OPT to H1B - Income in US, Residing Overseas

[kaashaa]

Hi,

I have a unique situation here and would really appreciate your help as I am totally confused as to how I should go about filing my taxes for 2009

I was on OPT in 2009 working for a US employer. On March 26th 2009, I moved to UK to work at a client location and have been in UK since then. I continued to be employed by the US employer and had all my income in the US for all of 2009. Since my OPT was ending in September, my employer had filed a petition for H1B, which was approved and later I got my H1B Visa stamped in UK itself. I havent traveled to US on H1B.

I would like to jointly file the taxes for my spouse and myself. My spouse does not have any source of income and her visa status changed from F2 to H4 when mine changed from F1 to H1

Now for the questions.
1) Would I be considered as non-resident alient or resident alient for tax purpose?
2) What all forms would I need to fill to file the taxes? Kindly also list the ones I would need to file as part of the joint filing for spouse.

3) Can I file for any moving expense deduction since I moved while on OPT? If so what all do I need to submit for this?

4) Are there any other deductions I can file for?

5) Any other important information that I need to be aware of in this situation?

I searched extensively, and also tried calling IRS but havent been able to get the right information. Please please help me here.Kindly let me know if you need more information to be able to answer my queries.

Thanking in advance
Kaashaa

[Atlanta Tax Guru]

Kaashaa:

If you worked exclusively in the United Kingdom, then you have NO TAX LIABILITY with the United States, regardless of whether your visa is F-1 or H-1B.

If you worked in the U.S. from 1 January 2009 to 25 March 2009, then you will file a Form 1040NR or 1040NR-EZ and pay taxes only on income earned during that time period. For the remainder of the year, you have NO U.S. tax liability.

You MAY have tax liabilities with the United Kingdom, however.