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taxesgal's Posts

To be a "resident alien" is  synonymous with GREEN CARD holder.
They must be a US Citizen or a resident alien, i.e. green card holder.  If they are neither then they do not qualify for EITC...  
  I disagree it is not a once in a life time elections  READ BELOW PUB 519 -- Nonresident Spouse Treated as a Resident If, at the end of your tax year, you are married and one spouse is a U.S. citi... See more...
  I disagree it is not a once in a life time elections  READ BELOW PUB 519 -- Nonresident Spouse Treated as a Resident If, at the end of your tax year, you are married and one spouse is a U.S. citizen or a resident alien and the other spouse is a nonresident alien, you can choose to treat the nonresident spouse as a U.S. resident. This includes situations in which one spouse is a nonresident alien at the beginning of the tax year, but a resident alien at the end of the year, and the other spouse is a nonresident alien at the end of the year. If you make this choice, you and your spouse are treated for income tax purposes as residents for your entire tax year. Neither you nor your spouse can claim under any tax treaty not to be a U.S. resident. You are both taxed on worldwide income. You must file a joint income tax return for the year you make the choice, but you and your spouse can file joint or separate returns in later years. If you file a joint return under this provision, the special instructions and restrictions for dual-status taxpayers in chapter 6 do not apply to you. Example. Bob and Sharon Williams are married and both are nonresident aliens at the beginning of the year. In June, Bob became a resident alien and remained a resident for the rest of the year. Bob and Sharon both choose to be treated as resident aliens by attaching a statement to their joint return. Bob and Sharon must file a joint return for the year they make the choice, but they can file either joint or separate returns for later years. How To Make the Choice Attach a statement, signed by both spouses, to your joint return for the first tax year for which the choice applies. It should contain the following information. • A declaration that one spouse was a nonresident alien and the other spouse a U.S. citizen or resident alien on the last day of your tax year, and that you choose to be treated as U.S. residents for the entire tax year. • The name, address, and identification number of each spouse. (If one spouse died, include the name and address of the person making the choice for the deceased spouse.) Amended return. You generally make this choice when you file your joint return. However, you also can make the choice by filing a joint amended return on Form 1040-X. Attach Form 1040 or 1040-SR and print “Amended” across the top of the corrected return. If you make the choice with an amended return, you and your spouse must also amend any returns that you may have filed after the year for which you made the choice. You generally must file the amended joint return within 3 years from the date you filed your original U.S. income tax return or 2 years from the date you paid your income tax for that year, whichever is later.  Suspending the Choice The choice to be treated as a resident alien is suspended for any tax year (after the tax year you made the choice) if neither spouse is a U.S. citizen or resident alien at any time during the tax year. This means each spouse must file a separate return as a nonresident alien for that year if either meets the filing requirements for nonresident aliens discussed in chapter 7. Example. Dick Brown was a resident alien on December 31, 2016, and married to Judy, a nonresident alien. They chose to treat Judy as a resident alien and filed joint 2016 and 2017 income tax returns. On January 10, 2018, Dick became a nonresident alien. Judy had remained a nonresident alien throughout the period. Dick and Judy could have filed joint or separate returns for 2018 because Dick was a resident alien for part of that year. However, because neither Dick nor Judy is a resident alien at any time during 2019, their choice is suspended for that year. If either meets the filing requirements for nonresident aliens discussed in chapter 7, they must file separate returns as nonresident aliens for 2019. If Dick becomes a resident alien again in 2020, their choice is no longer suspended. Ending the Choice Once made, the choice to be treated as a resident applies to all later years unless suspended (as explained earlier under Suspending the Choice) or ended in one of the following ways. If the choice is ended in one of the following ways, neither spouse can make this choice in any later tax year. 1. Revocation. Either spouse can revoke the choice for any tax year, provided he or she makes the revocation by the due date for filing the tax return for that tax year. The spouse who revokes the choice must attach a signed statement declaring that the choice is being revoked. The statement must include the name, address, and identification number of each spouse. (If one spouse dies, include the name and address of the person who is revoking the choice for the deceased spouse.) The statement must also include a list of any states, foreign countries, and possessions that have community property laws in which either spouse is domiciled or where real property is located from which either spouse receives income. File the statement as follows. a. If the spouse revoking the choice must file a return, attach the statement to the return for the first year the revocation applies. b. If the spouse revoking the choice does not have to file a return, but does file a return (for example, to obtain a refund), attach the statement to the return. c. If the spouse revoking the choice does not have to file a return and does not file a claim for refund, send the statement to the Internal Revenue Service Center where you filed the last joint return. 2. Death. The death of either spouse ends the choice, beginning with the first tax year following the year the spouse died. However, if the surviving spouse is a U.S. citizen or resident and is entitled to the joint tax rates as a surviving spouse, the choice will not end until the close of the last year for which these joint rates may be used. If both spouses die in the same tax year, the choice ends on the first day after the close of the tax year in which the spouses died. 3. Legal separation. A legal separation under a decree of divorce or separate maintenance ends the choice as of the beginning of the tax year in which the legal separation occurs. 4. Inadequate records. The IRS can end the choice for any tax year that either spouse has failed to keep adequate books, records, and other information necessary to determine the correct income tax liability, or to provide adequate access to those records.
If you do buy the prior year software, do the earliest return first.  You said you have 5-6 years previous, so 2014 first, the data will carry forward to the next year 2015 and save you a ton of key ... See more...
If you do buy the prior year software, do the earliest return first.  You said you have 5-6 years previous, so 2014 first, the data will carry forward to the next year 2015 and save you a ton of key stroking.
A couple of questions for clarification.  Is the wife a US citizen or resident alien of the US, if not filing married filing joint puts all world wide income subject to US taxation.  Since she had a ... See more...
A couple of questions for clarification.  Is the wife a US citizen or resident alien of the US, if not filing married filing joint puts all world wide income subject to US taxation.  Since she had a job in the Philippines and that income would be included if you filed MFJ, I recommend MFS.  
What are the ages of the siblings? That is the sibling that is making $8,000.  Are they still in school? Do the parents own the house or do they rent?
The sibling claiming the dependent needs to be OLDER than the dependent.  Also since the sibling is the qualified child of more than one individual the tie breaker rules would give the dependency to ... See more...
The sibling claiming the dependent needs to be OLDER than the dependent.  Also since the sibling is the qualified child of more than one individual the tie breaker rules would give the dependency to the higher income earner....  So why are you wanting to do this.
On the print client screen you can look at print preview and see if the K-1 are there.  Also in that same screen there is a button "choose items to print"  Click on it and make sure the k-1's are che... See more...
On the print client screen you can look at print preview and see if the K-1 are there.  Also in that same screen there is a button "choose items to print"  Click on it and make sure the k-1's are checked.  If all else fails open the K-1 input screen.  Click on print and choose  print selected form.    
Go to tools Scroll down to Options Click on Firm/Preparer  Under Preparer/ERO INFO scroll down to preparer email Right beside it is a block to print date on return that must be checked.