maximus76

I have a question about tax report filing.
My wife is USC, and I was on J1 (trainee) visa last year, and I earned some money.
anyway, now we would like to file join tax report, but we don't know how, cause she paid tax, and I didn't pay at all, cause all trainees on J1 internships from former Soviet Union aren't suppose to pay any tax, including federal.
So how can we file jointly with my USC wife, since I will be filing as a non-resident and she as resident...?
even tax services are confused (unless we didn't talk to the right one).
please, advice, and which forms needs to be filled.
thanks again

Mrraveltay

maximus76 wrote:

    > I have a question about tax report filing.
    > My wife is USC, and I was on
    > J1 (trainee) visa last year, and I earned some money.
    > anyway, now we
    > would like to file join tax report, but we don't know how, cause she
    > paid tax, and I didn't pay at all, cause all trainees on J1 internships
    > from former Soviet Union aren't suppose to pay any tax, including
    > federal.
    > So how can we file jointly with my USC wife, since I will be
    > filing as a non-resident and she as resident...?
    > even tax services are
    > confused (unless we didn't talk to the right one).
    > please, advice, and
    > which forms needs to be filled.
    > thanks again


If you file a joint return, you are classified as a Resident Alien, even
if you didn't live in the US. The IRS "Resident" is not the same
defintiion as the USCIS "Resident". Either living in the US, or filing
a joint return with a US citizen would make a foreigner a Resident for
tax purposes. who paid the money for the J1 internship. You are
correct, it "might" not be taxable, but don't assume that "no taxes
withheld" equals "non taxable". My wife earned some money as a tutor in
a US University last year. She is in graduate school. The school sent
W-2. This means it is taxable (but not for social security).

Check with the people that pay it, if you aren't sure. And don't rely on
newsgroups for "the final answer"

libby27

Another way is to ask the IRS directly. They have a toll free number and agents (live ones that talk to you!) Mon-Fri.1800tax1040 or 18008291040. It's free for you and they'll certainly know how to help you.

jeffreyhy

libby,

The USCIS has a toll-free number also, and live agents that talk to you.

It's free. And worth every penny of it.

Regards, JEff

maximus76

I talked to IRS before and actually I talked to very professional and very nice(!) operators, I was suprised, and they were very helpful.
But I never did talk to USCIS...

Mrraveltay

jeffreyhy wrote:

    > libby,
    >
    > The USCIS has a toll-free number also, and live agents that talk
    > to you.
    >
    > It's free. And worth every penny of it.
    >

How is this going to help with their tax issues?

maximus76

little update...
I went to talk to tax specialist here in Milwaukee, who works at HR Block, well...she knows almost nothing about it, and she said that she'll need to do some research on that.
anyway, i asked her if it's possible for me to file separately as non-resident, and my wife will file as resident, but separately as well, and will mention that i am her husband, well, she said that in that case my wife will end up paying more tax, since she said that WI is property state (or something like that...) and she will kind of will have to pay tax for me...does it make any sense?
please, advise, I don't know how to file,
and it seems no specialists around us here in this village state of WI
is there any way we can fill and file ourselves with my wife?
thank you for your time and advise,

Ap

In article <[email protected]>, member18167
@british_expats.com says...
    >
    > little update...
    > I went to talk to tax specialist here in Milwaukee, who
    > works at HR Block, well...she knows almost nothing about it, and she
    > said that she'll need to do some research on that.
    > anyway, i asked her
    > if it's possible for me to file separately as non-resident, and my wife
    > will file as resident, but separately as well, and will mention that i
    > am her husband, well, she said that in that case my wife will end up
    > paying more tax, since she said that WI is property state (or something
    > like that...) and she will kind of will have to pay tax for me...does it
    > make any sense?
    > please, advise, I don't know how to file,
    > and it seems
    > no specialists around us here in this village state of WI
    > is
    > there any way we can fill and file ourselves with my wife?
    >
    > thank you for your time and advise,
    >
Please note that I'm not tax advisor but I think what you will have to
do is to file jointly and claim yourslef as resident for tax purposes
(you can do so even if you do not have "green card"). Your income that
you had on J1 would be taxable (I THINK!). If your income was much lower
than your spouse's (or vice versa) should average out and maybe you wont
pay taxes.

As I mentioned... I'm not tax advisor.

AP

Mrraveltay

maximus76 wrote:
    > little update...
    > I went to talk to tax specialist here in Milwaukee, who
    > works at HR Block, well...she knows almost nothing about it, and she
    > said that she'll need to do some research on that.
    > anyway, i asked her
    > if it's possible for me to file separately as non-resident, and my wife
    > will file as resident, but separately as well, and will mention that i
    > am her husband, well, she said that in that case my wife will end up
    > paying more tax, since she said that WI is property state (or something
    > like that...) and she will kind of will have to pay tax for me...does it
    > make any sense?
    > please, advise, I don't know how to file,
    > and it seems
    > no specialists around us here in this village state of WI
    > is
    > there any way we can fill and file ourselves with my wife?

I would recommend that you contact a tax specialist familiar with this.
However, a question to the people tha pay the income might help you
determine whether it is taxable. Did they (or will they) mail you a W-2
If not, then the wages are probably not subject to tax. However, I
suspect they probably are not subject to social security taxes, but are
subject to income tax. If it is taxable, there really is nothing
special to do. You either choose between both of you filing jointly or
each of you filing separately. If your wife itemizes deductions, it
might not help, but taking the standard deduction might help since this
deduction would be increased for a joint filing. If you file separately,
she would only get 1/2 of the standard deduction. Whether filing jointly
or not depends on YOUR circumstances, so there is no right answer that
fits everyone.

Most people's taxes can be resolve by filing with a standard software
tax package, I think I paid HR Block $39.95 for filing State and Federal
taxes through their website. For $99.95, you can file a federal return
and have an HR Block tax professional check it for errors.