Who is a resident
alien?
A resident alien is one who meets the green card test or the substantial
presence test.
Green Card Test
You are a resident for tax purposes if you are a lawful permanent
resident of the United States at any time during
the calendar year. This is known as the �green card�
test. You generally have this status if the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services (USCIS) has issued you an alien registration card, also known as a �green
card.�
Substantial Presence Test
You will be considered a U.S. resident for tax purposes if you
meet the substantial presence test for the calendar year. To meet this test, you
must be physically present in the United States on at least:
1. 31 days during
the current year,
and
2.
183 days during
the 3-year period that includes the current year and the 2 years immediately
before that, counting:
a.
All the days
you were present in the current year, and
b. 1
/
3 of the days you were present in the first year before the current year, and
c.
1
/
6
of the days you were present in the second year before the current year.
NOTE
Do not count days for which you are an exempt individual like a student
temporarily present in the United States under an �F,�
�J,� �M,� or �Q�
visa.
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I am a resident alien on H1 and just got married. Can I file as a resident even
though my
wife is a non resident alien?
Nonresident Spouse Treated as
a Resident
If, at the end of your tax year, you are married and one spouse
is a U.S. citizen or a resident alien and the other spouse is a nonresident
alien, you can choose to treat the nonresident spouse as a U.S. resident. This
includes situations in which one spouse is a nonresident alien at the beginning
of the tax year, but a resident alien at the end of the year, and the other
spouse is a nonresident alien at the end of the year.
If you make this choice, you and your spouse are treated for
income tax purposes as residents for your entire tax year. Generally, neither
you nor your spouse can claim tax treaty benefits as a resident of a foreign
country for a tax year for which the choice is in effect and you are both taxed
on worldwide income. You must file a joint income tax return for the year you
make the choice, but you and your spouse can file joint or separate returns in
later years.
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I was on F1 and then switched to H1 what forms should I use to
file?
Your Residency starting
date is the first calendar date that you are present in the United states on H1
for calculating to see if you meet the substantial present test.
1) If you do not meet
the substantial presence test you file as Non Resident.
2) If you meet the
substantial presence test and since you were on F1 before you were on H1 you
file as a Dual Status Alien.
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I have not applied for an ITIN yet for my
spouse is it too late to claim her on my tax return
and get the benefit of Married filing joint?
You can
file for an ITIN along with the tax return if you did not file for it yet. It
usually takes 6-8 weeks to get an ITIN. So if you have not applied yet you can
do it along with your Federal tax return. It has to be a paper return and needs
to be mailed to the address mentioned in our customer resource section.
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I am not getting money back from my tax return while my friends are
with the same salary
why is it so?
It
depends on your withholding for tax purposes and individual life situations.
Please check our customer resource section and download w4 form and follow
instructions to see what your withholding should be and request your employer to
withhold accordingly.
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I
was on F1 and had social security and medicare taxes withheld. How can I get the
money
back?
The refund has to be
claimed by filing IRS form 843.
I am on F1 and had paid taxes close to $2000. Can I claim a tax
credit for the tution fees I
paid.
You cannot claim the
education credits when filing as a nonresident.
I am a student and which education credit works out best for the money I
spent on tution fees.
In most cases with lower incomes education
credits work out best . Here is a table from the irs showing the comparision of the two available
credits.
