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mm17 · Dec 29, 2008, 04:01 PM

Hello,
I am on H1-B and my wife on H-4. She has been in US since mid June 2008, so I would presume she is still a non-resident alien. She has an ITIN and we filed taxes jointly for 2007 (we were married in 2007). For 2008:

With no personal income does my wife have to file any tax forms?
I did not receive economic stimulus payment in 2007. Is there a way for me to receive it in 2008 even though my wife is a non resident alien?

All advice and help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

AtlantaTaxExpert · Dec 30, 2008, 05:38 AM

The following procedure will allow you to get the economic stimulus payment for 2007, and has been the course of action suggested by the IRS.

1) File as Married Filing Separately for 2008. Your wife, having no income, does NOT have to file.

2) You will get your reduced refund about six weeks after you file, and the economic stimulus payment for 2007 will come 2-4 weeks after that.

3) Once you get the economic stimulus payment for 2007, you then amend your 2008 tax return to file jointly with your wife to add your wife's personal exemption and to double your standard deduction from $5,450 to $10,900.

4) Once the amendment is mailed, you will get the refund about 6-8 weeks after mailing the amendment via a check from the IRS.

It is up to you to decide whether the economic stimulus payment for 2007 is worth the trouble the above process entails.

mm17 · Dec 30, 2008, 10:47 PM

Thanks for the instructions. I don't need to make any changes to taxes already filed for 2007? It is indeed a bit of a convulated process, but fully legal I assume.

MukatA · Dec 31, 2008, 02:57 AM

Originally Posted by mm17

Hello,
I am on H1-B and my wife on H-4. She has been in US since mid June 2008, so I would presume she is still a non-resident alien. She has an ITIN and we filed taxes jointly for 2007 (we were married in 2007). For 2008:
With no personal income does my wife have to file any tax forms?
I did not recieve economic stimulus payment in 2007. Is there a way for me to recieve it in 2008 even though my wife is a non resident alien?

All advice and help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

If you are a resident (even for tax purpose) for 2008, you both can file joint return as residents. YOu will get double standard deduction and two exemptions.
Same applies for 2007 also.
It is not required that your spouse is in U.S. Even if she has never been to the U.S. you can file joint return.