abj replied on Tuesday, January 6, 2009 03:31 AM
Depends on the status in the US, whether a Citizen, permanent resident or a foreign national working in the US.
If you are a US citizen or a permenent resident (green card holder), and you lived in the US during the year, then you file a resident tax return, and must include all types of income, whetehr it was earned in the US or elsewhere. That includes all interest, profit from the sale of a any asset etc. If you sold your primary residence in the US, after you lived in it for 3 years, then you are exempt for upto 250,000 individual or 500,000 for married filing joint return prfit or apprecation of that house. This rule does not apply towards an investment property and only for primary residence.
If you work in the US on an H-1 or similar work visa for atleast one year, then you have an option to either file a resident or non-resident tax return. The resident tax return has a lot of tax credits, and many foreign nationals elect to file a resident tax return, as its to their tax advantage.
If you are a foreign national, and are eligible to file a non-resident tax return, then it may be to your advantage to file a non-resident tax return in your situation, taht is, if you qualify. The tax system in US is very complicated, and everything cannot be covered in a single post, as there are several complicated rules.
Similarly, a US citizen or national is exempt for all active income he/she derives from foreign sources upto 75 0r 80K that he/she earns from non us sources while living in a foreign country.
The best option is to talk to a CPA (certified public accountant in US-similar to a CA or chartered accountant in pakistan) in your area, and discuiss your individual situation for best tax advice. |
