Hi,

I have a question on my tax liability. I enter US on H1B for the first time in Feb 2011 and will leave US in June 2011. My employer is an US based IT company (though having substantial presence in India). My employer is deducting handsome amount of money from paycheck every month under Federal, State, Medicare, Social Security heads.
I have my wife (working) and a kid (infant) in India. In view of this:
a) Will I get back all the tax deducted since I stay less than 183 days in US?
b) If answer is no in (a), then can I file under 'Married filed Jointly' with 1 dependent (Kid) to reduce my tax liability?
c) I am not sure but read through various posts on this website, itemized deduction can be used.can you explain it a bit so that I can get fairer idea on this? What would be the best way - through standard deduction or itemized deduction
d) Will my income in US get taxed in India once I transfer it to my Indian bank account?

Your response shall be highly appreciated. If any further information is required please let me know.

If you stay in the US less than 183 days, you are a non-resident alien.
You would file a 1040NR or 1040NR-EZ form.
These are links to the form and instruction for 2010:
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040nr.pdf
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040nr.pdf

AS a non-resident alien on H1 your only filing status is married filing separately and you can not claim your child as a dependent.
Non-resident aliens are not eligible for the standard deduction, but can itemize certain deductions. See the instructions for from 1040NR (for example donations)
If you earned more than $3650 (the personal exemption) and have not enough deduction to reduce your taxable income to Zero, you will not get all your taxes back.
Did you give your employer a W4? Here are instructions how to fill out form W4 for non-resident aliens:
http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/international/article/0, id=106274,00.html

About d) You would have to ask an Indian tax professional about taxation of your US income in India.

On your income in U.S. you will pay social security tax, Medicare tax, federal income tax and state income tax. For federal you will file nonresident tax return. For state return, you will file as part year resident.
Nonresident return, you do not get standard deduction; you get itemized deductions. You should claim travel, lodging and meals as itemized deduction. Use Form 2106 or 2106-EZ to figure your allowable expenses that you claim on line 9 of Schedule A (Form 1040NR).

For India taxes you may post your question at mytaxes - Index

Hi Taxesforaliens,

Many thanks for your response.

I got answers to all my queries. However I have a subsequent query on itemizing certain deductions:

a)I will earn more than $3650 for this period of 4 months. So will I be able to deduct $3650 + daily living expenses (like meals, rent, other utilities, incidental costs) from the taxable income?
b) If yes, then what would be the limit of per dime rate which I can deduct from the overall taxable income? I mean is there any maximum limit to which you can deduct this? Also, do I need to keep a record or supporting receipt for all the daily living expenses.

Thanks for all your support.

You can not deduct your daily living expenses. You could only deduct expenses related to your work (if you travel for your job and pay for lodging, meals etc).
See form 2106.
Some states allow a deduction for your rent.