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Posted

Hi,

 

I came into the US on a K1 visa, got married and now going through AOS. I received my EAD last month and now have a job doing some contract work.  

 

I've been asked to fill out the W-9 form. Since I don't yet have my green card, I'm not technically a resident - therefore am I considered a 'resident alien' or not?

 

The instructions accompanying form state that a US person is:
 

Quote

 

Definition of a U.S. person. For federal tax purposes, you are considered a U.S. person if you are:

• An individual who is a U.S. citizen or U.S. resident alien; • A partnership, corporation, company, or association created or organized in the United States or under the laws of the United States; • An estate (other than a foreign estate); or • A domestic trust (as defined in Regulations section 301.7701-7)

 

 

I'm assuming that those of us with an EAD must qualify as a US person - otherwise how would we be able to work? - but I wanted to check with anyone who's done this before, as the wording is unclear.

 

As a side note, if anyone else has filed as self-employed/sole-proprietor whilst on an EAD and can offer general advice, I'd be very appreciative of any insights.

 

Many thanks!

 

Posted

Resident alien if you were in the US for more than 31 days last year

https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc851

Spoiler

Aug 2011 - Arrived on F1 visa

09/06/2015 Started exchanging messages

10/13/2015 We met in person

07/01/2017 We got engaged!

10/31/2017 We got married!

11/08/2017 AOS Package (I-130, I-485, I-765, I-131) sent via USPS - Chicago Lockbox

                      (Priority Mail - USPS autocorrected zipcode to 60680-4187)

11/12/2017 Package delivered (Delayed due to USPS mistakenly took it to 60624 and Veteran's Day) 

11/13/2017 Received Date (Priority Date)

11/21/2017 Received 4 e-mails & 4 text notifications (01:30 AM EST); checks cashed

11/28/2017 Received 4 NOA1 hard copies

12/09/2017 Received Biometrics Appointment Letter (for i-485 and i-765)

12/21/2017 Biometrics Appointment

01/08/2018 **I-765 and I-131 Approved** (61 days)

01/16/2018 %%Received combo card%% (tracking shows USCIS sent it on Jan 11 from MO, then Jan 15 USPS closed for MLK day) 

01/20/2018 Received approval letters for EAD and AP

09/20/2018 Received text 'Interview was scheduled' and interview notice will be mailed

09/27/2018 Received Interview notice by mail

10/25/2018 Interview day

10/26/2018 I-485 case status updated to "We ordered your new card"

10/29/2018 Case Status updated to "We approved your Form I-485"

10/31/2018 Case Status updated to "We mailed your new card"

11/01/2018 My card was picked up by the USPS with tracking number assigned

11/05/2018 Green Card Received 

 

Side note: I turned my maiden name into second middle name. In the combo card, my given name is First Firstmiddleinitial, however on the back of the card, they attempted to list my second middle name. 

 

My application package:

Interview Experience:

 

 

Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: England
Timeline
Posted
5 hours ago, Rose_3001 said:

Hi,

 

I came into the US on a K1 visa, got married and now going through AOS. I received my EAD last month and now have a job doing some contract work.  

 

I've been asked to fill out the W-9 form. Since I don't yet have my green card, I'm not technically a resident - therefore am I considered a 'resident alien' or not?

 

The instructions accompanying form state that a US person is:
 

 

I'm assuming that those of us with an EAD must qualify as a US person - otherwise how would we be able to work? - but I wanted to check with anyone who's done this before, as the wording is unclear.

 

As a side note, if anyone else has filed as self-employed/sole-proprietor whilst on an EAD and can offer general advice, I'd be very appreciative of any insights.

 

Many thanks!

 

 It's about how much to hold out in taxes. If you are filing a joint return with your spouse you can be a resident alien with zero days in the US because you are married to a US citizen. The simple answer is you are  resident alien for tax purposes. You file just like any USC would. Your self employed filing would be the same whether on EAD, greencard, or USC. What do you need to know?  And did you earn money in the US as self employed in 2017? 

Posted
2 hours ago, Wuozopo said:

 It's about how much to hold out in taxes. If you are filing a joint return with your spouse you can be a resident alien with zero days in the US because you are married to a US citizen. The simple answer is you are  resident alien for tax purposes. You file just like any USC would. Your self employed filing would be the same whether on EAD, greencard, or USC. What do you need to know?  And did you earn money in the US as self employed in 2017? 

Thanks – that makes sense. Yes, but not very much – I got my EAD in December, so started some freelance projects after then which I was paid for at that time. 

I want to know if there's anything else I need to do – back in the UK when I did contract work, I had to register as self-employed with HMRC from the get-go, but I don't know if there's an equivalent requirement here. I have also heard that contractors need to make quarterly (estimated) tax payments here, since tax is not withheld from our salary, but I don't know how to go about doing that.

Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: England
Timeline
Posted
1 hour ago, Rose_3001 said:

Thanks – that makes sense. Yes, but not very much – I got my EAD in December, so started some freelance projects after then which I was paid for at that time. 

I want to know if there's anything else I need to do – back in the UK when I did contract work, I had to register as self-employed with HMRC from the get-go, but I don't know if there's an equivalent requirement here. I have also heard that contractors need to make quarterly (estimated) tax payments here, since tax is not withheld from our salary, but I don't know how to go about doing that.

Your extra tax forms for self employment are Schedule C and Schedule SE.

 

About quarterly estimates-- which really applies going forward for you. 2017 wasn't enough income to worry about it. 

Nobody is holding tax money out of each paycheck and sending to the IRS. You won't really know your income for 2018 for sure or how much you might can offset it with business expenses. At the end of the year you will know for sure and figure your tax owed. But the IRS doesn't want you to pay all at the end. They want money trickling in all year. Thus estimated payments, where you send in some tax money by specified dates. There is no right or wrong and you have to come up with the amount on your own. Kinda hard really. If you send too much, it does come back as a refund. And if you underestimate, you'll maybe owe some additional at tax filing time.

 

Also, when filing a joint return it's the total paid in by both people that counts. So maybe your spouse has extra held out of his/her paycheck. If you were short in estimating, his overpayment would cover yours. They look at joint returns as one pot of income and one pot tax . Your goal is to come out close to even where you (plural) paid in enough to cover the joint tax bill. There's liberal variances allowed. You will never be spot on.

 

Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: England
Timeline
Posted
4 hours ago, Rose_3001 said:

I want to know if there's anything else I need to do – back in the UK when I did contract work, I had to register as self-employed with HMRC from the get-go, but I don't know if there's an equivalent requirement here.

 Forgot to answer this.  For the IRS, no registering. If you have employees you pay to do work, then you would have to get an EIN (Employer Identification Number) from the IRS. But it doesn't sound like you are going to do much more than some free lance work and get paid. So no EIN unless you will have employees.

 

For your state, you may have to charge sales tax to your clients for your services. You're going to have to look on Georgia state webpages and research. Each state will be different. I can explain what I do in Texas to help you see what you need to learn about Georgia laws. I have a taxpayer number for the state of Texas. My clients are local. I add state sales tax to my invoices. (Services may or may not be taxable in GA.) then I remit the sales tax I collected to the State Comptroller. It's all online.  I think I did quarterly at first, but got a letter saying it wasn't much so once a year was enough since I paid on time. If you do subcontractor work for another company who bills the clients, then he charges and collects the sales tax. That's my situation and why the sales tax I have to collect is pretty small because it's only for some side jobs where I invoice a customer directly. And collect the sales tax. 

Posted (edited)
On 1/26/2018 at 8:15 PM, Wuozopo said:

But the IRS doesn't want you to pay all at the end. They want money trickling in all year. Thus estimated payments, where you send in some tax money by specified dates. There is no right or wrong and you have to come up with the amount on your own.

 

On 1/26/2018 at 11:24 PM, Wuozopo said:

 Forgot to answer this.  For the IRS, no registering.  

 

Thank you so much for taking the time, this is very helpful. Since I don't need to register with the IRS, how do I go about the whole estimated tax payments, staggered over the year - is this the schedule C and SE forms? And does this all still apply if we're planning on filing jointly? Thanks again.

Edited by Rose_3001
 
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