Tax Question

[Sri4GC]

Hi,

I know this is not the right forum to ask this question. But if anyone has any idea please let me know.

Here is the question:
I got married last year but filed my tax returns as ‘single’ since my spouse did not come to the US last year. Recently I met a CPA and he says that I can amend my tax returns and file as ‘married’ since my spouse has SSN now (she came this year).

Can I do this? Is it legal?

Thanks in Advance

 

[harvydonald]

I'm not a tax expert...but what your CPA suggested is legal.

If you provide truthful information to your CPA and he/she prepares your taxes and make a mistake or does something illegal...then the penelty will go to your CPA...you will be responsible only for the difference in Taxes.

 

[Sri4GC]

I'm not a tax expert...but what your CPA suggested is legal.

If you provide truthful information to your CPA and he/she prepares your taxes and make a mistake or does something illegal...then the penelty will go to your CPA...you will be responsible only for the difference in Taxes.

Thanks for your reply.

So what you are saying is that I can amend my 2005 tax returns as 'married' even though my spouse did not come to the US in 2005. Please confirm.

 

[AmericanWannabe]

Thanks for your reply.

So what you are saying is that I can amend my 2005 tax returns as 'married' even though my spouse did not come to the US in 2005. Please confirm.

A nonresident alien marriried a US tax resident but not INS resident
can not file joitn return.

A nonresident alien married to a US citizen or PR can elect to
be treated as tax resident and file joint return with his /her spouse.


So if you have GC during the tax year and your wife never come to USA,
you two can still file joint return with both of you as residents



See pub 519 US Tax Guide for Aliens

 

[Madison04]

A nonresident alien marriried a US tax resident but not INS resident can not file joitn return.

I disagree.

They can file a joint return if they write IRS a statement that elects to treat the other nonresident alien as a resident alien for income tax purposes.

As far as IRS is concerned, they don't care how you obtained your "resident alien" status: Either Green Card test or Substantial Presence test is OK. As long as you have this status for tax purposes, you can elect to treat the nonresident spouse as a resident.

This information can be found in the same Publication 519. And I confirmed it with IRS and had filed our returns this way during the past 3 years before I got my 485 approved last year.

Regarding the OP's question, I really doubt that you can amend your return this way, because your wife wasn't in the US during 2005 and I don't think you can elect to treat her as a resident alien for this period. Therefore, you're not qualified to file your return as a married person for 2005. --I'm not a professional though and this is simply my own opinion. On the other hand, please don't think that all CPAs understand situations of our immigrants. More often than not, they don't. Over the past 8 years, I used a CPA only once because my wife was relocated and her company paid the fees. That CPA didn't understand a thing about our special situation and did something wrong. She ackowledged the mistakes after I corrected her.

Having said that, I believe what harvydonald said is true: If there is any problem down the road, your CPA will probably be the one who has to take the responsibilities. So, take the risk if it involves a lot of money; otherwise, you'd better save yourself the troubles having to clarify all of these when you apply for citizenship.