Hello,

I am on L1B visa, came on July 27 2008.
My Gross pay here is 5000 $ per month, which includes 4200 $ as Living allowance and 780 $ as Indian Salary.
I am married and my wife is on L2. We live in PA.
Following are the taxes deducted per month:
Federal : 840$
Medicare: 70$
SS :299 $
State : 148$

My wife had received her EAD and has received around 1100 $ as wages (after her tax deductions).

We might leave USA in January.

Can you please advice if we should file jointly as non-residents ?
What should be the return we can expect ?

Thanks and regards,

1. You did not complete 183 days in 2008, so you have two choices:
a. File non-resident tax return and report U.S. income only.
b. File resident tax return as married filing jointly. You will both report your worldwide income for 2008. If you paid taxes in a foreign country, you can claim foreign tax credit on the U.S. tax return.
You will have to wait to file this return till you complete SPT in 2009. Read Your U.S. Tax Return: Substantial Presence Test (http://taxipay.blogspot.com/2008/04/substantial-presence-test.html)

c. Your employer will send you W2 in Jan 2009, which has all your income and deduction information.

If you leave in January, 2009, you CANNOT complete SPT, so filing jointly for 2008 would NOT be an option.

In such a case, you would have to file as non-resident aliens.