Tax filings in US for International student/ Resident Alien

[Janakishinde]

Hello,

I have been living in US for 5 years now (Never left the country). I am on f1 status and while on OPT i enrolled in stocks for some side income. I let the money sit there and now its time to sell some for profits. But before i sell them i wanted to know the tax restrictions on them. I am a resident alien on f1 status. I have been filing my taxes every year in US. My broker account says they have 33% of tax exemption on my account and if i sell i assume they will take those 33% out or ask me to pay during taxes in 2013.

But i never received any 1099 form from my brokers account since i opened it (2010).EVery year they send me 1042s form which i file accordingly on taxes. But in 2010 i had a lot of my stocks down ( i never took that money out) but made a lil profit of few grands. I was expecting a form from td Ameritrade so that i can just file my taxes and pay taxes on those gains. My 1042s form did not have any profits mentioned and it only mentioned dividends i recieved. When i asked TD ameritrade they said i should pay them in my home country. And when i asked my Tax filing accountant he said if they did not send you any other form you are all set.


So i guess i need to update info on my broker account mentioning that i am a resident alien and i file my taxes here coz i believe they are confusing me as non resident alien and so they send me 1099 to file and pay taxes here. Please guide me through if you have a similar experience or have any clients in similar situations. I know its rare with students doing stocks.


Another things is i was thinking of rolling all my stocks to my husbands account who is a US citizen and he might have to pay taxes 15% (long term stock tax rate) while i might pay 33%. Please enlighten me with any knowledge that you have. Once i get a lil idea from y'all i will go to a lawyer to consult. But i just dont want to go blindly with all.

[gregvath]

Hi,
As you are married you can file married filing jointly with your spouse. You can amend going back 3 tax years if you were married back then. You would file an election to treat yourself (nonresident due to F1 Visa) as a resident. The long term capital gain at the lower rate would apply.
greg

[gregvath]

Someone pointed out I did not comment on what the post was discussing, sorry. If you file as non-resident you would pay gains at the lesser of 30% or home country treaty rate (countries have different tax treaties with the U.S.). You would not need a 1099 to file this information as you have the info in your brokerage account (date purchased, cost basis, sale date and sale price). Whether the brokerage files a 1099 is irrelevant as you are required to report the income.
greg