Hello friends,

I came to US on March 31st 2008 on L1 b visa. On my colleague advice I filed the tax through turbo tax for the year 2008 for the months I worked in US i.e (April to Dec) based on W2 form. Now I came to know that I did not file tax for the months (Jan - March) I worked in India. Is this a big mistake ?

If this is a mistake is there a way to correct it. Appreciate help from Tax Experts

You filed incorrectly.

You needed to file as a dual-status alien UNLESS you spent time in the U.S. in 2007 on either a H-1, H-1B or L-1 visa.

You will need to amend your 2008 return and attach the properly-prepared dual-status return to the Form 1040X.

BTW, a dual-status return is NOT a return for amateurs. Get professional help from someone who has experience filing such returns.

I have such experience, and if you want my professional help, contact me at [email protected] for a fee quote.

Thanks for the Reply.

I think you my situation right. This is my first year in USA and I came here March 31st 2008. For Jan, Feb and March I was in India and I paid the taxes there for that period.

You are asking me to file a amend with dual status alien. But I got reply from Govt that your tax file has been accepted and you be refunded by Feb 6th. So do I need to file the New tax return before Feb 6th. If suppose I get the refund before I file the Corrected tax return do I need to contact the IRS

The fact that the IRS accepted the incorrect return does NOT change the fact that you filed incorrectly. The IRS may or may not figure out the incorrect filing, because your return is one of MILLIONS of returns filed each year.

However, if you ever apply for a green card, they specifically ask if you paid taxes and filed the correct tax returns, and the IRS WILL check your return history at that time. That is when they will discover the error.

Yes, you need to amend the 2008 return once the IRS approves the 2008 Form 1040X (I found out this morning that the 2008 version of Form 1040X has not yet been approved).

You have until 15 April 2009 to amend the return and pay any additional t6ax without penalty or interest.