abhinav.sriv
Mar 3, 2012, 03:55 PM
Hello,
I have a question about making the first year choice for H1B.
My wife and I came to the US from India on Oct 1 2011 (I am on H1 and she is on H4). Hence, we will not be resident aliens by April 2012, since we do not meet the green card or the substantial presence test. I understand that there is a provision in this case to make the First Year Choice (for which I will have to ask for a filing instruction till Oct 2012 by filling Form 4868) and then file Form 1040 once I attain Resident Alien Status in 2012. With this background, I had a couple of questions:
1.) Is my understanding stated above correct?
2.) Once I attain the RA status in 2012, will I have to declare my world-wide income for the whole of 2011 on Form 1040. In other words, will I have to declare my Indian Income from Jan-Sep 2011 AND US income from Oct-Dec 2011?
3.) If yes, how is this typically done (converting Indian Rupees to USD, and calculating tax on that amount)
4.) If no, do I just have to declare my US income from Oct-Dec 2011?
5.) While filling Form 4868 for extension, my "Balance Due" would be 0, since my tax has already been withheld (I'm actually supposed to get a return). In this case, I do not need to pay anything now. Is this understanding correct?
6.) When filing 1040 once I attain Resident Alien Status, do I need to submit any other form indicating that I am making the First Year Choice?
Any help in this regard will be highly appreciated; the tax laws are extremely complex, and being new here, I'd be really grateful for advice in this regard.
Thanks,
-abhinav
I have a question about making the first year choice for H1B.
My wife and I came to the US from India on Oct 1 2011 (I am on H1 and she is on H4). Hence, we will not be resident aliens by April 2012, since we do not meet the green card or the substantial presence test. I understand that there is a provision in this case to make the First Year Choice (for which I will have to ask for a filing instruction till Oct 2012 by filling Form 4868) and then file Form 1040 once I attain Resident Alien Status in 2012. With this background, I had a couple of questions:
1.) Is my understanding stated above correct?
2.) Once I attain the RA status in 2012, will I have to declare my world-wide income for the whole of 2011 on Form 1040. In other words, will I have to declare my Indian Income from Jan-Sep 2011 AND US income from Oct-Dec 2011?
3.) If yes, how is this typically done (converting Indian Rupees to USD, and calculating tax on that amount)
4.) If no, do I just have to declare my US income from Oct-Dec 2011?
5.) While filling Form 4868 for extension, my "Balance Due" would be 0, since my tax has already been withheld (I'm actually supposed to get a return). In this case, I do not need to pay anything now. Is this understanding correct?
6.) When filing 1040 once I attain Resident Alien Status, do I need to submit any other form indicating that I am making the First Year Choice?
Any help in this regard will be highly appreciated; the tax laws are extremely complex, and being new here, I'd be really grateful for advice in this regard.
Thanks,
-abhinav