Hi, I am moving to US and not getting any moving help from my employer so will be tax deducting all the expenses. The question is can I add all these expenses (air fare, lodging) in my W4 or do it at the tax return time?

Thanks

Tax return time.

Rene

Any specific reason for doing it at the tax return time? Since I see see there is a column for other deductions in the form and I have been advised I can put my property expenses there which I have to offset against my income.

I did not think you could claim moving expenses on a W-4. I thought they had to be itemized on the tax return.

Rene

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw4.pdf Here is the W-4 form itself.

You can use estimated expenses in the calculation parts of the form to decide how many allowances to claim. You can ask for additional tax to be withheld. But you can't directly claim moving expenses as such on the W-4.

What you claim on the W-4 isn't important as long as you are reasonably close to the actual tax that needs to be withheld. You can be liable for a penalty and for interest charges if you have far less tax withheld than you should. But otherwise so long as you file your tax return properly, you are covered (even if you have a large amount coming back to you).

That's not true for non resident aliens.

Special Instructions for Form W-4 For Nonresident Alien Employees

A nonresident alien subject to wage withholding must give the employer a completed Form W-4 to enable the employer to figure how much income tax to withhold. In completing the form, nonresident aliens should use the following instructions instead of the instructions on Form W-4.

For Forms W-4 completed after December 31, 2005:

1.Check only "Single" marital status on line 3 (regardless of actual marital status).

2.Claim only one withholding allowance on line 5, unless you are a resident of Canada, Mexico, South Korea, a U.S. national, or a student or business apprentice from India.

3.Do not claim “Exempt” withholding status on line 7.

4.Write “Nonresident Alien” or “NRA” above the dotted line on line 6 of Form W-4.


http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Inter...ons---Form-W-4

The OP should also consult http://www.irs.gov/publications/p521/ and make sure that they understand exactly what moving expenses are deductible - it may be less than they think.

Am I a non resident alien if I am working in the US?

How many days of the year are you in the US for should be the question you're asking yourself.

Read: http://www.irs.gov/publications/p519...link1000222128

I had no idea. Thanks very much for the clarification.

It seems that the OP is likely to be a resident alien?

Regards, JEff

Forget about the W-4 at the moment, if you're moving to the US the first thing you need to do is read IRS publication 519 and figure out what you actually need to be filing across the board, also IRS publication 515 has some useful information.

Generally speaking if you're moving to the US you need to file a dual-status tax return for the first year you are there.

If you actually are a non-resident alien (doesn't sound as though you are, not after you've moved to the US anyway) then read Notice 1392 which explains in painful detail how to fill out the W-4 but still manages to miss out some of the instructions contained in publication 515, such as if you are an F-1, M-1 or J-1 student you may have to put "non-resident alien student" on line 6.

But anyway read IRS publication 519 first: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p519.pdf

Don't get too wound up about it, concentrate on the bit to do with dual-status returns, essentially it's a pro-rated tax return for the portion of the year you are in the US. (Earlier editions had an example in them, for some strange reason they removed it).

Also don't make the mistake so many people on here seem to make, i.e. using tax prep software, I'm not aware of any that can do a dual-status return.

Isn't tax pro rated anyway? I assume that my company will tax me based on a full year salary but when I file the return I will get that adjusted. Or is it any different in the US?

And since the tax filing due date for this year is April 15th 2014 I will have only 3 years worth of income to offset my expenses against which won't be high enough to put me in a higher bracket.

That doesn't make any difference for the first year for filing a W-4. Even if you later elect to be treated as a resident for tax purposes or arrive early in the year where you would automatically be a resident for tax purposes, you still are supposed to follow the W-4 rules as a non resident alien.

Many people don't follow the rules and file as if they are a resident but if the IRS or the companies HR department notice that you are a non resident alien, the IRS will order the company that they are under withholding and force them to withhold according to non resident alien rules. If the HR notices the discrepancy and understand the rules, the W-4 will have to be changed to reflect non resident alien rules.

If he arrives late in the year, it is not a big deal since he will get a refund quickly.

That is not the case. Because I will be arriving end of Dec and financial year ends in September. I will be living for more than half of the financial year in the US so would be resident alien I guess for the tax purposes. I guess I will be making my first tax return in 2015.