I realized it was that time of year when I started to see all the local commercials for dealerships who will help prepare your taxes and cash your rebate check for you.

This is the first time I'd have to file taxes, and I've been doing a bit of reading about Dual Status aliens (IRS publication 519).

I just wanted to make sure that what I was planning to do was the same as what other people had done.

According to the IRS Pub 519 you are counted as a dual status alien if you were a non-resident at the start of the tax year and became a resident at the end of the tax year (based on their rules and definitions, not USCIS definitions).

Because I wasn't married at the start of the year but was married to a USC at the end of the year, I fall into this category. It explains that a dual status alien has two choices, either file taxes for a dual status alien (on a different form, and you can't take the standard deduction; you have to itemize) or you and your spouse can sign a statement stating that you want the alien to be treated as a resident for the entire tax year (you have to file Married Jointly to be able to do this, and it only applies to people who changed their status due to marriage I believe).

Did anyone else use a statement like this on their first filing as a couple? I know it means we can't e-File this year as we have to attach the statement to our return, but is there anything else I should be aware of?

I've spoken unofficially to a friend who works in a tax office and he made a query to someone who deals with tax for immigrants. I was told I was right about the statement, but just wanted to get someone's actual experience with it, and if there's something else I'm missing.

No direct experience, but a quick search of www.irs.gov found this section of the IRS website which looks like a good starting place for your reading.

In my particular case I met the substantial presence test, so that my tax residency status was never in question, but I remember working out that I was much better off as a resident alien that first year than as a non-resident alien. I believe that no only do non-resident aliens have to itemize, but they cannot take many of the common deductions.

When my DH entered the US on his K-1 it was Aug 1998. He completed the Form 255, completed the physical presence test and he included a note (I did not have to sign it) that for income tax purposes he wished to be considered a resident.

It was that simple.

Another point is that "resident" seems to mean something different to the IRS than it does to everybody else. For example, while in the UK SWMBO and I would file jointly and I (pre LPR) was classed as a "non-resident-resident-alien".

I just started my taxes. I'm getting professional help (for the taxes that is,) and it's still doing my head in.

California REALLY wants to tax my wife and I, even though we've been in the UK since Sept 2007.

I think I'm going to send them an IOU.