topic Hi, thanks for your answers, this helps a lot. What if I... in Deductions & credits

Foreign Income earned before moving to the US

tcameron847 — Wed, 05 Jun 2019 21:30:46 GMT

I'm a Canadian citizen that moved to the US part way through 2016. Do I need to report income earned in Canada, or only income since I've moved to the US?

If you came to the USA on a work visa then any income fr...

pk — Wed, 05 Jun 2019 21:30:48 GMT

If you came to the USA on a work visa then any income from non-US sourced prior to being admitted to the USA is not within the ambit of US taxes -- you do not report those amounts.

If you cam to the USA as a resident ( green card ) ro a citizen, then your world income from the date of admission to that status is within the ambit of US taxes and must be reported.

Hope this helps

I am in a similar situation and your answer would be very...

s05 — Wed, 05 Jun 2019 21:30:49 GMT

I am in a similar situation and your answer would be very favorable for my case. Could you please include some additional (official) information that backs this up? Thanks in advance!

Please, can you tell me more about your situation--- coun...

pk — Wed, 05 Jun 2019 21:30:50 GMT

Please, can you tell me more about your situation--- country of citizenship, visa status, when did you enter the USA and all your US stay days during 2015, 2016 and 2017

Thank you for getting back to me so promptly! I am a Germ...

s05 — Wed, 05 Jun 2019 21:30:52 GMT

Thank you for getting back to me so promptly! I am a German national and entered the US mid-year to for work purposes on an H-1B visa. Using the substantial presence test, I am almost just 1 day over the 183 day rule (I have to recalculate this in more detail). The stays before my move to the US with the H-1B visa were through a visa waiver program (ESTA). In 2017, prior to my completely moving to the US, I had been to the US for other businesses (about 12 days, so exceeding the 10 day rule) on my ESTA. But just going by common sense, in my case there should be a proper cut between my work in Germany and my work in the US, should it not?

Generally the days you count are full 24 hr days startin...

pk — Wed, 05 Jun 2019 21:30:53 GMT

Generally the days you count  are full 24 hr days starting from the day you are first admitted under the visa issued. If you are a dual status taxpayer ( usually the first  or the last year of a stay ) then taxing is pretty much in line with the above discussion. The authority for this is Pub 519 at  <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.irs.gov/publications/p519#en_US_2017_publink1000222522">https://www.irs.gov/publications/p519#en_US_2017_publink1000222522</a>
Note that TurboTax does not support the preparation of non-1040  returns  ( such as 1040-NR used for Non-Resident Aliens).  Dual status returns are not that complicated but does require some familiarity of the taxlaws pertaining to the aliens.  You can download the required forms  ( 1040-NR and attachments  ) from the <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.irs.gov">www.irs.gov</a> -- these are all  fillable .pdf .  Generally though I would suggest using a professional familiar with taxing of foreigners.
Hope this helps-- in case  you want to proceed with doing it yourself, by downloading the forms, we are here to help and definitely parts of it can be computed using TurboTax.

Hi, thanks for your answers, this helps a lot. What if I...

byron-nilsson — Wed, 05 Jun 2019 21:30:55 GMT

Hi, thanks for your answers, this helps a lot. What if I worked 4 months outside of the US, moved to the US and got married to an American, filing jointly? Does he need to report my income made before we got married, made outside of the US?

If you are filing as MFJ ( Married Filing Jointly) you ar...

pk — Wed, 05 Jun 2019 21:30:56 GMT

If you are filing as MFJ ( Married Filing Jointly) you are both reporting your world income and taxed thereon --- the foreign income of one spouse is reported as foreign sourced income ( excluded if excludable under treaty or otherwise ) and eligible for foreign tax credit ( if the foreign earnings were taxed by a foreign taxing authority) -- this is true if you both request that you be treated as a resident alien for tax purposes. Otherwise you each file as Married filing Separate ( MFS ), in which your foreign earnings are generally not taxed by the USA , assuming that you were a Non-Resident Alien for all of 2018. Does this help or you need more -- in that case need you country of citizenship, your visa, when you entered USA, the total number of days spent in the USA during 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Hi, I have a somewhat similar issue, but a bit more compl...

anas2019 — Wed, 05 Jun 2019 21:31:05 GMT

Hi, I have a somewhat similar issue, but a bit more complex. I came to the US on L1 work visa from the UK in October 2017. Then in February 2018 I received a bonus from London for the portion of 2017 that I've spent there. It seems that now I need to pay taxes twice:
1) In the US, I am a tax resident in 2018 and therefore this UK income seems to be taxable, even thought it is technically a delayed pay for my 2017 work in the UK.
2) In the UK, the tax year is run differently (6 Apr 2017-5 Apr 2018), and I was a tax resident in the UK for that year (spent 200 days there). That bonus is paid for the work done in the UK by the UK company, so it is definitely table there as well.
Could you please help me understand this? It does not seem to be fair..
Thank you!

Article 14 of the US-UK treaty para 1 says " ........Conv...

pk — Wed, 05 Jun 2019 21:31:50 GMT

Article 14 of the US-UK treaty para 1 says
" ........Convention, salaries, wages, and other similar remuneration derived by a resident of a
Contracting State in respect of an employment shall be taxable only in that State unless the
employment is exercised in the other Contracting State. If the employment is so exercised,
such remuneration as is derived therefrom may be taxed in that other State"

Assuming that (a) your employer in the UK and US is the same entity i.e. this is US branch / subsidiary of a foreign entity and (b) that the bonus is NOT reported as income on your W-2 for the year 2018, in my view you can consider this wages/bonus for the year 2017 and therefore had you been a resident for tax purposes in 2017 would have been applicable. Thus it is not reportable to the USA since you were a Non-Resident Alien till meeting the substantial presence sometime in March or thereabouts ( based on 183 days present ) 2018.
If on the other hand the US entity reports this as US sourced income and shown on W-2 than this taxable ONLY in the USA for the 2018
Please let me have some more on this

Thank you very much! It is the same employer, and the bon...

anas2019 — Wed, 05 Jun 2019 21:31:52 GMT

Thank you very much! It is the same employer, and the bonus was not on the US W2 for this year, so i will not report it for this and only pay the UK taxes.

yes --

pk — Wed, 05 Jun 2019 21:31:53 GMT

yes --

If I moved to USA in July 2018 what should be my status:...

h_fatemi — Wed, 05 Jun 2019 21:31:56 GMT

If I moved to USA in July 2018 what should be my status: married filing jointly or Married single rate?

Re: Foreign Income earned before moving to the US

heman — Fri, 24 Jan 2020 07:52:50 GMT

I have a somewhat similar question. I moved from Dubai to the US on April 30 on h1-b, with the same US company. But my payroll transfer to the US took 15 more days. i.e. my US payroll was transferred on 15 May 2019. Do I have to pay taxes on the 15 days Dubai salary that I received??

Thanks

Re: If you are filing as MFJ ( Married Filing Jointly) you ar...

Mo1990 — Mon, 10 Feb 2020 14:56:42 GMT

Hi,

So I have a similar question. My wife emigrated to the USA on a K1 Visa in September 2019, and we got married shortly thereafter. Prior to September 2019, she had worked in the UK from January 2019 until August 2019. Right now we are filing our 2019 tax return jointly. Do I need to report her income earned in the UK? If so, how should I go about it? So far, I only have her P60 document, but that is from April 5 2018 through April 5 2019.

Re: If you are filing as MFJ ( Married Filing Jointly) you ar...

KarenJ2 — Mon, 10 Feb 2020 20:49:06 GMT

Re: Foreign income US resident, filing jointly.Yes, you need to include her income from calendar year 2019. You will have to allocate her P60 document by 3 months / 12 months (unless there is a bonus in there) and then add to it the monthly gross income she received from April 5 to August 2019.

In TurboTax, you will need to enter this income in the foreign earned income exclusion section. (Enter foreign income in the Search box at the top of the page). When you get to the screen where it asks if you want to see if you qualify for the foreign earned income exclusion, say NO as she does not qualify.

Then you need to enter her foreign tax in the foreign tax credit section of TurboTax to help offset any US taxes. (Enter foreign tax credit in the Search bar at the top of the page)

If you choose to file married filing jointly, you will need to attach a statement to your tax return advising the IRS that you are making the choice to file jointly. You will both need to declare your worldwide income for calendar year 2019. Since you need to add the statement attached to your return, you will need to print and mail your return. You cannot e-file.

You can find a copy of the statement you need to sign on page 9 of Publication 519 under the heading, How to Make the Choice. Publication 519

Please see the following link for an acceptable currency converter.
Yearly Average Currency Exchange Rates

Re: Foreign Income earned before moving to the US

Anais — Thu, 19 Mar 2020 01:14:06 GMT

Hello,

I too am in a very similar situation, I moved to the US in January 2019 and worked only in the US for the entire year. Before that I lived in Norway and in France (and have money in both countries). Do I need to declare the money I earned before moving to the US?

Also I earned a little bit of interest in Norway during 2019, should I declare it? I am paying taxes on it in Norway already.

I am a non resident aliens for 2019 (I am changing status in 2020), my visa with a J1 research scholar. I filled by federal taxes through the university website but I am stuck for the state ones (California).

Thank you for your help!

Re: Foreign Income earned before moving to the US

DavidD66 — Thu, 19 Mar 2020 01:31:10 GMT

If you are filing a 1040-NR you only have to report income you earned in the United States, so you would not have to report interest earned in Norway, nor would you have to report income earned in Norway or France. If you are filing a Form 1040 as a resident alien, you have to report your worldwide income for the period you are filing for,

Re: Foreign Income earned before moving to the US

Anais — Thu, 19 Mar 2020 18:48:04 GMT

Thank you David it is very helpful, I did fill a 1040-NR-EZ, does that work too?

One last question, as my status change to resident for 2020 then I will have to declare everything next year, right?

Re: Foreign Income earned before moving to the US

DavidD66 — Thu, 19 Mar 2020 18:52:04 GMT

Yes, 1040-NR-EZ is the same as filing 1040-NR. And Yes again to 2020 - if you file as a resident (Form 1040) you are required to report and pay tax on your worldwide income.