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madhuk26 · Mar 16, 2009, 12:24 PM

HI ,

My case is:

F1 - aug 2005 - may 2007
OPT - June 2007 - Sep 2007
H1B Oct 2007 - till date

And I got married on mar 26 2008. We came to USA on April 2008 .My husband is on H1b.
I filied my tax returns as single for 2008. Now I want to fill w4 for my new employer. And also my husband is changing status to H4 . He is on h1b till date.

Now my ques is :

1.Should I file as married or married filling separately
2.And same case with my husband (he is filling a new w4)
3.When I can claim him as dependent (for h4)
4.Are we both residents now?

Please answer me... Thanks MADHU

MukatA · Mar 17, 2009, 02:24 AM

For 2008, you can only file as married filing separately or married filing jointly. You can not file as single.

madhuk26 · Mar 17, 2009, 09:55 AM

Hi Mukat.. thank you so much for the reply.. but I already filed my taxes for 2008 and the tax guy told me I can file single even tough I am married. Now that I filed my taxes already what I can do next... thank you

MukatA · Mar 17, 2009, 11:32 AM

File amended tax return Form 1040X. Normally filing joint return is best.

AtlantaTaxExpert · May 8, 2009, 01:11 PM

You DEFINITELY need to amend the return, because filing SINGLE is incorrect.

You need to file either Married Filing Jointly or Married Filing Separately.

Five Rings · May 9, 2009, 03:26 AM

What you need to do now is go back to your tax guy and strangle him because he has given you more trouble and expense. Find a real tax professional and file amended returns.

Next, file jointly as residents. Unless your circumstances are unusual, it will give you a better result.
Remember this, spouses are never dependents. US tax doctrine treats a married couple as a single economic unit. You combine all your income and deductions. Remember to include all your moving expenses to the US if you meet the rules: Publication 521 (2008), Moving Expenses

AtlantaTaxExpert · Jun 12, 2009, 01:13 PM

Now, now, now, Five Rings, physical violence never solves anything!

Actually, that's not true! Physical violence on a massive scale (i.e. war) DOES tend to resolve matters rather definitively, but in this case, strangling an incompetent tax preparer might be considered a bit of an over-reaction by local law enforcement. :-)

But I digress!

I normally tell people to go back to the original tax guy to give them a chance to either do the requisite research in order to fix the problem or to allow the taxpayer to determine on their own that they made a wrong choice when choosing their tax professional. If the tax guy IS a true professional, he will either get educated and fix the mistake or admit that he is in over his head and refer the client to someone who can fix the problem.