Hi,

I & my wife came to US on 7th Oct 2006 and till today we are in US only. This is my first visit to USA. Now as per the substantial presence test, I am not considered as Resident of US to file a tax. But I was checking the first year choice option. Can anyone please guide can I use that option to file my tax as resident member ?
Note : I am on L1 & my wife is on L2.

Thanks

You and your wife have the option of filing jointly and you BOTH be considered as resident aliens for ALL of 2006. This gives your some rather generous ta deductions (the first $16,900 of your income is tax-exempt).

However, in making this choice, ALL of your world-wide income for 2006 becomes subject to U.S. taxes. If you made a substnatial income in your ome country, you may want to examine the effect of adding that income to your U.S.-sourced income before making that choice.

It is possible that filing as a non-resident alien prodices a lower tax bill.