Hi,

I have read many articles and bit confused what and how should I proceed to file the Tax returns.

1) My Spouse, My child and Myself arrived in US on 03/19/2012.
2) I was working as a full time employee with one of the Companies at a client site.
3) I have paid federal, state, ssn and Medicare taxes out of my paychecks.
4) I was on H1B Visa and My spouse and child were on H4 along with me.
5) This is the first time we have entered in US.
6) Now we all arrived on 03/19/2012 and we all left US on 09/22/2012, which in total makes 186 days of consecutive stay in US.

Now since I was filing tax return, I have specific questions and it would be a great help, if someone can guide me appropriately.
1) What is my Status? Resident, non-resident or dual status alien?
2) Can I file the tax returns as married filed jointly?
3) Based on the data provided, is my spouse and child eligible for filing ITIN.
4) While filing W-7 form in order to apply for ITIN for my spouse and dependent, there are various options in - Reason you are submitting Form W-7 from a to h. If someone can guide me what would be appropriate option to tick on based on the Status?
5) Once Status is defined, what could be the standard deductions eligible for?

Please do reply.

Thanks & regards,
Monty

You need to file dual-status, so you will NOT be able to claim the standard deduction. You MUST itemize.

Even though you have met the Substantial Presence Test, you do NOT meet the criteria to file a joint return under the First Year Choice process.

Your wife and child ARE eligible for ITINs. You will need to apply for Individual Tax Identification Numbers (ITINs) for your wife and child by submitting Form W-7, and that process has undergone some radical procedural changes this past year.  Instead of the simple notarization process, the IRS now requires that your home country certify the photocopy of your passport as a true copy.  This is due to rampant fraud in the ITIN submission process.  The notaries simply cannot tell the difference between a fake passport and the genuine passport.

You will need to get the passport photocopies CERTIFIED AS TRUE COPIES by the home government ministry that issued the passport, and get an apostille (certificate of authenticity) at the same time.

If you believe that you will need professional help filing this year, this IS what I do. Please double-click on my name (Atlanta Tax Expert) above to access my profile. You will find my email address in the signature portion of the profile (scroll down to the BOTTOM of the page).

Thank you so much for your prompt response.

1) As you mentioned, I need to apply for W-7 for My wife and Child. Kindly suggest what option would be appropriate in W-7 form. In W-7 form there are options Reason you are submitting and applying for ITin from A to H. Kindly suggest appropriate option to TICK.

2) Is there any way to save more tax? Please suggest this in detail.

3) What are the necessary forms apart from W-2 and W-7 need to submitted to IRS?

Sorry, but you are effectively asking me to prepare the tax return and Form W-7 for you without compensation.

Further, the dual-status return IS NOT for AMATEURs! Get professional help!