Yesterday, my USC Husband filed his taxes and presented my W7 form and certified copy of passport .... he filed married jointly. All went well, and there will be more of a refund .... however, it will take a couple of months longer due to them dealing with the W7 and giving me a tax number without SSN# .... but all good.

What I want to share, is the fact they told him, that as he had to fly to visit me while I was undergoing medical tests the other week, he'd be able to claim the flight against next years tax bill !!!! .... all that would be necessary would be the receipt and accompanying medical documentation

I thought this was cool, and thought it may help some of you.

Sarah x

Don't mean to throw cold water on this but most people do not qualify for itemization of medical expenses because the you first must have accumulated more than 7.5% of your adjusted gross income in medical expenses before you can deduct dollar one.

Travel expenses (but not meals) while away from home to receive medical care in a hospital or a medical care facility provided there was no significant element of personal pleasure, recreation, or vacation in the travel.

It shouldn't take 2 months longer, I did this last year and got my refund about 30 days later than normal. What the state refund though because some states won't allow to count your spouse without a SSN even if you filed the W7. This is because States have passed laws that only allow a SSN and not an ITIN for dependants.

aw man oh well hopefully habibi will be here so i won't have to travel anymore right now.. but thanks for the information

Thanks for adding this .... but that is what they told him ..... his income didn't come into it .... plus, he had to take special time off work, as I was undergoing tests for something quite serious (far from pleasurable .... too many needles for pleasure) .... luckily, all turned out to be good ..... they said, the medical documentation would be all they would need with the receipt of the flight .... quite simple .... no itemisation.

My medical expenses are taken care of by a private medical company in the UK .... my Husband didn't pay a penny.
Take from that what you will .... but the tax people were the ones who said it .....
..... I never mentioned meals ...... only flight .... I was only trying to help others who may have been in the same position.

The income does come into it -- you fill out worksheets and he'll put in those numbers and then there will be a line that says "if this number is bigger than this other number, use this number" and that will determine what actually gets counted versus what does not. That is a part of filling out taxes. Not everything that is claimable gets applied to the tax bill because of the rules.

Every year I write down my child care and my health care and every year I'm faced with the fact that I cannot deduct either because my income is too great. That's the way the cookie crumbles.

If you are a citizen of the UK, did you also include an "Apostille" with your W7 & certified copy of your passport? I sent in my tax return last year adding my husband as married filing jointly and attached his W7 and notarized copy of his passport and it was denied due to not having the apostille attached. They removed him as a deduction and sent me my check less $800. It's taken months for him to find out how to get an apostille in Englnad, but he finally did and he's sending it to me now. I can attach it to my 2007 return and get his ITIN as well as apply it to 2006 and get that $800 due us.

Good luck

Quick question, so i send in my tax return with the w-7, leave the ssn blank for my wife? Or do i need to wait till the itin comes back first, then mail out my return with the itin number.

Any help would be appreciated. Im running close to the deadline.

you send in the 1040 with the w-7 and a embassy notarized copy of passport...the IRS will assign a ITIN number (I just got my husbans ITIN form this years taxes)

An Apostille is not mentioned anywhere in the instructions .... therefore I have no idea what this is; however, they've accepted the W7 and certified copy of U.K. passport and nothing more was mentioned. Could you let me know what an Apostille is so that I can locate how to get one just incase someone in the tax office gets pedantic. Thanks x

One thing you need to understand.... The IRS gives out incorrect information all the time!!!! Using information provided to you by an IRS employees as the basis for a deduction on your tax return will NOT stand up under an audit. If the deduction is not allowable it will be regardless of what you were told by the IRS (mis) information line.

BTW, I wasn't trying to take away from your information but only adding clarity to some very important additional information that either wasn't conveyed or not understood....

If you look on the instructions of the W7 it clearly states an "apostille" is needed if you do not have your documents notarized at a US embassy. This is only necessary if the spouse lives outside the US.

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw7.pdf

You can submit copies of original documents if you do any of the
following.
c Have the copies certified by the issuing agency or official
custodian of the original record.
c Have the copies notarized by a U.S. notary public legally
authorized within his or her local jurisdiction to certify that the
document is a true copy of the original. To do this, the notary must
see the valid, unaltered original document and verify that the copy
conforms to the original. U.S. notaries public are available at U.S.
embassies and certain consulates worldwide.
c Have the copies notarized by a foreign notary. However, foreign
notaries are only acceptable as outlined by the Hague Convention.
The Hague Convention provides for the simplified certification of
public (including notarized) documents to be used in countries that
have joined the Convention. A certification will be issued in the form
of an "apostille," which will be attached to the copy of the
document.
Note. The apostille must stay attached to the copy of the document
when it is sent to the IRS.