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chunlong · Jul 23, 2012, 09:01 PM

Hi,

I'm about to work in US from Oct 1st, 2012 on H1B. My wife will still be working in Singapore. I have a son which is 1 year old. My question is how I choose the filing status for year 2012 in order to save taxes. Single or Married jointly? If my wife and my son will not come to US for the whole year of 2013, which filing status shall I use for year 2013?

Thanks anyone for clarification:)

Kevin

AtlantaTaxExpert · Jul 24, 2012, 07:04 AM

Kevin:

Because you ARE married, you must file either Married Filing Jointly or Married Filing Separately. Filing SINGLE is NOT an option.

You can file jointly irrespective of your wife's physical location; she can be on Mars for all the IRS cares. However, if you file jointly:

- You must declare all worldwide income, to include your wife's salary in Singapore. That can be mitigated by using either the Foreign Tax Credit (Form 1116) or the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (Form 2555), or a combination thereto.

- You must WAIT until 1 June 2013 to file, because you must first meet the Substantial Presence Test.

- She must submit Form W-7 to get an Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN), a form she must sign.

- She must sign the joint tax return and a statement that you and she BOTH choose to be treated as resident for all of 2012.

This process is a bit complicated, but it IS doable (I do it about a dozen times every year).

As for your child, you CANNOT claim the child as a dependent unless he/she spends at least ONE day in the United States in 2012.

If you think you will need professional help filing, email me at the email address in my profile (if you cannot see my email address below).

chunlong · Jul 25, 2012, 06:14 PM

Thanks for your comprehensive reply. I'll seek professional help, when the time comes.

So when I return the form w-4 to my employer, I still need to tick "Single" for tax withholding as there is a comment besides that saying if married but spouse is a nonresident alien, check the "Single" box. Does this affect filing status when I file the tax return? I could still file as married filing jointly?

Thanks,

Kevin

AtlantaTaxExpert · Jul 26, 2012, 06:11 AM

Kevin:

You CAN submit the W-4 under SINGLE status with ONE allowance, but if you intend to file jointly, the better choice is to submit it under MARRIED with TWO allowances.

The W-4 has NO effect on how you file your tax return; it just tells the employer which status to use to determine how much to withhold from your salary.