. In other words, you will only have to pay the difference between what you paid to Poland and what you would have to pay to the U.S.

Whether this is better vs. filing separately (in which case you wouldn't have to pay taxes on that foreign income) is for you to decide. You need to compute it both ways.

Thank you for your advice, I appreciate. I will follow up your recomendation.

[Ju@Lu 1]

The Foreign Income Exclusion might work out better than the Foreign Tax Credit. You can't take both on the same income.

Thank you for helping to clarify how I can resolve my sytuation.. We are still ''working hard'' on our taxis and hope we will be done before deadline..

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

Thank you for helping to clarify how I can resolve my sytuation.. We are still ''working hard'' on our taxis and hope we will be done before deadline..

There are other threads that might be of help. If you have TurboTax this one walks you through the foreign income exclusion and gives a sample statement to be a resident alien for tax purposes http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/412125-turbotax-help-for-joint-filing-2012/

Just to clarify a few things mentioned in this current thread--

No your visa and plane ticket and moving expenses can NOT be deducted.

If you choose to file jointly, you need to know how much foreign money was earned in 2012. Figure it out from the pay stubs, or bank deposits what his income was. Make the best estimate you can. It is self-reported and no foreign proofs are sent to IRS. Convert to US dollars. Take the income exclusion. Your taxes may be higher than if you were a single person, but you don't get to file single because you married. So compare what your taxes would be if filing --

• Married filing separately
  
• Married filing jointly (with worldwide income)
  

Go with the better deal which is probably jointly.

[Ju@Lu 1]

There are other threads that might be of help. If you have TurboTax this one walks you through the foreign income exclusion and gives a sample statement to be a resident alien for tax purposes http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/412125-turbotax-help-for-joint-filing-2012/

Just to clarify a few things mentioned in this current thread--

No your visa and plane ticket and moving expenses can NOT be deducted.

If you choose to file jointly, you need to know how much foreign money was earned in 2012. Figure it out from the pay stubs, or bank deposits what his income was. Make the best estimate you can. It is self-reported and no foreign proofs are sent to IRS. Convert to US dollars. Take the income exclusion. Your taxes may be higher than if you were a single person, but you don't get to file single because you married. So compare what your taxes would be if filing --

• Married filing separately
  
• Married filing jointly (with worldwide income)
  

Go with the better deal which is probably jointly.

Thank you Nick Nick, you are very helpful .. Thanks to you and people like you, we able to navigate thruth all the gouverment rules and regulations.. very often difficult to uderstand.. Thank you