Hi,
I have been here in US since 05-Jan-07 till date and will be here till 31-Jan-08. This is the first time I am here on work permit - L1. After going through this forum, I guess I will be treated US resident alien. My spouse and 2 kids travelled to US on L2 visas for two months (May-June). My spouse and kids do not have any income at home country and I bear their expenses. I will be filing returns for 2007 once I reach back to home country on 31-Jan-08. I am unable to make out -
- whether my spouse and kids would be treated as resident alien or non-resident alien?
- whether I would need to file as "married jointly" or "married separately"?
- How many exemptions I would be eligible for?

Please help me understanding this complexity.

Thanks in advance,
PY

PY:

You can file as a resident alien ONLY IF you file jopintly with your wife. You will BOTH sign a statement where you will choose to be treated as resident aliens for all of 2007.

You WILL be able to claim your two children as dependents as long as BOTH children are in the custody of your wife for all of 2007.

You are resident for tax purpose.
You can file as Married Filing Jointly. In that case your wife will also be treated as resident alien for tax purpose. You must disclose your's as well as your wife's world wide income of the tax return Form 1040EZ/1040A/1040.
If your spouse does not have SSN, you must get her ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number) to file joint return or to claim her exemption. You should also apply for ITIN for your kids.
Complete form W-7 Application for IRS Individual Taxpayer Identification Number and attach the required documents and then send to IRS at the address provided with Form W7.
Internal Revenue Service (http://www.irs.gov) or Contact IRS at 1-800-829-1040

Note that I prepare such returns as part of my tax business. Contact me at [email protected] if you wwant my professional help!