My current wife came to the US last year on a J-1 visa and worked as an in house intern to help with her College Degree. We got married in December and are in the process of trying to get her a green card. Her internship was paid, but only $600 per month and totaling about $10K for the year. Should she receive a W-2? Which taxes does she owe. The company sent her a 1099misc instead of a W2 and haven't deducted anything for the year so far. If we file with the 1099misc we end up owing about $3K in taxes! I am not sure she is even allowed to use this form, as she probably wasn't allowed to earn this type of income under her visa conditions.

What should we do? Do we need a W-2? Does the company she worked for owe any taxes on her behalf?

Please help!

Thank you.

AtlantaTaxExpert

She does NOT need a W-2.

Though paying her under a Form 1099-MISC is a violation of the visa by her company, it should have ZERO net effect on her because she is EXEMPT from the self-employment taxes.

Depending on her home country, she may owe as much as $660 in federal income taxes or as little as NOTHING.

She needs to file Form 1040NR with a Schedule C.