What you need to know about personal tax returns! How do I file taxes this year after I get my green card?

What you need to know about personal tax returns! How do I file taxes this year after I get my green card? [Qiaobao.com] The annual tax filing season has begun, and the Internal Revenue Service has begun accepting individual tax return filings. This year...

[Qiaobao.com] The annual tax filing season has begun, and the Internal Revenue Service has begun accepting individual tax return filings. What do you need to pay attention to when filing taxes this year, and what materials do you need to prepare? Below we make a brief introduction.

Picture from Reuters

Who needs to declare personal income tax?

Groups that need to declare personal income tax include: U.S. citizens, green card holders, other foreign citizens with income in the United States (such as H1B visa holders, international students in the United States with OPT and CPT work permits under F-1 visa), etc.

To which tax authorities do tax returns need to be filed?

Taxpayers usually need to file federal and state taxes (some also need to file municipal taxes). Federal taxes are the responsibility of the IRS, while state taxes are the responsibility of the state government where the taxpayer lives (some states do not impose state taxes, such as Texas, Florida, Alaska, etc.). Taking New York State residents as an example, they need to fill out the federal Form 1040 and the New York State IT-201 form respectively, attach a tax payment check, and submit them to the Internal Revenue Service and the New York State Taxation Bureau respectively. Taxpayers can also file tax returns electronically through professionals, such as accounting firms.

When is the tax filing deadline this year?

This year’s tax season starts on January 29th and ends on April 17th. Accounting firms can now receive personal tax return materials.

What materials are needed to file taxes this year?

General tax filing materials required vary from person to person. The following are some common required materials:

◆Taxpayers must provide a Social Security Number (SSN) or Individual Tax ID Number (ITIN). If you are married and filing jointly, you must also provide your spouse’s Social Security Number or Tax ID Number. If there are dependents, their Social Security numbers are also required.

◆New York State taxpayers must provide driver's license ID.

◆ All 2017 W-2 forms owned by the taxpayer.

◆Health insurance forms 1095A, 1095B, ​​1095C.

>◆Bank interest note 1099INT.

◆If you have securities investment, you need to prepare 1099DIV dividend statement and 1099B stock transaction form.

◆If your self-employment income includes casual labor income 1099MISC and related expenses, you need to provide relevant income and expense materials. For example, if a taxpayer drives an Uber car, he or she will receive 1099MISC from the Uber company. At the same time, the taxpayer needs to sort out related expenses, such as car purchase expenses, tolls, gas expenses, depreciation expenses, etc.

◆If there is an investment house for rent, you need to prepare the house income and related expenditure materials. If you are buying a house in the first year, you will also need to prepare house transfer documents.

◆If you withdraw money from your pension, you need to prepare 1099G.

◆If you are a shareholder of LLC or S-corp, you need to prepare the K-1 of these companies.

◆If you have retirement income, you need to prepare a 1099SSA.

◆If you are receiving unemployment benefits, you need to prepare unemployment benefit income slip 1099G.

◆If you have gambling income, you need to prepare Form W-2G and related losses.

>◆Medical insurance costs.

◆The educational expenses of taxpayers and their children.

>◆Children’s daycare fees.

◆Interest and local taxes on the main residence.

>◆Charitable donation fees.

◆Accidental loss expenses, such as theft losses (will not be tax deductible starting from 2018, unless it is a federally designated disaster area).

◆Unreimbursed work-related expenses and work-related moving expenses (will not be tax deductible starting from 2018).

◆Bank wire transfer number (routing number) and account number (account number), if you use direct deposit to pay taxes and receive tax refunds.

How should I file taxes in the year I get my green card?

People who chose investment immigration in the past few years have successfully obtained green cards one after another in the past two years. The “scary” personal and family tax returns in the United States give many new immigrants a headache.

Especially for new immigrants, how do they file taxes in the first year after receiving a green card? I am often confused as to whether I am a resident or a non-resident? How to file tax return? Do I need to declare my domestic income? Do I need to report if I have no income in the United States? Questions like these have become the first thing new immigrants ask when they come to the United States. Today’s article will answer these questions for immigrants who have recently received their green cards.

Question: I got the green card after logging in in September 2017. What status will it be considered when I file my tax return in 2018? Should I file a 1040 tax form or a 1040NR tax form?

Answer: First of all, if you want to confirm whether you are a US resident for tax purposes, you need to have two tests:

One is the green card test, and the other is the actual residence test.

1. Green card test: If you do not meet the actual residence test in the year you receive your green card, then you have two options. One option is to count you as a tax resident from the first day you obtain legal resident status. Of course, if you get a green card that year, you can also choose to become a tax resident and file taxes throughout that year.

2. Actual residence test: If you do not get a green card to become a permanent resident. Then the way to test whether you are a tax resident is to calculate the number of days you stay in the United States. As long as you meet the following two conditions at the same time, you are a tax resident:

1) You stayed in the United States for at least 31 days in the year;

2) Your number of days in the United States in the past three years (including the current year) exceeded 183 according to the following calculation Days:

I. The total number of days in the current year, plus

II. The number of days in the previous year multiplied by one-third, plus

III. The number of days in the previous two years multiplied by one-sixth.

3. To give two examples, Mr. Wang, who does not have a green card, lived in the United States for 120 days in 2017, 60 days in 2016 (multiplied by one-third equals 20 days), and 180 days in 2015 (multiplied by one-sixth equals 3 0 days), so according to the calculation of the actual residence test, Mr. Wang stayed in the United States for a total of 170 days of 120+20+30 in the past three years, which does not meet the 183-day condition. Therefore, Mr. Wang can only be counted as a non-resident in the 2017 tax return. When filing taxes, he needs to use the 1040NR non-resident tax form.

What if Mr. Wang got his green card in 2017? Mr. Wang logged in to get his green card in September and became a permanent resident of the United States. Continuing with the above example, according to the actual residence test, Mr. Wang was a non-resident that year, but since he obtained his green card in 2017, he can choose two ways to file taxes:

1) He can choose to become dual status and file taxes with dual status. Before you become a green card resident in September, you will be counted as a non-resident. After you become a green card resident in September, you will be treated as a tax resident. This operation is very complicated and requires a professional accountant to help you handle it.

2) Since Mr. Wang has obtained a green card, he can also choose to file taxes as a tax resident throughout the year. The processing in this case is relatively simple. But if Mr. Wang has a lot of assets in China, he also needs professional accountants to plan them carefully. After all, once you get your green card, you will have to bear the obligation to file taxes on your global income in the United States.

Therefore, it is a good thing to get a green card and be able to enter and exit the United States freely, but just thinking about the US tax system for global tax filing will give you a headache. It is not easy to get a green card, and it is not easy to become a green card flier who files taxes legally.