If I have a US citizen baby born in 2008, does that make me

hgd7833 · Feb 1, 2009, 05:45 AM

a resident alien ? Actually I am a student on F1 visa and came to USA in 2007. 4 days ago, a friend of mine advised me to fill out my tax return using the TURBO TAX. After submitting my application , some one told me I am not a resident alien and I am not supposed to use Turbo Tax, because that will give you more than you deserve. I went to my old friend to blame him but he is insist that since I have a baby born in 2008, I can treat myself as a resident alien, and my US baby has a $ 1000.00 credit back. He also says that the money is the same in either, and ask me just to ignore it because I am solely feeding my US baby.
I am confused now. Is what I did is right or wrong ? If wrong, what to do now ? Shall I wait until they deposit the money to my account, or notice them from now ?? Please if any of you is expert , I would appreciate any valuable true comments and advices .. I appreciate any kind of help.

powerlee · Mar 20, 2009, 02:32 PM

But our university just told us to fill in form 1040NR-EZ and 8843... They say that international students staying here less than five years are not qualified for this....Confused!

Quote:

Originally Posted by AtlantaTaxExpert

I believe that I have already answered your question via email, but I will answer it again for public consumption.

If you and your wife were non-resident aliens under F-1/F-2 visas, the fact that you had a child in the U.S. does NOT make you resident aliens.

Further, neither you nor your wife can claim EITHER of your children as dependents due to your non-resident alien status.

However, even though you cannot claim your U.S.-born daughter as a dependent, you CAN claim the $1,000 Child Tax Credit for your younger daughter because, by law, she is a U.S. citizen.

Beause you filed as a resident alien under SINGLE status, you filed INCORRECTLY.

You should have filed Form 1040NR with Form 8901 to claim the $1,000 Child Tax Credit. You will need to amend the return using Form 1040X plus a properly-prepared Form 1040NR, 8843 and 8901 attached to the Form 1040X.

Do NOT spend the money you received on the original tax return. You can expect to repay AT LEAST half of that money back to the IRS.



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