H1B-Spouse on f1..question on ss taxes withholding

[dotnetguru]

First of all thank you for the nice forum.i wish i had seen earlier.my question is I am on h1b for 5 years and filing 1040 all these years as resident.my wife came to US in 2006 Dec on F1 visa.she was on F1 all year 2007.we were married in Nov 2007.i filed taxes for year 2007 as married joint which made her as resident for tax purpose.from last month my wife is on OPT and working on OPT.i am assuming we have to let her employer know to withhold SS taxes and Medicare as they are not doing that.am i right? i am assuming its our responsibility to let them know as they would not know our tax situation.thank u very much for answering my question.

[Administrator]

Hello Sir

A Student in OPT (Optional Practical Training) is in the same status as F1, they are exempt from social security and medicare taxes (FICA Taxes). This tax advantage expires when your wife moves from F1 to an employment visa like H1B.

You can continue to file Jointly using Form 1040.

Hope this helps!

[Atlanta Tax Guru]

I confirm the previous posting. See the link below for the official IRS position.

Nonresident Spouse Treated as a Resident

Hope this helps!

Atlanta Tax Guru

[dotnetguru]

thank u very much for the info.i was this close to let the employer know to withhold by seeing this post of urs.
http://forum.visataxes.com/f1-opt-ta...ar-choice.html

one small difference can change a lot.glad i posted the question.thank u very much once again.

[Atlanta Tax Guru]

Glad to help!