Written Statement for Filing Joint Taxes

[jenihyun 0]

Hello Everyone!

Me and my husband are on process of submitting requirements to file for our joint taxes. I am currently in the Philippines still. Now one of the requirements that the IRS required is the written statement that I wanted to be counted as a US citizen for the year 2018 even if i am living here in my country. Does anybody here encountered same situation like this? If you do, do you have any sample or template for this? I am just confused to what exact details should i put.

 

Thanks in advance folks!

[DennisMN 11]

I look forward to others on this topic.

From my view point, the signature on the bottom of the 1040 is saying a lot about how you are saying this information is  true and that I am paying Federal tax.  To have a separate piece of paper to say the same thing is not known to me.

 

To update your question of "counted as a US citizen" is not an action of the IRS for tax purposes.  Citizens of other countries do pay United States taxes, if required, are not "counted as US Citizen".

Cheers.

Edited January 22, 2019 by DennisMN
spelling

[geowrian 22,335]

Here's the one I used for 2017:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oFYM0MbbUxFPLTxOzn6qsk_eZMLhF42O9zRUs-KtVzU/edit?usp=sharing

 

1 hour ago, jenihyun said:

Now one of the requirements that the IRS required is the written statement that I wanted to be counted as a US citizen for the year 2018 even if i am living here in my country.

I'm assuming you are the non-US citizen...right?

If so, never claim US citizenship if you are not a US citizen. That's a permanent, unwaivable bar.

You want to be claimed as a resident alien for tax purposes. Nothing more.

Edited January 22, 2019 by geowrian

[jenihyun 0]

Thank you so much @geowrian for the sample letter you shared and the advise. Yes i am not a US citizen, i just wanted to claim as a resident alien for tax purposes only. 

 

Thanks again

 

 

Edited January 23, 2019 by jenihyun
Correction if term

[ZKT 118]

15 hours ago, geowrian said:

Here's the one I used for 2017:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oFYM0MbbUxFPLTxOzn6qsk_eZMLhF42O9zRUs-KtVzU/edit?usp=sharing

 

I'm assuming you are the non-US citizen...right?

If so, never claim US citizenship if you are not a US citizen. That's a permanent, unwaivable bar.

You want to be claimed as a resident alien for tax purposes. Nothing more.

hi geowrian,

 

i've been following or liking some of the posts you've been posting across different forums/threads on visajourney. you're like one of the experts. ehehehe. and i value your opinion/thoughts.

so i'm a k1 visa filer. i came here in sept 2018, got married in sept 2018. and we filed for aos in nov 2018. anyway i never knew how to file taxes, usually companies' hr does that for us. anyway, so from what i'm understanding from a few posts for k1 people you can file taxes under mfj (married filed jointly) and under resident alien and then i make a statement like in your link to send along for the taxes? i was unemployed for the whole 2018. us embassy in jakarta indonesia asked me to resign and go back to my home country when processing the k1. which is what i did. is there anything else i should do? like is there a waiver or something to prove my unemployment and have no income? thanks! 

thanks also jennihyun for asking that question and so geowrian was able to give us a sample statement letter. yay. hehehe!

[geowrian 22,335]

4 minutes ago, ZKT said:

so i'm a k1 visa filer. i came here in sept 2018, got married in sept 2018. and we filed for aos in nov 2018. anyway i never knew how to file taxes, usually companies' hr does that for us. anyway, so from what i'm understanding from a few posts for k1 people you can file taxes under mfj (married filed jointly) and under resident alien and then i make a statement like in your link to send along for the taxes? i was unemployed for the whole 2018. us embassy in jakarta indonesia asked me to resign and go back to my home country when processing the k1. which is what i did. is there anything else i should do? like is there a waiver or something to prove my unemployment and have no income? thanks!

You can file MFJ or MFS (or even HOH in the right circumstances). MFJ is almost always the best in terms of tax liability. In order to do so, the alien needs to be considered a resident alien (RA).

 

Making the first-year election to be considered an RA is often necessary when the alien arrives in the latter half of the year. The specifics can get muddy on whether an election is needed (dual status RA/NRA) or if you are only eigible as an RA due to the substantial presence test (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substantial_Presence_Test), but if somebody's only US presence started in Sept., then they would need to make the election to be an RA.

 

No evidence of being unemployed / having no income is necessary. That's trying to prove a negative.You would just not claim any income.

[ZKT 118]

On 1/23/2019 at 2:49 PM, geowrian said:

You can file MFJ or MFS (or even HOH in the right circumstances). MFJ is almost always the best in terms of tax liability. In order to do so, the alien needs to be considered a resident alien (RA).

 

Making the first-year election to be considered an RA is often necessary when the alien arrives in the latter half of the year. The specifics can get muddy on whether an election is needed (dual status RA/NRA) or if you are only eigible as an RA due to the substantial presence test (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substantial_Presence_Test), but if somebody's only US presence started in Sept., then they would need to make the election to be an RA.

 

No evidence of being unemployed / having no income is necessary. That's trying to prove a negative.You would just not claim any income.

 

how do i not claim income? so i do not file a 2555ez? or do i have to pass a 2555ez and then say i have no income for the whole 2018? sorry for needing this to be explained in simple terms and for asking for clarity.  is there a form for claiming no income? thanks!

[geowrian 22,335]

2 hours ago, ZKT said:

how do i not claim income? so i do not file a 2555ez? or do i have to pass a 2555ez and then say i have no income for the whole 2018? sorry for needing this to be explained in simple terms and for asking for clarity.  is there a form for claiming no income? thanks!

If you have no income then there is nothing to claim or report. No 2555/2555ez is needed as there is no income to report.

[junkmart 320]

On 1/22/2019 at 8:21 AM, jenihyun said:

Hello Everyone!

Me and my husband are on process of submitting requirements to file for our joint taxes. I am currently in the Philippines still. Now one of the requirements that the IRS required is the written statement that I wanted to be counted as a US citizen for the year 2018 even if i am living here in my country. Does anybody here encountered same situation like this? If you do, do you have any sample or template for this? I am just confused to what exact details should i put.

 

Thanks in advance folks!

The letter you are referring to is to elect to be treated as a US resident alien, not a US citizen. Very important distinction. The requirement is found here: https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/nonresident-alien-spouse

[arken 4,197]

5 hours ago, ZKT said:

 

how do i not claim income? so i do not file a 2555ez? or do i have to pass a 2555ez and then say i have no income for the whole 2018? sorry for needing this to be explained in simple terms and for asking for clarity.  is there a form for claiming no income? thanks!

As said, you don’t report something you don’t have. If you two plan to do MFJ, just provide a simple letter saying, “You are treated as a resident alien for tax purpose and you don’t have any worldwide income in 2018” 

 

When my wife came to US and i amended my past year’s MFS to MFJ, I simply typed this statement in 1040X: “I’d like to treat my wife as resident alien for the tax year XXXX and my wife has no worldwide income in that year.”

 

in your case , it would be a separate letter with the similar statement.

Edited April 11, 2019 by arken

[markandoliv 3]

On 1/22/2019 at 10:01 AM, geowrian said:

Here's the one I used for 2017:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oFYM0MbbUxFPLTxOzn6qsk_eZMLhF42O9zRUs-KtVzU/edit?usp=sharing

 

I'm assuming you are the non-US citizen...right?

If so, never claim US citizenship if you are not a US citizen. That's a permanent, unwaivable bar.

You want to be claimed as a resident alien for tax purposes. Nothing more.

Hi, did you send the election statement/ letter with your state taxes as well?   Or did you only send one copy of the election statement with you federal taxes?

Thanks

[geowrian 22,335]

16 minutes ago, markandoliv said:

Hi, did you send the election statement/ letter with your state taxes as well?   Or did you only send one copy of the election statement with you federal taxes?

Thanks

No, I did not. My state allowed (haven't confirmed if it still does) filing differently for state than federal. We filed MFS for state, of which she had no income to report.

If we wanted to file jointly, we could do so, though.

Always refer to your specific state's laws.

[Bars&Saqi 120]

1 hour ago, geowrian said:

No, I did not. My state allowed (haven't confirmed if it still does) filing differently for state than federal. We filed MFS for state, of which she had no income to report.

If we wanted to file jointly, we could do so, though.

Always refer to your specific state's laws.

Hello!

i really need some help. My husband and I were married in December of 2019 and I just e-filed my taxes as MFJ with his SSN. I considered him an NRA.

Do I have to send in a paper tax return now with an attached statement and a form of amendment? How do I rectify this?

thank you for your time!