2015 Taxes DUE TODAY, SSN PENDING???

[Marie & Tom 2]

Hello!

I know I've totally dropped the ball on this by waiting till the LAST minute to file. I was going to mail in the application for my husband's ITIN with our paper taxes, HOWEVER I JUST noticed that he can't apply for an ITIN if he is eligible for a SSN. We applied for the SSN on Friday since he got his EAD, but now I don't know what to do to file our taxes. I can't apply for an extension or file my taxes without him having his SSN or ITIN. I haven't been able to get a hold of ANYONE in ANY tax office (big surprise, right?).

HELP PLEASE! I'm SUPER stressed out and not sure what to do....

[MariaR323 199]

Ok, relax a bit, tell me - does your return show a refund or a balance due?

[MariaR323 199]

If you have a refund due back then no real need to worry about the filing deadline. Although the filing deadline is there for a reason, you would not get penalized if you have a refund due back and you file after the fact.

[Marie & Tom 2]

No, we wouldn't owe. We should be getting a decent amount back. I've just been so worried about having to pay a fine for not filing on time

[Marie & Tom 2]

If we wait until he gets his SSN (could be another 4 weeks...) can we then E-File our taxes instead or do we still need to mail it in?

[MariaR323 199]

Unfortunately, you cannot e-File in the same year a SSN (or ITIN) is issued. You would have to send via mail a hardcopy. Next year, you'll be able to e-File.

[Caryh 5,206]

file the extension or file as married filing separately, and then file an amended return later

[Marie & Tom 2]

Okay, but there's nothing wrong with just waiting to file until he gets his SSN since we will be getting a refund and not owing?

Edited April 18, 2016 by Marie & Tom

[MariaR323 199]

"If you are due a refund there is no penalty if you file a late tax return. But if you owe tax, and you failed to file and pay on time, you will usually owe interest and penalties on the tax you pay late."

I'm a registered tax preparer in CA, plus I quoted the above straight from the IRS.gov website.

[Marie & Tom 2]

"If you are due a refund there is no penalty if you file a late tax return. But if you owe tax, and you failed to file and pay on time, you will usually owe interest and penalties on the tax you pay late."

I'm a registered tax preparer in CA, plus I quoted the above straight from the IRS.gov website.

Thank you so much for all of your help! This has been a HUGE relief

[MariaR323 199]

Thank you so much for all of your help! This has been a HUGE relief

Your welcome

That's my (second) job... to make taxes less painful lol

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

If we wait until he gets his SSN (could be another 4 weeks...) can we then E-File our taxes instead or do we still need to mail it in?

For the year 2015, you can't simply file jointly with a non-resident alien. That is his IRS designation because he did not have a greencard in 2015 and he was also not present in the US but a couple of months.

For him to file a joint return, you each have to sign a statement saying you wish for him to be treated as a resident alien for tax filing purposes. Sending the statement requires a paper return by mail.

That also means you report all of his income earned in Ireland in 2015. A JOINT return means all income either spouse earned anywhere in the world from Jan 1 to Dec 31.

There are dozens of threads that explain this so if you haven't already, start reading threads and learn about the statement and Foreign Income exclusion.

[Pennycat 880]

You could also file as married filing separately, though you almost 100% for sure would get a bigger refund if you file jointly.

The deal with that, is that as of Dec 31, 2015, he was a non-resident alien. So you can file for yourself alone as married filing separately and he not file at all (because as a non-resident with no US income, he's not required to). BUT, it is likely that you'd get a bigger income filing together. That means that you'd have to choose to have him treated as a resident for tax year 2015 (a letter), which choosing to be treated as a resident means that you may be required to pay taxes on your worldwide income. BUT because he was outside of the country for so long during 2015 and because his income is all foreign,it is likely to mostly be excluded from being taxed, and yet you'll still have the double standard deduction given to married couples.

TurboTax and the like cannot do this opting to be treated as resident thing for you (or not that I could force it to anyway), but you can use the tool to walk you through the 1040, and then view the return and use it to guide you in filling out your paper 1040 (which isn't even that hard either, I'm just horrible at math). Then the 2555EZ (he probably qualifies for the EZ form) which was actually really really easy (read the instructions that come along with it). Seriously, if you can DIY US immigration, you 100% can do taxes. I'm never paying for TurboTax again.

[MariaR323 199]

OP, to add to this, make sure you don't forget that election statement mentioned with your hardcopy mail-in return. I just answered and gave you the info you were looking for about deadlines and so forth so I didn't go into anything further other than that.

[Marie & Tom 2]

Luckily, he didn't work at all in 2015, US or Ireland, so that should make it easier. So with the paper return and the statement to treat him as a resident, we should be solid