Answers to Foreign National Taxpayers’ Frequently Asked Questions

by Paula N. Singer, Esq.

Increasingly, both foreign persons and their employers are baffled by the myriad rules and regulations required for filing U.S. income taxes. At times, even accountants and tax lawyers are unaware of the differences in forms, rules, and reporting requirements for nonresident alien U.S. tax returns.

During the 2006 tax season, Paula N. Singer, Esq. conducted seminars at Boston area colleges, universities, hospitals, and corporations to increase awareness of the rules and regulations and to address how they should file their tax returns. Below is a list frequently asked questions from those seminars along with their detailed answers. New questions will be added throughout the year.

For more information about tax returns for foreign nationals, watch for information about Windstar’s new product, The Foreign National’s Tax Return Assistant Website, available for subscription by organizations this tax season.

Q: If I haven’t filed my taxes in the past, but want to get a green card, what do I do?

A: You need to complete and submit your back tax returns for at least the last six years, or the years that tax returns were due if fewer than six years.

Q: I have a child who is a U.S. citizen with a Social Security number. Can I claim him as a dependent on my return?

If you are a nonresident alien, you can only claim dependents if you are in one of the following categories:

• A resident of Canada or Mexico
• A resident of South Korea and you dependent lived with you in the United States at some time in the tax year
• A U.S. national
• A resident from India who is a student or business apprentice

If you are not in one of these categories, you cannot claim a personal exemption for your dependent even if your dependent is a U.S. citizen.

If you are a resident alien, you can claim your dependents who meet the conditions of being a dependent and who are:

• A U.S. citizen or resident
• A resident of Canada or Mexico
• A U.S. national

©Copyright 2008 by Windstar Technologies, Inc. Windstar reserves all rights to this electronic material. Information contained in this publication is based on the best information available at the time of publication. While believing the information in this publication to be accurate, Windstar accepts no legal responsibility for its accuracy.