Bona Fide Residence Test for Tax Filing (F2555)

[Jen*Mart 0]

My husband is a citizen of The Netherlands and I am the USC. He was living with me in the US between 1/1/2005 and 3/5/2005 on a visitor's visa. He returned to Holland and from 3/6/2005 to 9/5/2005, he earned roughly $6,000. During his time in Holland, we were waiting for the I-129F to be approved. He has been living in the US with me since 9/6/2005 and we got married 10/1/2005.

We will file a married joint tax return for my income since he has not yet earned any money inthe US. We want to know if he can qualify for the bona fide residence test which will make him eligible to exclude all of his earnings from Holland on the F2555. We were thinking he does not qualify for this income exclusion simply because on 12/25/2005 he sent a letter to the Dutch government to say that he is no longer a resident of Holland.

Can we exclude his income in our situation? Has anyone else run into this similar situation?

Thank you!!

Jennifer

[malutka 0]

My husband came to the U.S. on 09/26/2005 and we were married 11/22/2005. He also has not earned any money in the U.S. during this time period. I called the IRS and they told me that if we file married filing a joint return, that he has to show his earnings from Poland. They also said that if we file married filing single return that I can claim him as a dependent and I would not have to show his income from Poland. And since he did not earn any income in the U.S...he does not have to file since his income was zero. That is what I did.

[Jen*Mart 0]

They also said that if we file married filing single return that I can claim him as a dependent and I would not have to show his income from Poland. And since he did not earn any income in the U.S...he does not have to file since his income was zero. That is what I did.

Thank you for posting. I thought that when you are married you were not allowed to file single and claim your spouse as a dependent. But if it worked you for, cool.

[motu 5]

That's a nonsensical term "married filing Single"

the correct term is "Married filing Separately. Check out both ways of filing - i.e married filing jointly and married filing separately to see which one is more advantageous then follow that. Good Luck

[malutka 0]

oops..I meant married filing separately! Sorry about that!

[Yodrak 7]

Jennifer,

You should be able to determine easily enough whether or not your husband passes the bonafide residence test, or the physical presence test, by filling out the appropriate sections of Form 2555, or Form 2555-EZ. The physical presence test might be easier to understand, and possibly easier to qualify under.

I expect you'll find that he does qualify.

Yodrak

My husband is a citizen of The Netherlands and I am the USC. He was living with me in the US between 1/1/2005 and 3/5/2005 on a visitor's visa. He returned to Holland and from 3/6/2005 to 9/5/2005, he earned roughly $6,000. During his time in Holland, we were waiting for the I-129F to be approved. He has been living in the US with me since 9/6/2005 and we got married 10/1/2005.

We will file a married joint tax return for my income since he has not yet earned any money inthe US. We want to know if he can qualify for the bona fide residence test which will make him eligible to exclude all of his earnings from Holland on the F2555. We were thinking he does not qualify for this income exclusion simply because on 12/25/2005 he sent a letter to the Dutch government to say that he is no longer a resident of Holland.

Can we exclude his income in our situation? Has anyone else run into this similar situation?

Thank you!!

Jennifer

malutka,

Point of clarification: you did not claim your husband as a dependent, there's no way for you to do that. What you did do is use his exemption, which you can do since he did not use it.

But look at the tax obligation shown for your taxable income in the table for filing Married-Separate and Married-Joint. You should find that you'd owe less tax as Married-Joint. Isn't the savings worth the effort of reporting your husband's income from Poland and then excluding it?

Yodrak

My husband came to the U.S. on 09/26/2005 and we were married 11/22/2005. He also has not earned any money in the U.S. during this time period. I called the IRS and they told me that if we file married filing a joint return, that he has to show his earnings from Poland. They also said that if we file married filing single return that I can claim him as a dependent and I would not have to show his income from Poland. And since he did not earn any income in the U.S...he does not have to file since his income was zero. That is what I did.