Hello,

I and my wife came to US on H1 and H4 respectively in Jul 2006. After going through this forum I got to know the following:

Choice #1 is filing jointly with your wife as resident aliens and reporting ALL your world-wide income, with the first $16,900 of said income being tax-free.

Choice #2 is filing a dual-status return, claiming your wife as a dependent, reporting your home-country income (but NOT paying taxes on it), but losing the $10,300 standard deduction and being able to claim only $6,600 in personal exemptions. (I am aware of ITIN and W7 details for my wife)

Now my question is, Is it mandatory to show my home country income from Jan 2006 to Jun 2006 in either of the above 2 cases? The problem is in India the financial year runs from Apr to Mar so my Form-16 (India Income Statement) shows information only till Mar 2006. I do have the paystub from my company though from Jan 2006 to Jun 2006. Is that enough proof of my earnings outside USA for 2006?

Also what would be considered as my income? The gross amount or the amount I received after paying the taxes to Indian Govt?

I will appreciate a response on this.

Thanks

I answered this query via e-mail.

For public knowledge, YES, you MUST report the income. The IRS has become very cognizant of the practice of NOT reporting the world-wide income and is beginning to coordinate with the other countries regarding income earned by holders of work visas.

Considering they have all your visa information, it is NOT that hard to find out that information.