[ravibhatt]

Hi All,

I am on L1B visa. I came to US in mid April o8 with my wife and son. I declared my w4 in may 08 with 6 points. I don't know whether it was correct. Is having 6 points correct?

Further, my wife left for india on 1st July 08. Now should I change my w4? What change should I make in the w4? What if I need to change the w4 and I don't do it?

My wife will be back in US in December. Please advice me on this.

Thank in advance,
Ravi

[MukatA]

On L1-B you will file resident tax return. You can file jointly and claim son as dependent.
On W4, you should deduct correct allowances based on the worksheet. 6 appears to be high.
It does not matter if your spouse is in the U.S. or in India; you can file joint return as residents.
Read more about the allowances you should claim on W4: Your U.S. Tax Return: Filing W4 Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate

[ravibhatt]

Hi all,

I got 6 on my w4. Here is my w4 attached. Please guide me I have filed something wrong.


A. Enter "1" for yourself if no one else can claim you as dependent.
B. Enter "1" if :
You are single and have only one job.
You are married, have only one job, and your spouse does not work.
You wages from a second job or your spouses wages (or the total of both) are $1500 or less

C. Enter "1" for your spouse. But you may chose to enter "0" if you are married and have either a working spouse or more than one job. (Entering "0" may help you avoid having too little tax withheld.)
D. Enter no. of dependents (other than your spouse or yourself) you will claim on your tax return.
E. Enter "1" if you will file as head of household on your tax return.
F. Enter "1" if you have at least $1,500 of child or dependent care expenses for which you plan to take a credit. (Note : Do not include child support payments. See Pub. 503, Child and Dependent Care Expenses for details
G. Child Tax Credit (including additional child tax credit).
If your total income is less than $55,000 ($82,000 if married), enter "2" for each eligible child.
If your total income will be between $55,000 and $84,000 ($82,000 and $119,000 if married) enter "1" for each eligible child plus "1" additional if you have four or more eligible children

H. Total of fields A to G (Note : This may be different from the no. of exemptions you claim on your tax return.)


I enter as below
A 1
B 1
C 1
D 1
E 0
F 0
G 2
H 6

U can see I get a 6 here. Am I correct in getting that number? I have a kid. And my wife and kid are currently in india.

Mukta, can you please see my w4 and tell if it is correct?

[ravibhatt]

Further,

Do I need to apply for ITIN for my wife and kid? Can I apply for ITIN if they are not in US?

Thanks.
Ravi Bhatt

[AtlantaTaxExpert]

Ravi

You WILL need an ITIN for both your wife and child. You can apply for the ITIN regardless of their location, but your wife must sign HER W-7 and the tax return, so that requirement may complicate your tax filing.

As for the W-4 exemptions, you can claim six if you want, but you will get a very small, if any, refund come tax time next year.

Further, since you will be filing as a resident alien in 2008, you must claim your income from India from 1 Jan 08 to whenever you arrived in the U.S. on your 2008 tax return. You probably will be able to exclude the Indian income using Form 2555, but that income, though excluded, may push you up a tax bracket.

For this reason, it would be prudent for you to re-submit the W-4 and claim only FOUR exemptions for the remainder of 2008.

You can then re-visit this matter in 2009 after your 2008 tax return has been filed.