<removeps-groups[at]yahoo.com> wrote:

- quote -

IIRC she had to itemize. I don't remember the tax rate.

--
Phil Marti
Clarksburg, MD

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On Feb 10, 4:55Â*am, "Phil Marti" <prm20...[at]verizon.net> wrote:
- quote -

What would be the tax rate on form 1040-NR, and would your client be
entitled to the standard deduction?

See the instructions in 1040-NR:

http://www.irs.gov/instructions/i104...01.html#d0e260

<Quote
Resident Alien or Nonresident Alien
If you are not a citizen of the United States, specific rules apply to
determine if you are a resident alien or a nonresident alien for tax
purposes. Generally, you are considered a resident alien if you meet
either the green card test or the substantial presence test for 2007.
(These tests are explained below.) Even if you do not meet either of
these tests, you may be able to choose to be treated as a U.S.
resident for part of 2007. See First-Year Choice in Pub. 519 for
details.

You are generally considered a nonresident alien for the year if you
are not a U.S. resident under either of these tests. However, even if
you are a U.S. resident under one of these tests, you may still be
considered a nonresident alien if you qualify as a resident of a
treaty country within the meaning of the tax treaty between the United
States and that country. You can download the complete text of most
U.S. tax treaties at www.irs.gov. Technical explanations for many of
those treaties are also available at that site.

For more details on resident and nonresident status, the tests for
residence, and the exceptions to them, see Pub. 519.

Green Card Test
You are a resident for tax purposes if you were a lawful permanent
resident (immigrant) of the United States at any time during 2007.

Substantial Presence Test
You are considered a U.S. resident if you meet the substantial
presence test for 2007. You meet this test if you were physically
present in the United States for at least:

31 days during 2007, and

183 days during the period 2007, 2006, and 2005, counting all the days
of physical presence in 2007, but only â…“ the number of days of
presence in 2006 and only â…™ the number of days in 2005.

</Quote
The above suggests that you can use regular 1040.

But then, if you use the regular form 1040, would you be entitled to
the EIC? Assuming the student works on campus and they make a little
bit of money, they could be entitled to EIC because their income is
within range, they have a social security number, etc -- but the rules
also say "You must be a U.S. citizen or resident alien all year, or a
nonresident alien married to a U.S. citizen or resident alien and
filing a joint return.".

http://www.irs.gov/individuals/artic...66,00.html#QA2

--
<< ------------------------------------------------------- > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. > << ------------------------------------------------------- >

"Alan" wrote:

- quote -

That makes perfect sense. Thanks.

--
Phil Marti
Clarksburg, MD

--
<< ------------------------------------------------------- > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. > << ------------------------------------------------------- >

Phil Marti wrote:
- quote -

eligible to make the election to be treated as a resident for the
full year. This would include dual status aliens under certain
conditions and a nonresident alien spouse of a resident or
citizen. Individuals who are present as international students
on an F-1 visa are by definition exempt individuals. I.e., they
are exempt from the substantial presence test. They are not dual
status. As such, I don't believe they can make an election to be
treated as residents.

I suppose if you have an F-1 student who is married to a US
citizen or US resident, an election could be made.

--
<< ------------------------------------------------------- > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. > << ------------------------------------------------------- >

We had a client at VITA today whose situation raised a question we couldn't
answer to my satisfaction.

Facts. She is here on an F (student) visa and is in compliance with its
requirements. She has an SSN valid for employment with DHS approval. She
is employed part-time by the college she attends. She arrived in the US in
2005 and has not left since. She has applied for permanent resident status.
The application is pending. She's from Moldova, and we aren't aware of any
pertinent treaty provisions. She's unmarried and has no non-US source
income for 2007.

I have little experience with nonresident aliens, so I slogged my way
through the return with extra care. We had filed a 1040NR for her for 2006,
but her income was minimal, and she got a refund of all tax withheld. In
2007 the 1040NR leaves her with a tax liability of about $300.

When I researched what benefit she could get for her education expenses is
when the confusion started. The Pub 17 discussions of both the tuition
adjustment and the ed credits clearly state that they are not available to
nonresident aliens. However, they also seem to imply that a nonresident
alien can elect to be treated as a resident alien. If the client did that
she'd get a full refund plus EITC. (I researched the DHS restriction on the
SSN, and per Pub 17 it's valid for EITC.)

The Form 8843 wasn't any help. She had a piece of paper furnished by the
school that said all international students MUST file an 8843, but the 8843
instructions imply that it's an election to have your presence in the US
ignored for the physical presence test.

I didn't have access to Pub 519 at the site, but I've looked at it now. It
seems to indicate that there's no choice--a student in compliance with an F
visa is a nonresident alien.

The apparent conflict in IRS documents of equal weight has me stumped.
Sorry for the length of this, but I wanted to try to get all pertinent facts
in the first post. If anyone has a definitive answer as to whether she can
elect to be treated as a resident alien, I'll be grateful.

--
Phil Marti
Clarksburg, MD

--
<< ------------------------------------------------------- > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. > << ------------------------------------------------------- >