Hi,

I am new to U.S. and do not have any knowledge of U.S. taxation. I have relocated to U.S. during last week of July 2010 on L1 Visa. My wife will be joining me during Nov 2010. How do I file my taxes. Am I eligible for tax refund as I have stayed for less than 183 days in U.S.

If you file by yourself, you will file as a non-resident alien, because you have NOT met the 183-day substantial presence test. The advantage of filing in this manner is that you claim ONLY U.S.-sourced income. The disadvantage is that you CANNOT claim any standard deduction nor can you include your wife on the return in ANY fashion.

Now, you have the option of filing JOINTLY with your wife if you wait until sometime in May 2011 before filing (to meet the Substantial Presence Test). That will allow you to claim the JOINT standard deduction of $11,600 plus BOTH personal exemptions for yourself AND your wife.

However, thedownside is that you must declare ALL world-wide income for yourself and your wife for ALL of 2010. You can mitigate any additional tax by claiming the Foreign Tax Credit (using Form 1116), but that credit is rarely a dollar-for-dollar credit.

The only way to know which is best is to prepare the return BOTH ways and compare the results.