Hi,
I worked in US on TN for the past few years and relocated back to Canada in 25 Jan 2004. The only income I have from US in 2004 is in the salary from the US company in Jan 2004, and it is under US $10000. My wife was in another country and never enter US during the past few years while I worked in US.
My questions are:
1) Is 1040NR the only form I need to file ? and do I only need to report the 1st month income in US, not the income i earned after i came back to canada?
2) if yes, since I can't file as 'married joint filing' as a non-resident, do my wife need to file a tax return, as she doesn't have any income, and never enter US.
3) is there any consequence in filing an extension?
Wife not in US in 2004, and no income, need file?
Moderator: Mark T Serbinski CA CPA
Technically, a 1040 'statement' on which you include January 2004 income (including any world income for that month) along with a 1040NR on which you actually pay the tax is required.
The net effect is that you pay 1040NR rates on your one month of wages.
Your wife would also follow the same pattern, excepyt that since she earned no income, she doesn't have to file (you can use her as an exemption on your 1040NR)
An extension doesn't get you anything. Since you live outside US you autoamtically get 2 months.
In any even, if you owe money, you start accumulating interst and penalties from 04/15, regardless of whther you file extension or not.
<i>nelsona non grata... and non pro</i>
The net effect is that you pay 1040NR rates on your one month of wages.
Your wife would also follow the same pattern, excepyt that since she earned no income, she doesn't have to file (you can use her as an exemption on your 1040NR)
An extension doesn't get you anything. Since you live outside US you autoamtically get 2 months.
In any even, if you owe money, you start accumulating interst and penalties from 04/15, regardless of whther you file extension or not.
<i>nelsona non grata... and non pro</i>
Nelson,
Thanks a lot for your reply! It really help a lot!
Just a little thing needs to clarify:
1) what is a '1040 statement'? is it downloadable from IRS website? I can't find it....
2) since the only form I need to file is the 1040NR, and I will use my wife as an exemption, and I will file as a 'married filed separately' (as IRS publication said NR cannot file as Married Filed Jointly), so does my wife need to file a separate 1040NR also? Or she doesn't have to file, as she has no income and she was not in US in the past few years. (I already applied an ITIN number for her while I file my 2003 tax return in US.)
3) do I need to write 'dual status' on the top of form 1040NR? Acutally, am I classified as 'dual status' or, I am just a NR for the whole 2004 as I am only in US for 25 days in 2004.
4) I have about US$8000 income in Jan 2004, and on the W-2, it shows i have about $800 of federal tax withheld. and after I fill up the 1040NR form with all the exemption (a wife and a young kid), it turns out that I can have my $800 refund back to me. Just wondering is my calculation correct?
1040NR
line 7d: 3 (myself, wife, kid)
line 38: 9300 (3100 x 3)
so my exemption is 9300 and my income is $8000, so it turns out i acutally owe no tax and i will have the $800 refund back to me... is that correct?
For the exemption, does it need to be pro-rated? For example, I am only in US for 1 month, does the exemption need to be divided by 12?
5) final question. I have a new baby born in Nov of 2004, do I have to include him in my tax return? As I am already back in Canada, and my tax return calculation (above) already show no tax owing, so inlcuding the new baby in the tax return seems unnecessary. Is that true?
Thanks a lot for your help Nelson! I really appreciate it!
Ben
Thanks a lot for your reply! It really help a lot!
Just a little thing needs to clarify:
1) what is a '1040 statement'? is it downloadable from IRS website? I can't find it....
2) since the only form I need to file is the 1040NR, and I will use my wife as an exemption, and I will file as a 'married filed separately' (as IRS publication said NR cannot file as Married Filed Jointly), so does my wife need to file a separate 1040NR also? Or she doesn't have to file, as she has no income and she was not in US in the past few years. (I already applied an ITIN number for her while I file my 2003 tax return in US.)
3) do I need to write 'dual status' on the top of form 1040NR? Acutally, am I classified as 'dual status' or, I am just a NR for the whole 2004 as I am only in US for 25 days in 2004.
4) I have about US$8000 income in Jan 2004, and on the W-2, it shows i have about $800 of federal tax withheld. and after I fill up the 1040NR form with all the exemption (a wife and a young kid), it turns out that I can have my $800 refund back to me. Just wondering is my calculation correct?
1040NR
line 7d: 3 (myself, wife, kid)
line 38: 9300 (3100 x 3)
so my exemption is 9300 and my income is $8000, so it turns out i acutally owe no tax and i will have the $800 refund back to me... is that correct?
For the exemption, does it need to be pro-rated? For example, I am only in US for 1 month, does the exemption need to be divided by 12?
5) final question. I have a new baby born in Nov of 2004, do I have to include him in my tax return? As I am already back in Canada, and my tax return calculation (above) already show no tax owing, so inlcuding the new baby in the tax return seems unnecessary. Is that true?
Thanks a lot for your help Nelson! I really appreciate it!
Ben
A 1040 statement is just a normal 1040 on which you repot income , but don't clculate tax. This is all explained in the 519 guide, which I trust you have read.
You write dual-status on the 1040 and 1040NR to indicate that you were resident at some point, but are no longer.
You can only claim wife if she had no income anywhere.
You only need to claim as many exemptions as you need to reduce income tax to zero.
All your other questions are mechnical in n nature and explained in 519 and the 1040NR intructions.
<i>nelsona non grata... and non pro</i>
You write dual-status on the 1040 and 1040NR to indicate that you were resident at some point, but are no longer.
You can only claim wife if she had no income anywhere.
You only need to claim as many exemptions as you need to reduce income tax to zero.
All your other questions are mechnical in n nature and explained in 519 and the 1040NR intructions.
<i>nelsona non grata... and non pro</i>