版主好强! 我有两个问题:

1. 我来美国的时候是F2, 后来转F1, 2008年用了OPT工作,请问我能否用5000免税的那个TREATY?

2. 我老公2008年十月分之前是F1-OPT,十月开始后是H1,请问他能否用满5000T免税TREATY?

谢谢!

Itemized deduction :

Standard or Itemized Deductions 

Whether to itemize deductions on your tax return depends on how much you spent on certain expenses last year. Money paid for medical care, mortgage interest, taxes, charitable contributions, casualty losses and miscellaneous deductions can reduce your taxes. If the total amount spent on those categories is more than the standard deduction, you can usually benefit by itemizing.

The standard deduction amounts are based on your filing status and are subject to inflation adjustments each year. For 2008, they are:

Single    $5,450
Married Filing Jointly  $10,900
Head of Household   $8,000
Married Filing Separately  $5,450

• Some taxpayers have different standard deductions. The standard deduction amount depends on your filing status, whether you are 65 or older or blind, whether an exemption can be claimed for you by another taxpayer, whether you plan to claim the additional standard deduction for state and local real estate taxes, and whether you have a net disaster loss from a federally declared disaster. If any of these apply, you must use the Standard Deduction Worksheet in the Form 1040EZ, 1040A or 1040 instructions.
  
• Limited itemized deductions. Your itemized deductions may be limited if your adjusted gross income is more than $159,950 ($79,975 if you are married filing separately). This limit applies to all itemized deductions except medical and dental expenses, casualty and theft losses, gambling losses, investment interest and certain qualified cash contributions for relief efforts in a Midwestern disaster area.
  
• Married Filing Separately. When a married couple files separate returns and one spouse itemizes deductions, the other spouse cannot claim the standard deduction and should itemize their deductions.
  
• Some taxpayers are not eligible for the standard deduction. They include nonresident aliens, dual-status aliens and individuals who file returns for periods of less than 12 months.
  
• Forms to use.  To itemize your deductions, use Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, and Schedule A, Itemized Deductions.

These forms and instructions may be downloaded from the IRS.gov Web site or ordered by calling 800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676).

Q1:家庭总收入：21000（包括tax treaty 5000），学费支出：6300，医疗费用支出：7000

家里只有一方有收入21000，2008年是resident，有ssn；  另外一方没有收入，是non-resident，没有ssn，付学费6300，该如何报税，哪里去申请ITIN? 怎么file才能拿tax credit？

2008年生一小孩，没住满6个月回国了。有没有办法申请child tax credit？

A: File form1040的时候同时附上W7，寄到专门处理ITIN的部门（千万不要寄到IRS处理退税的地方），他们收到你的文件审核批准你的ITIN之后会把税表forward到专门处理退税的部门的。
你一定要有ITIN才可以file jointly。

你们的情况貌似用itemized deduction 报税划算 。
学费$6300可以deduct educational expense,  医疗费用$7000可以deduct medical expense（超出你们AGI 7.5%的那部分)
孩子必须要有 SSN 才可以 claim 为 dependent. 但是估计拿不到child tax credit,因为要拿到这个credit,孩子在08年至少要和你们待在一起超过半年.

[此贴子已经被作者于2009-3-28 2:27:18编辑过]

Q2: standard deduction 和 itemized deduction 分别适用于什么情况？

A: 如果你买房子贷款,或者有其他的morgage话, itemized deduction比较合算.大多数学生或是刚参加工作的人standard deduction比较划算

A2:

The standard deduction is exactly what it sounds like—a flat amount that you can deduct from your taxable income. The amount you can deduct is based on your filing status, number of dependents, and what year you’re filing the taxes for.

When you itemize deductions, you have the ability to deduct the actual dollar amount of individual deductions. Some of these deductions come in the form of mortgage interest, property taxes, medical expenses, and more. If you think that if you totaled up all of your allowed deductions and it would be greater than the standard deduction, it would probably be wise to itemize.

What Expenses Can be Itemized?

The most common expenses include:

• Mortgage interest.
  
• Charitable contributions.
  
• Property taxes.
  
• State and local income taxes.
  
• Medical expenses that exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income.
  
• Various miscellaneous expenses that exceed 2% of your income such as: union dues, tools and supplies needed for work, tax preparation fees, some legal fees, and many more.

Should You Itemize?

There is no right or wrong answer, and it ultimately depends on your situation. To determine if itemizing would be worthwhile, you should take a look at Schedule A of Form 1040. On this sheet, you can list your itemized expenses, and then total them up to compare the amount to the standard deduction. If the itemized amount is greater, then you would want to itemize. If the total itemized amount is less than the standard deduction, you would not want to itemize.

The largest deductions for most people come in the form of mortgage interest and property taxes, and in these situations, even a modest mortgage could put you over the standard deduction limit. Since this can total into the thousands of dollars over the standard deduction, the tax savings can be significant.

[此贴子已经被作者于2009-3-28 1:02:43编辑过]

Q3：我的一朋友正在做网络管理方面的工作，想考相关的等级证书，以便工资能更高些，以后找工作更方便些。
但考证的书藉和费用很高，请问这些费用能否抵税？

A: if your friend itemizes his deduction, he can put those expense under schedule A Line 21 Unreimbursed employee expenses.

[此贴子已经被作者于2009-3-28 2:02:27编辑过]

Q4：捐了好大几袋衣物，就给了一张recepit,然后上面也没给填金额，这个价格到底是怎么填写？是replacement需要的数字呢还是应该是折旧过以后的价格？

A：you should report 折旧过以后的价格, and you have to use itemized deduction in order to take this credit.

[此贴子已经被作者于2009-3-28 2:21:04编辑过]

Q5: donation在哪里claim deduction呢？

A: 这个是itemized deduction才有的。如果你们没买房子，或者没有大笔的医疗费用，一般来说itemized deduction不合算的。

Q6:去年给中国大使馆寄的地震捐款， 请问可以做为CHARITY报吗？

使馆有收据寄回来，但是听说只有那些注册的机构才行（REDCROSS之类的）？ 多谢。

A:可以, 但你必须有itemized deduction才行。

[此贴子已经被作者于2009-3-28 2:46:04编辑过]

Q7: job related expense填在哪一栏？有人说买衣服都算，这个怎么填？

A: 这个是itemized deduction上才有的，不过买衣服不可以抵税，除非你的衣服是雇主规定的制服，而且是不适用于平常穿的制服。比如餐馆里的白上衣黑裤子就不算制服，因为平常日也可以穿。但是如果是医院里的scrubs，那就可以。

[此贴子已经被作者于2009-3-28 3:11:25编辑过]

Q8: 用turbotax填的时候，上次国内大地震的捐款，这部分可以抵税吗？是填在哪个大概的位置啊，没找到

A:1. Did you make your donation to a US organization?

2. Do you have the receipt or bank record?

3. Are you using itemized deduction?

If all three answers are "YES", then you can report this amount on schedule A and file it with 1040

turbotax我不清楚，我是用taxact网站填的，但是我觉得这些应该都差不多的。

我记得到了deduction那部分的时候软件会问你很多问题的，第一步是问你，要不要calculate你的itemized deduction然后跟standard deduction做比较看用哪个划算。如果你选择要计算，他就会把能算在itemized deduction的选项一项一项问你，比如说在donation的部分，会问，你是否有charitable donation,如果有的话，就填上机构和数额。还有其它很多很多的itemized deduction的选项的，你就挨个填就行。最后他会把你的itemized deduction加起来算一下，如果算出来数额比standard deduction少，它就会帮你用standard deduction。不过我还是学生itemized deduction的项目很少，所以虽然做了计算最后还是用了standard。  mm再仔细看一下是不是在第一步问你要不要计算并比较的时候选了NO，那样的话就不会出现地方让你填donation的数额的。

[此贴子已经被作者于2009-3-28 3:22:37编辑过]