Hello ATE and other members,

I have some questions on my taxes this year. Would like some inputs.

1) I got married last Dec (2010) and I believe I can claim married for the 2010 tax year. Is that right?
2) I am on H1 and resident for tax purposes and my spouse is on F1 and a non resident for tax purposes I guess. We usually dot he standard deduction every year. So, I wanted to know how should we file?

Married filing jointly or Married filing separately. She had her W2 from the school for assistantship and 2-3 months from her other job (probably around 20k total of gross income) and my gross income around 70k. Which would be the better way to go.

3) Also, her employer did deduct some FICA taxes which she should ideally get back but would she still be eligible for getting it back if she were to file jointly with me?

Please help me with the above questions and appreciate your time everyone.

Have a good day!
Kasamba

Kasamba:

If you are married on 31 December 2010, the IRS considers you married for the entire year of 2010.

You CAN file jointly, ut if you do so BEFORE getting the FICA tax refund (by submitting Forms 843 and 8316 wityh a bunch of support forms), the IRS will REJECT the FICA refund request.

This assumes your wife tried (and failed) to get the FICA taxes refunded through the employer. The IRS requires that she try to get the refund from the employer, because it is both easier and quicker than submtting the Forms 843 and 8316.

To get the FICA refund direct from the IRS, this is what must be done (in order):

1) YOU file as a resident alien BY yourself, while your wife files as a non-resident alien (filing Form 1040NR or 1040NR-EZ plus Form 8843).

2) Your wife submits the Forms 843 and 8316 and wait to get the FICA tax refund.

3) Once she has the FICA tax refund check in hand and cashed, then (and only then) do you submit Form 1040X to amend your 2010 tax return to file jointly, if it makes economic sense to do so.

Thanks for your quick response ATE..
Another follow-up that I have is with the income ranges that I provided you at the start of the thread, would it make more sense (in terms of getting max refund) to file jointly or separately?

Thanks for your quick response ATE..
Another follow-up that I have is with the income ranges that I provided you at the start of the thread, would it make more sense (in terms of getting max refund) to file jointly or separately?

Also, I have to change my W-4 for year 2011. My wife is not currently working this year but might start working during some part of this year.
1)Should I still list myself as single (as my wife is a non resident alien) in W4 form and also in that case what is the advantage of getting married in terms of drawing more per paycheck?
2)How many allowances should I ideally be claiming for this year, assuming I should not be in a position where there is too much of either overpayment or underpayment to IRS at the end of year or ? (I used to claim 1 when I was single). I believe number of allowances is independent from your status.

It depends on your home country.

If you and your wife are from India, she can claim the standard deduction on her separate return, so the difference in refunds filing separately versus filing jointly would not be that great.

However, if you both are from a country with no treaty exemption, then filing jointly would clearly be the best way to go.

Yes, Both of us are from India. Thank you for your answer.

Also, what is a better option for me regharding my W4 for 2011. How many allowances should I be claiming. I don't want too much taken off my paychecks and don't want uncle sam to be sitting on my monoey for the major part of the year :)

Also, thanks again and appreciate your responses.

The W-4 question is easy: Under special IRS rules for foreign workers, you can file MARRIED with no more than TWO allowances. This is done to ensure that enough income tax is withheld to cover your tax liability for your salary.

Regarding the W-4 another question.

On the W-4 form, it asks you to list yourself as "Single" even if you are married and either of you or your spouse is a Non-Resident alien as is our case (me on H1, her on F1). So, I guess I cannot list myself as Married there as you suggested above? (I hope I am not missing something)

And from the W4 worksheet, looks like I can claim two allowances. I agree with you on that.

You CAN list yourself as SINGLE if you wish. It is just that, if you list as MARRIED, you can claim NORE MORE THAN two allowances.