mn77845

This might not be the right forum for this question but I'm pretty sure a lot of people here might have the right answer. My wife and I have been married for 7-8 months now. I am on a H1-B (with an AOS interview scheduled on 12th April) ,she's a USC. Can we file a joint 1040 this year? Do I need to attach any documentation with the 1040 form? Are there any websites that give this info? Thanks in advance for the info.

MN

Noorah101

www.irs.gov, most likely. If you are married, then yes, you need to file "married" on your tax return. It's up to you whether to file "married joint" or "married separate", just depends on which way the figures and outcome work in your favor. Most married people file Married Joint, I think, because it gives you a better tax break.

Rene

mn77845

Yes, married jointly gives you more back. I looked at the tax guide for aliens but it doesn't say anything about this scenario, atleast I couldn't find anything. I figured most people here would have had to deal with this at some point.

Noorah101

My alien husband came here in April of 2004. So he was here 8 months out of 2004, and yes, we filed Married Joint that year. We didn't have to do anything special. He was considered a resident for tax purposes, even though he did not have his green card yet.

Rene

Duncan Roberts

A little off topic but married jointly doesn't mean you get a better break. Because the tax tables are still based on the notion of 1 person working and 1 staying at home, depending on how much you earn and a bunch of other stuff, you can get a better break overall by filing married separate.

Just Jenney

Hmm... Every time I've figured our taxes as married-joint and married-separate and compared the two, married-joint is ALWAYS better. So I guess it depends on the individual couple's circumstances.

~ Jenney

Duncan Roberts

It does. Last year we gained about $300 by filing it separately, that's federal and state. This year it will be joint. Sometimes by filing it separately one person may owe but the other may get a bigger refund which ends up totaling more than the joint refund you may get. Of course, ideally you should break even but how many people does that actually happen to?!

Bill_S

I notice Duncan's in Ohio. Because of the way the state does things, Ohio is one of the places where MFS is often cheaper.

Bill in Cleveland Heights

mn77845

I figured a copy of our filed Married-Jointly 1040 would help as evidence in the AOS interview as well