Now That You Have Your Social Security Number, Don’t Miss Out On Your Tax Refund With EITC!
Dated: Sep 05, 2009
If you recently changed your immigration status from illegal to a legal and you have been paying income taxes in the past you might be entitled to a TAX REFUND!
EITC is Earned Income Tax Credit. It is a refundable federal income tax credit for low- to moderate-income working individuals and families. With EITC, you can pay fewer taxes and sometimes even get a refund from the government. Working individuals and families like you will be able to spend less money paying for taxes and will be able to keep more of the money that you earn.
What is even more exciting is that you can get refunds for past years when you did not even apply for the EITC. For example, if you have been working and paying taxes in the United States for 3 years, but only got your Social Security Number (SSN) this year, you can now apply for the EITC. Not only can you get a tax credit or refund for this year, but you can also get the credit or refund that you would have gotten for the past 3 years.
In order to be eligible for the EITC, you need to meet certain qualifications. You have to have a valid SSN. You have to have been a U.S. citizen or a resident alien the whole year (or if you live abroad, but are married to a U.S. citizen or resident alien, you have to file a joint return). You must have earned income from employment or from self-employment. Your filing status cannot be “married, filing separately”. You cannot be a qualifying child of another person. If you do not have a qualifying child and do not qualify as a dependent of another person, you have to be older than 25, but younger than 65 at the end of the year, and you have to live in the U.S. for more than half the year. Other restrictions may apply.
If you do meet all the qualifications for the EITC, you have to file a claim to get your tax credit or refund for previous years. You have to file the claim within 3 years from when the tax return was originally filed or within 2 years from the time the tax was paid, whichever is later.
Alex Meyerovich - M.C. Law Group, LLP is an immigration lawyer in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Elina Stelman co-authored this press release.
To learn more, visit www.uslegalvisa.com
The information presented is a general information only and should not be construed to be a formal legal advice nor the formation of a lawyer/client relationship. Contact an experienced licensed attorney to discuss circumstances of your case.
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About M.C. Law Group: Full service immigration law firm handling cases in all areas of immigration law. Our attorneys also provide representation in the areas of family, criminal & business/tax law with particular attention to the consequences on our clients' immigration status. For more information please visit us at www.uslegalvisa.com
Showing posts with label tax refund. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tax refund. Show all posts
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Save Money by Filing Your Tax Return Jointly with Your Foreign Spouse!
Jul 14, 2009 – If you legally live and work in the U.S. and you have a foreign spouse who lives abroad, it is possible for you to file a joint income tax return and save large amounts of money every year.
For example, if you made $16,000 in 2008, and you filed as a single person with no dependents, you would have paid $2,000 in income tax. But if you had filed a joint income tax return with your foreign spouse, you would have only paid $1,600, saving $400.
All you have to do is get a Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) for your foreign spouse who is living abroad and attach the necessary documents to your income tax return.
In order to file this joint income tax return, your spouse must either have a Social Security Number (“SSN”) or an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (“ITIN”). If your spouse does not fulfill the requirement to get a SSN, he or she can file Form W-7 with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to apply for an ITIN.
When you decide that you want to file a joint income tax return, attach a statement signed by both you and your spouse to the return for the first tax year for which your decision applies. In this statement, you must include a declaration that your foreign spouse lived abroad and you were legally living and working in the U.S. on the last day of your tax year. You must write that both of you choose to be treated as U.S. residents for that entire tax year. You must also include the name, address, and SSN or ITIN of both you and your spouse.
This law applies even if your spouse died in the tax year for which you are filing your tax return!
You can even demand a prior tax return and re-file it jointly with your foreign spouse and get a refund of past taxes paid. If you and your spouse choose to do this, you and your spouse will also have to amend any tax returns that you filed after the year for which you made the choice. You usually have to file the amended joint return within 3 year from when you filed the original tax return you want to amend or within 2 years from when you paid your income tax for that year, whichever is later.
After you make the decision to file jointly, your spouse will be treated as a U.S. resident, for tax purposes, for all future years. However, your spouse will no longer be treated as a U.S. resident if either you or your spouse decides that you do not want to file a joint income tax return any longer, if you or your spouse dies, if you and your spouse divorce or separate, or if you do not provide all of the necessary documents. If your spouse is no longer considered a U.S. resident for any of these reasons, neither you nor your spouse will be able to file a joint income tax return again for future years.
Alex Meyerovich - M.C. Law Group, LLP is an immigration lawyer in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Elina Stelman co-authored this press release.
To learn more, visit http://www.uslegalvisa.com
The information presented is a general information only and should not be construed to be a formal legal advice nor the formation of a lawyer/client relationship. Contact an experienced licensed attorney to discuss circumstances of your case.
# # #
About M.C. Law Group - Full service immigration law firm handling cases in all areas of immigration law. Our attorneys also provide representation in the areas of family, criminal & tax law with particular attention to the consequences on our clients' immigration status.
For example, if you made $16,000 in 2008, and you filed as a single person with no dependents, you would have paid $2,000 in income tax. But if you had filed a joint income tax return with your foreign spouse, you would have only paid $1,600, saving $400.
All you have to do is get a Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) for your foreign spouse who is living abroad and attach the necessary documents to your income tax return.
In order to file this joint income tax return, your spouse must either have a Social Security Number (“SSN”) or an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (“ITIN”). If your spouse does not fulfill the requirement to get a SSN, he or she can file Form W-7 with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to apply for an ITIN.
When you decide that you want to file a joint income tax return, attach a statement signed by both you and your spouse to the return for the first tax year for which your decision applies. In this statement, you must include a declaration that your foreign spouse lived abroad and you were legally living and working in the U.S. on the last day of your tax year. You must write that both of you choose to be treated as U.S. residents for that entire tax year. You must also include the name, address, and SSN or ITIN of both you and your spouse.
This law applies even if your spouse died in the tax year for which you are filing your tax return!
You can even demand a prior tax return and re-file it jointly with your foreign spouse and get a refund of past taxes paid. If you and your spouse choose to do this, you and your spouse will also have to amend any tax returns that you filed after the year for which you made the choice. You usually have to file the amended joint return within 3 year from when you filed the original tax return you want to amend or within 2 years from when you paid your income tax for that year, whichever is later.
After you make the decision to file jointly, your spouse will be treated as a U.S. resident, for tax purposes, for all future years. However, your spouse will no longer be treated as a U.S. resident if either you or your spouse decides that you do not want to file a joint income tax return any longer, if you or your spouse dies, if you and your spouse divorce or separate, or if you do not provide all of the necessary documents. If your spouse is no longer considered a U.S. resident for any of these reasons, neither you nor your spouse will be able to file a joint income tax return again for future years.
Alex Meyerovich - M.C. Law Group, LLP is an immigration lawyer in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Elina Stelman co-authored this press release.
To learn more, visit http://www.uslegalvisa.com
The information presented is a general information only and should not be construed to be a formal legal advice nor the formation of a lawyer/client relationship. Contact an experienced licensed attorney to discuss circumstances of your case.
# # #
About M.C. Law Group - Full service immigration law firm handling cases in all areas of immigration law. Our attorneys also provide representation in the areas of family, criminal & tax law with particular attention to the consequences on our clients' immigration status.
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