Hi,

I went to US on Dec 15th 2007 and was in US till 29th March'2009.
My wife was with me from Dec 15th 2007 to July'08 and returned to India. Hence I filed my 2008 returns MARRIED JOINTLY.

Now my doubts on 2009 taxation

1. since I was in US hardly for 90 days in 2009, Do I need to file as a Resident OR Non Resident?

2. Since my wife is not with me during 2009, do I need file as a Individual ONLY? Am I not eligible to file as MARRIED JOINTLY?

3. Since I stayed less than 90 days, whether it will be a tax free year for me?


Thanks in advance, Venu

Venu:

You have a choice. You can:

1) File a dual-status return and pay taxes ONLY on your U.S.-sourced income. You will file this as a MARRIED taxpayer and will pay under the Married Filing Separately tax table. Further, you will NOT be able to claim the standard deduction nor will you be allowed to claim your wife as a dependent because she was NOT with you in the U.S. in 2009.

OR

2) You can file jointly with your wife as resident aliens, but you must declare ALL world-wide income. Your wife's physical location in 2009 is irrelevent if you file jointly. You can offset any double taxation using either the Foreign Income Exclusion (Form 2555) or the Foreign Tax Credit (Form 1116). You would notify both the IRS and the U.S. State Department that you have left the U.S. in 2009 and that this is your last tax return.

Option #2 is probably the best way to file. Regardless, you MUST file some type of return; 2009 is NOT a tax-free year for you.