[frejock]

Hi all,
I am a resident alien working on H1-B. My wife(H4 visa) joined me in the US in 2008(202 days) and got her ITIN last year when we filed jointly.
After spending 90 days in US in 2009, she went to our home country to deliver a child and both of them joined me in 2010.

Filing taxes for 2009, do you think my wife has satisfied substantial presence test to be eligible for dependent tax credit?
Do we qualify for baby credit considering the baby was not in the US until 2010?
I have been providing for my wife and baby's living/medical expenses abroad so can I list them for deductions?
Do I need to apply for my baby's ITIN at the time of filing?

Appreciate your response. Thanks in advance.

-F

[suhari]

He only way to get an ITIN for your wife and two children is to attach the three Form(s) W-7 to your tax return and mail to IRS for processing. Generally you will claim your wife's exemption and the dependency exemption for your two children if they qualify as your dependents. As for your two college age children you cannot claim a person as a dependent unless that person is a US citizen, US resident alien, US national or a resident of Canada or Mexico, for some part of the year. You don't say where 'your country' is but unless they meet the rule above you cannot claim them as dependents.

If they do meet that rule and they do qualify as your dependents you would also have to have Form W-7 for each of your college age children and they would also need to be attached to your tax return prior to mailing to IRS for processing.

[frejock]

So does it mean my daughter does not require an ITIN while filing taxes?

Also can your immediate dependents' medical expenses qualify for deductions?

Thanks

[Five Rings]

I'm sorry; this post from suhari is confusing me. Who said anything about college age children in frejock's post?

The issues are:
Is the wife resident? The answer is no; 202/3 (2008)=67.3+90.0 (2009)=157.3 does not satisfy the substantial presence test. You may however take the spousal exemption of $3,650 and claim the filing status of Married Filing Jointly as long as she has elected to be treated as a US resident under sec. 6013(g).

Is the baby resident? The answer is no. She was not a US resident in 2009. Thus, you may not claim the child tax credit or dependent deduction for that year.
Nevertheless, you may claim a deduction for medical expenses since you paid them.

Apply for your baby's ITIN or SS# (depending on your circumstaces) in 2010.