TN tax

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Joe
Posts: 8
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 7:02 pm

TN tax

Post by Joe »

tn
Joe
Posts: 8
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 7:02 pm

Post by Joe »

Sorry about the previous post. I am on TN and wife is on TD, in the US since september. My 2004 income is well below 20k and wife has no income. I have 2 W2 forms because I changed jobs already.

My question is this:
I dont have any interest or medical expenses to claim and I rent and dont own property. My employer witholds medical insurance monthly rates on pre-tax basis. When I file as Married filing jointly, I get zero refund and zero oweing. Is their anything I can claim to increase my refund slightly? (In canada we used to have basic deduction amount which gets us tax credits back, even with small income)


My second question is: Is it correct to add the fields from the two W2 forms?
nelsona
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Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2004 2:33 pm
Location: Nowhere, man

Post by nelsona »

I should warn you that since you moved to US during 2004, you cannot simply file a regular 1040, using the standard deduction, unless you also report ALL your income form the whole year, including you and your wife's Cdn income.

Otherwise you are not entitled to standard deduction, and MUST file married separately, and thus probaly owe a fair bit of tax for 2004.

And don't forget that your Cdn tax return is also 'irregular' since you left in 2004.

But generally, the only reason you get a refund is because you gave gov't too much money to begin with. They are only giving you back what they took from you.

So, if you want a bigger refund, have your company take more off your paycheck.



Look at IRS Pub. 517 to see how you should file this year.

In future years (2005 on) you will be able to file like everyone else.

Unless you have a house (and thus have mortgage interest and real estate tax) it is unlikley that you would have enough other deductions to benefit from itemizing deductions instead of taking the standard deduction.

Yes, you add W-2 amounts together.

<i>nelsona non grata... and non pro</i>
nelsona
Posts: 18314
Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2004 2:33 pm
Location: Nowhere, man

Post by nelsona »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">I wonder if you can elect to file as full year residents, be taxable on world-wide income, and use the Canada/U.S. tax treaty to your advantage to use the FEIE to exclude Canadian income completely.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

What do you mean 'you wonder'?

<i>Of course</i> they can exclude Cdn wages (you can never exclude other types of income), we've gone thru this in your case.

One can 'wonder' if its worth it, as you say, but it certainly is doable.




<i>nelsona non grata... and non pro</i>
nelsona
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Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2004 2:33 pm
Location: Nowhere, man

Post by nelsona »

My advice is short on details here because I have already posted them dozens of times both on this site and on grasmick... the advice I have given you has been very detailed. Too detailed, in fact.
nelsona
Posts: 18314
Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2004 2:33 pm
Location: Nowhere, man

Post by nelsona »

OK big boy, give me your hand (again).

Go to IRS.gov

enter 8833 in the search

Look at the <b>first entry</b> on the hit list...

and presto, the list of whens and when-nots.


Theres a good lad. I hope you can make it all the way back from so deep in the woods.


I guess I should apologize for not giving you the specific adress to mail your retutn to, but I guess you had to pay your accountant to do that, too.

Guess what, when I answer a question (which I can choose how to answer btw), my first priority is to not give incorrect information.

If I give partial information, it is often because I feel that the questioner will need far more guidance than he will get from this site. Tey can then go, armed with a nugget, to a practictioner, protected from the errors that they are prone to inflict on the taxpayer.

At this point, my chosen role is merely to point out possibilities, and correct errors and misconceptions, not do taxes.

AS I have oft-repeated, I specifically answer a few cases ech year which either are common questions, or highlight a certain process that may be useful for this tax year, or for planning purposes, particularly if they are unclear in the tax publications.

I know if they are unclear or not by the number of questions that have come up over the years.


Don't forget I've been on this site for 5 years, I know what a questioner is relly asking before he even knows he's asking it.

As you say, with our different styles, we should have eberything covered. You will go into chapter and verse about your personal tax return situation, and I'll point out the errors.





<i>nelsona non grata... and non pro</i>
Joe
Posts: 8
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 7:02 pm

Post by Joe »

Thank you everyone for the great information. I have one question left. Am I eligible to file as Married Filing jointly? or Married filing sepretaly? The reson I ask is I am using Turbotax software to file my return (company discount) and it asks for my spouses SSN. Of course she doesnt have one because she is a TD. I almost feel I should file as single. Thanks again.
nelsona
Posts: 18314
Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2004 2:33 pm
Location: Nowhere, man

Post by nelsona »

You cannot easily use software for the first year taxes, since you at least need to (a) file a 1040NR (unavailable in package) and or file a W-7 for her ITIN, along with your return.

You certainly will not be able to e-file this year.



<i>nelsona non grata... and non pro</i>
nelsona
Posts: 18314
Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2004 2:33 pm
Location: Nowhere, man

Post by nelsona »

rhollan,

I will continue to answer question how I see fit, not you.

You are free to do the same.



<i>nelsona non grata... and non pro</i>
Joe
Posts: 8
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 7:02 pm

Post by Joe »

Ok thanks again. So I should look for software that lets me file a W-7 then? This is much harder than I thought. I already filed my taxes in canada as I normaly do, I still have students loans that I pay monthly in canada and some ongoing monthly bills. Filing under the treaty seems complicated for me and requiers a profissional accountant which is out of my budget at this time. Walmart has tax service for $59.99 I wonder if they can solve this Dilemma for me. Too bad the E-file is not an option as they make it seem simple enough. Question: What happenes if I dont file? According to a tax estimator at H&R block website, I dont get a refund and I dont have to pay anything to IRS. If I dont file would they do it for me?
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