Tax tips

[aikorob]

Guys,
This year I get to claim N. on the taxes (that should help the refund go up :usdeyes:)
Are there any tips or pointers you can give me----any special forms that I need from the IRS?
She has her SSN; but she did not work any last year.

[groovlstk]

Good Q Rob, I've been meaning to ask this question also.

Are such things as English lessons deductible?

[jb]

The short answer is no, there are no tax benefits to marrying a RW/UW.  You get the extra personal deduction if you were married in 2007 and filing a joint return, but nothing else.  You cannot write off English lessons, dental bills, etc., nor are the USBCIS fees a deduction.   You get exactly the same deal as if you had married an AW.   Now,,, if she has a couple of kids, your number of dependents would go up.   You can claim step children as exemptions if you contribute more than 50% to their support. 

[Admin]

The short answer is no, there are no tax benefits to marrying a RW/UW.  You get the extra personal deduction if you were married in 2007 and filing a joint return, but nothing else.  You cannot write off English lessons, dental bills, etc., nor are the USBCIS fees a deduction.   You get exactly the same deal as if you had married an AW.   Now,,, if she has a couple of kids, your number of dependents would go up.   You can claim step children as exemptions if you contribute more than 50% to their support. 

jb,

Aren't the dental expenses deductible (subject to limitations)? And I could be wrong - but if someone is taking English courses for entrance into university, I would think those could qualify as educational expenses. Here is a relevant cite from IRS Pub 970:

Qualified Education Expenses

For purposes of the tuition and fees deduction, qualified education expenses are tuition and certain related expenses required for enrollment or attendance at an eligible educational institution.
Eligible educational institution.   An eligible educational institution is any college, university, vocational school, or other postsecondary educational institution eligible to participate in a student aid program administered by the Department of Education. It includes virtually all accredited public, nonprofit, and proprietary (privately owned profit-making) postsecondary institutions. The educational institution should be able to tell you if it is an eligible educational institution.

  Certain educational institutions located outside the United States also participate in the U.S. Department of Education's Federal Student Aid (FSA) programs.

Related expenses.   Student-activity fees and expenses for course-related books, supplies, and equipment are included in qualified education expenses only if the fees and expenses must be paid to the institution as a condition of enrollment or attendance.

  In the following examples, assume that each student is an eligible student and each college or university an eligible educational institution.

Example 1.

Jackson is a sophomore in University V's degree program in dentistry. This year, in addition to tuition, he is required to pay a fee to the university for the rental of the dental equipment he will use in this program. Because the equipment rental fee must be paid to University V for enrollment and attendance, Jackson's equipment rental fee is a qualified expense.

Example 2.

Donna and Charles, both first-year students at College W, are required to have certain books and other reading materials to use in their mandatory first-year classes. The college has no policy about how students should obtain these materials, but any student who purchases them from College W's bookstore will receive a bill directly from the college. Charles bought his books from a friend, so what he paid for them is not a qualified education expense. Donna bought hers at College W's bookstore. Although Donna paid College W directly for her first-year books and materials, her payment is not a qualified education expense because the books and materials are not required to be purchased from College W for enrollment or attendance at the institution.

Example 3.

When Marci enrolled at College X for her freshman year, she had to pay a separate student activity fee in addition to her tuition. This activity fee is required of all students, and is used solely to fund on-campus organizations and activities run by students, such as the student newspaper and the student government. No portion of the fee covers personal expenses. Although labeled as a student activity fee, the fee is required for Marci's enrollment and attendance at College X. Therefore, it is a qualified expense.

Seems like the school should know if their programs qualify for the deduction or not.

- Dan

[Admin]

One other deduction which might apply (I am NOT a tax advisor!) is Moving expenses.

It seems to me that, since SHE is moving half-way across the globe, that at least some of the expenses to get her, and her belongings, to the US should be deductible. IRS Pub 521 is the applicable publication, I believe.

FWIW

- Dan

[Jet]

One of the things we found out that will help those who's wives have children, is that the IRS definition of Legal Permanent Resident is NOT the same as the USCIS definition. If the child can pass the "substantial presence test" I.E. the child spent 181 days or more in the USA during the tax year, they qualify as dependents. You must first get them an EAD so they can get a SS# but the benefit substantially outweighs the costs. 

[Jet]

One other deduction which might apply (I am NOT a tax advisor!) is Moving expenses.

It seems to me that, since SHE is moving half-way across the globe, that at least some of the expenses to get her, and her belongings, to the US should be deductible. IRS Pub 521 is the applicable publication, I believe.

FWIW

- Dan

Dunno man, maybe in a case where she's ready to start work right away....

From Pub 521:

Who Can Deduct Moving Expenses

You can deduct your moving expenses if you meet all three of the following requirements.

    *Your move is closely related to the start of work.
Closely related in time.   You can generally consider moving expenses incurred within 1 year from the date you first reported to work at the new location as closely related in time to the start of work. It is not necessary that you arrange to work before moving to a new location, as long as you actually go to work in that location.

  If you do not move within 1 year of the date you begin work, you ordinarily cannot deduct the expenses unless you can show that circumstances existed that prevented the move within that time.

    *You meet the distance test.
Your move will meet the distance test if your new main job location is at least 50 miles farther from your former home than your old main job location was from your former home. For example, if your old main job location was 3 miles from your former home, your new main job location must be at least 53 miles from that former home. You can use Worksheet 1 to see if you meet this test.

    *You meet the time test.
To deduct your moving expenses, you also must meet one of the following two time tests.

    *The time test for employees.

If you are an employee, you must work full time for at least 39 weeks during the first 12 months after you arrive in the general area of your new job location (39-week test). Full-time employment depends on what is usual for your type of work in your area.

    *The time test for self-employed persons.

If you are self-employed, you must work full time for at least 39 weeks during the first 12 months and for a total of at least 78 weeks during the first 24 months after you arrive in the general area of your new job location (78-week test).


Your move may be from one U.S. location to another or from a foreign country to the United States.
 You can deduct the cost of packing, crating, and transporting your household goods and personal effects and those of the members of your household from your former home to your new home.
You can deduct the cost of transportation and lodging for yourself and members of your household while traveling from your former home to your new home. This includes expenses for the day you arrive. You can include any lodging expenses you had in the area of your former home within one day after you could no longer live in your former home because your furniture had been moved. The members of your household do not have to travel together or at the same time. However, you can only deduct expenses for one trip per person.

I'd strongly urge anyone thinking of using these moving expense deductions to read Pub 521 in it's entirety here:
http://www.irs.gov/publications/p521/index.html

[viking]

I am not a tax acountant, but having done my own taxes for over 30 years :
Dental is medical and can be claimed, along with medical, if it is over the 7% limitation rule.
Moving expense is usually only used for when an employee must move for work purposes.
Educational expense is also deductble, but again for work related issues. Not usually learning another language, unless, maybe, it is needed say for translation related work. (loophole?)
Also remember. As a married person, you are now subject to the 'marriage penalty".

[jb]

Dan,

Moving expenses are a legitimate deduct if it is for business, or a job related relocation, I don't think a K-1 or K-3 would pass muster.

Medical and dental deducts are allowed if they exceed some percentage of gross adjusted income, (7% per person??, I think it refers to a "household", not an individual).  Generally, however, the standard deduction is generally greater than the overall benefits one would gain by doing an itemized 1040 return.  Unless a man was earning a much higher salary where many other business deductions could be lumped into getting the adjusted gross down a lot, I don't think you would see a tax advantage either way.  The tax might even be higher.

Learning English?  Most community colleges offer cheap classes for new immigrants, sometimes even free.  Once again, the IRS standard deduction would probably be greater than going after an itemized tax return.

I stand by my original statement, IME, there are no tax benefits associated with marrying an RW, per se.  Other than the obvious extra personal exemption one gets from being married and filing a joint return.

[BC]

Moving expenses are a legitimate deduct if it is for business, or a job related relocation, I don't think a K-1 or K-3 would pass muster.

jb, not a tax expert but you might want to consider the following:

You can generally consider moving expenses incurred within 1 year from the date you first reported to work at the new location as closely related in time to the start of work. It is not necessary that you arrange to work before moving to a new location, as long as you actually go to work in that location.

I guess the trick is that without a job within a year of the move, you cannot deduct.

[Voyageur]

It is too bad that the IRS doesn't allow for deductions for any costs associated with legally registering our family into US society. 

[aikorob]

I took a look around irs.gov at lunch yesterday; I found several publications that may be relevant:

#519  US Tax guide for Aliens
#54 Tax guide for USC and resident aliens abroad
#514 Foriegn tax credit for individuals
#2555 Foriegn earned income
#850 English/Russian glossary----this has translations of not only tax items, but a lot of common business and economic terminology

I will have to take a closer look at these tomorrow and also search visajourney.com

[William3rd]

Guys- what lunacy is this?

You cannot deduct your foreign bride. PERIOD. No matter how much wordsmithing you want to do, there is no accountant or lawyer that would agree that you can go on a bride search, bring her on a K visa, marry and then deduct. FRIVOLOUS.

If you dont think it hasnt been tried before, guess again. Had clients try it and their wives were less than amused when IRS tacked on penalties.

The "trick" is to have her come here for employment- H visas, etc. Not as an intending spouse.

So, is she fraudulently entering to work-claiming marriage to you, or are you fraudlently claiming her as a deduction. Which I agency are you going to commit perjury with? Both?

Anybody heard the term BS artist-

Time for football!!!!!

[Admin]

Guys- what lunacy is this?

It is one of the many reasons we keep you around William. You help us to make sure the lunatics don't take over the asylum. At least, till we get YOU over to the dark side

- Dan

[catzenmouse]

William's holding out for a bigger offer. I've begged and pleaded with him Dan and even sent him one of these:

[Shadow]

There is a way to deduct a foreign bride. Wait until she gets her green card and leaves you. I am pretty sure that the life support you will have to pay her can be deducted. 

[jj]

fwiw if you have your own business, full or part-time and your spouse has her EAD , then pay here $2,000 and deduct from business, then set her up an IRA for $2,000 and let it accumulate tax free.  Or hire the kids under 14, pay them up to $700 earned or unearned and they shouldn't even have to file, or you could file and then set up IRA for them.  If the children are old enough for EAD, then do the 2,000 IRA for them, and deduct income from  business.  The traditional IRA should be deductible also from personal tax if overall income is below a certain threshold, as far I know.  I may stand corrected but I think this should work.