Hi,

I would like to thank all of you in advance for your help.

Here is my story:

Entered US in March '98 with F-1 visa, married US Citizen in August '02 but never filed for residency with INS.

We have filed taxes as married filing jointly ('02, '03, '04, '05) with my TIN - Never earned my own income, just hers.

I have filed the paperwork for residency and will be getting it next month. I'm starting my first job in the US and just got a new SSN.

Have we done anything wrong? I never explicitly elected to be treated as a resident for tax purposes, is this a problem? If so, can I amend the last 3 years and take a hit for taxes, penalties and interest? How much could this cost us? For '06 taxes, do I just put my new SSN instead of my TIN #? Is there any extra form to do the change? Will this change fro TIN to SSN red flag out return?

Please help - How do we fix this?

Thank you!

Jay

If you were married to a U.S. citizen, filing jointly was perfectly legal. You did nothing wrong and you need not amend any of the past year returns.

If you have a new SSN, use that SSN when you file your 2006 tax return. The IRS cross-checks the SSN against the Social Security Administration database automatically. You need do nothing else except make sure your employer is using your SSN and NOT your ITIN to report your income to the IRS.

Thank you for your prompt response. What a relief!

Thank you again!

Jay

Glad to help!