Filing Taxes

[mapleleafmanny 11]

I got married in June and received my green card around the end of November. Now it's time to file taxes and it's very confusing. Obviously, since I received my green card I am now officially considered a permanent resident for the entirety of the tax year (2013). I have worked since the end of November in the US, but I had also worked in Canada from January-March. I already know I will need to file taxes in Canada for those initial three months, but here is my question:

From the research done, I need to declare my Canadian income while I file the US taxes. How do I go about filing this? I am using TurboTax and it's so confusing. TurboTax is suggesting that we file jointly for the federal tax return and separately for the state tax return. Do we need to include some sort of declaration explaining that I was a non-resident for part of the tax year? Is there any special instructions that I need to follow?

Google searches have not produced very good results and we're getting headaches from this.

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

Publication 519 lays it all out. That's how I learned. http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p519.pdf

Page 3 establishes you meet the greencard test so you are a resident alien for tax purposes for the entire year. You can skip to page 10. Your resident status is considered starting on Jan 1 2013, so read Resident sections and skip Non-resident sections. Most of that is for non-residents. You will have to declare worldwide income, but are eligible for Form 2555 Foreign Income Exclusion. In TurboTax that section is found way at the end of the income page under Less Common Income.

The way to approach the questions is remember the foreign country they ask about is not the US. So when it asks if you had a visa, no you didn't have a visa to Canada. You were a legal citizen since your birth. The form is also for Americans who go work abroad. So they are trying to establish if the Americans using this form had legal standing to work in that foreign country or if they were just on a long holiday and are trying to get out of some Income tax. You meet both tests to use the form....you were a resident(citizen even) of the foreign country (Canada) and you had substantial presence there probably because you were there pretty much forever...right? Until you came to the US.

Explore a little and ask further questions here and I will see it and try to help.

Edited February 13, 2014 by Nich-Nick

[KayDeeCee 4,892]

~ Moved from AOS from Family Based Visas to General Immigration-Related Discussion - topic not about AOS process ~

[Canerican 242]

Hey there Nich-Nick,

I am in the same situation, have my GC so am considered a resident alien. For when did you move to your state would you put the date you crossed the border or would you put Jan 1, 2013?

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

Hey there Nich-Nick,

I am in the same situation, have my GC so am considered a resident alien. For when did you move to your state would you put the date you crossed the border or would you put Jan 1, 2013?

I think that is going to be for state income tax purposes. Since TX has never had an income tax, I have no idea how it works. It won't affect federal taxes. Sometimes it's just a matter of tricking TurboTax to move on. I am pretty sure I used the immigration date, but it wouldn't matter what I put since we have no state return. Maybe look at your state return and see what they say about residency or how the date affects it.

On state returns, you could be a resident alien all year but not live in your state but a few months.

Edited February 14, 2014 by Nich-Nick