Hi,
I am on H1B living in US from July 3 2010 and my wife (H4 not working) and kid (H4) joined me on Dec 15.
I received 28500 (annual package 59850$) during the year 2010 for the six months starting from July 2010 to Dec 2010.

How many allowances should I put in W4.
1 - self.
1 - married with wife not working
1 - for spouse
1 - for my kid
Total is 4.

Can I put Child Tax Credit as 2
1. Am I doing it correctly?

2. while filing MFJ return my consultant is asking me to put it as 3 to get maximum return. Can I do that?

3. Tell me what should be the correct no of allowances I should put for Federal W4 form with 59850$ annual package, on H1 with wife and kid on H4 and not working.

4. Can I claim the child tax credit. Which makes the total the no of allowances to 6. Is it correct.

I am really confused. Please let me know.

You can file joint return as residents. But you must wait to file your return till you complete substantial presence test in 2011. Your U.S. Tax Return: Substantial Presence Test (http://taxipay.blogspot.com/2008/04/substantial-presence-test.html)

On joint return as residents you must both report your worldwide income for 2010.