Dependent Filing Question

[rfk]

Client is resident of US and wife is resident of US. Children are US citizens. All family has SSn's. Husband works in US most of the year and then goes back to their original country to be with family for a few months.

Given their residency is of the US and the kids are citizens but living abroad with mother, is there a problem for the family to file with dependent children while living overseas? Just want to make sure that the family (kids) can be claimed on the tax return, even though mom and children are not with father while he is working most of the year in the US.

Thanks for your help.

RFK

PS: If applicable, would it be any different if the mother and father were US citizens; I think not?

[erchess]

I am confused

The parents are not citizens and the children are. The problem is that since the parents are not citizens they are aliens. It sounds as though you think the Father has spent enough days here to qualify as a Resident Alien and use the same 1040 most taxpayers use. I don't know the requirements for this but I am sure they are very clear in TTB 1040 and Deluxe Editions. But as for the Mother did you not contradict yourself on her residency status and then say the kids who are citizens do not reside here? Or do my bleary eyes deceive me?

I think that a guy who is here enough to file a 1040 can file jointly with his wife no matter where she is and no matter her status. I further think that if their minor children are US Citizens they can be dependents no matter where they live. I also believe that Child, Child Care, and Earned Income credits are not available for children who live outside the US even if everyone in the family is a US Citizen.

[Koss]

Alien Status?

In your post, you stated that the taxpayer and his wife are "residents of the US," that the children are US citizens, and that all of them have social security numbers.

By "residents of the US," do you mean that the taxpayer and his wife are resident aliens, i.e., they each have a green card? Or do you simply mean that they live here in the US?

Permanent Resident = Resident Alien = Green Card Holder

They all mean the same thing.

FYI: It is possible for someone to have a valid SSN, with authorization to work in the US, without having resident alien status. If your client is not a resident alien, then that opens up a lot of other questions.

A person who is not a resident alien may be considered a resident alien for tax purposes, if certain conditions are met. But if your client is a real resident alien, you don't need to go there.

BMK

[rfk]

Followup to Dependent erchess & Koss

Thanks for the answers.

The clients are either green card holders or US citizens; I have yet to find out exactly. The husband works here during a long part of the year and then goes back to their country where wife and kids are. But I am wondering about the claiming of the kids on the tax return when they file as to whether they would not be eligible for certain credits, etc., given that kids do not reside in the US.

Thanks

RFK