Hi there,

I am married and getting ready to file my taxes. My husband lives overseas and is not currently working. I have read a lot about this ITIN number. I am utterly confused... Several tax accountants I've spoken to seem to be confused too. I have done a lot of reading and it's only confusing me more. Does my husband have to file for this ITIN number? Do I send in my tax return WITH it? Do I file married joint ot married separate? He does not have an income and due to my being overseas, my income is minimal this year. I am a teacher and for this tax year I have only worked from August. Some people have said they just marked that they were single, but that concerns me because I am MARRIED.

Any help would be great (especially if you have done this)!

Thanks,

Amy

I can only answer from my experience, when I file my taxes, I found out that even though I was married, I had to file Single for the prior year date ending December 31. If you were married before that your IRS status is married.

So, if I was married June 23, 2006???

You are married for tax purposes.... Your choices are:

Married filing separate (ITIN required)
Married filing joint (ITIN required)
Head of Household (only if you have another qualifying person)

If the tax accountants don't understand it then you to find different tax accountants as I am not sure an immigration board is a good place to get tax advice

I hear ya

If you donot want to file your own taxes, goto IRS.gov and look up info on ITIN or go directly to http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=96287,00.html
Its not proper for any of us to advise you on tax related issues since so many variable can be existing. There are places like certain H&R Block that deals with overseas spouse. Very basically you need to file your taxes ( If married in 2006) as married filing jointly or seperately. If jointly, need to send in a W-7 with your tax return to get ITIN. Use the link above to read some info as well as to find a "Acceptance Agent" who can prepare your taxes as well as take care of your W-7, goto .http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=96304,00.html

My example is we are married in 2006, she has no taxable income in Ukraine, so we filed Married filed jointly and I turned in my tax returns with my W-7.

Here's my situation and how I'm handling it.

We were married in Sept 2006, so I have to file as married. I did not make any money in the US last year, but I did pay some tax-deductible student loan interest. To put the student loan interest as tax-deductible, I have to file as - married, filing jointly. I'm going to help my hubby complete the W-7 and send it with my 1040 and 2555 (foreign income exclusion), and my paperwork from my student loan lender to the Austin, TX address I found on the IRS web site. Before I send everything, I'm going to call the IRS and ask a couple basic questions about the form.

www.irs.gov is a helpful web site and I've heard of people having good experiences when calling their help lines.

From my interpretation of your situation, you have to filed married. You will probably find it best to file - married, filing jointly. You will send the W7 (application for ITIN) with your tax return to the Austin, TX address or through an elgible agent (look on www.irs.gov). They will process the application for the ITIN there and then your tax return will be processed with the new number for your spouse. If you have been in the foreign country for 330 days of any 12 months in a row starting or ending in 2006, you'll also need the 2555 to prove you don't owe any US taxes on foreign earned money under $82,000 USD.

Can I file jointly even if my husband has no income? I live in the US, he does not.

There is one exception that will allow you to file joint if your spouse is a non-resident alien.

I plan to enter $0 income for my hubby on the joint form and I'll be asking someone at the IRS if he needs to fill out a 2555 to claim his UK income as exempt.

A USC that has a non-resident alien spouse always has the option of treating their non-resident spouse as a resident alien spouse for tax purposes and therefore file as married filing joint. THis is usually the best way to file as it allow the USC to better tax advantages of this status...

You have to file a W-7 to get a ITIN number for the non-resident spouse. You file this, your 1040, and a statement of your election and sent it to the International Tax Office in Philadelphia.

However, if you decide to treat your non-resident alien spouse as a resident alien for tax purposes, you have to report their worldwide income. However, you can subsequently exclude any income by the non-resident alien spouse earned outside the US by filing a Form 2225 with your 1040. You can exclude up to $82,400 of foreign income..




You don't send the package to the Austin TX Tax Service Center.. you send everything to the address given on the W-7 in Philadelphia.

THere are people on the immigration boards who are qualified to give tax advice..

I agree but there are a lot more who give advice who shouldn't.

This is the address on the form:

Internal Revenue Service
ITIN Operation
P.O. Box 149342
Austin, TX 78714-9342

But what if the spouse had income (they paid the taxes in their country of orgin) Would you then have to pay taxes here as well, paying 2x? Sorry I may be confusing myself. Do we have to file jointly even if the spouse lives aboard and you live in the US? ANd it was mentioned before 'file jointly to take advtange of the tax benefits'.... sorry for my ignorance but what are they?

Depends on the amount and the nature of the income you may qualify for an income exclusion or a tax credit.

That is not what the IRS told me!

If you decide to treat your spouse as a resident alien, they must report their worldwide income to the IRS.. However, if they live outside the US, they can exclude up to $84,200 of their worldwide income from taxation. And even if they made more than $84,200, you can claim a foreign tax credit for the rest... so no, you would not be doubly taxed...

The main tax benefits of filing married filing joint is that you get an additional personal exemption of $3,300 and the standard exemption for MFJ is $10,300 vs. $5,150 for single... The tax rate for the equivalent income is also lower for MFJ vs Single...

Ok.. FOr argument, let's say that your income is $50,000 and your foreign spouse has an foreign income of $50,000... resulting in a total of $100,000.

You would put $100,000 on Line 7 oif the 1040. However, you would fill out Form 2555 and exclude the $50,000 of foreign income which would be listed on Line 21 of the 1040 as -$50,000 resulting in an AGI of $50,000.. the same as your income...

Now on Page 2.. let's llok at the differences..

MFJ Single

AGI $50,000 $50,000
Standard Exemption $10,300 $5,150
Personal Exemption $6,600 $3,300

Taxable Income $33,100 $41,550

Tax per Tax Table $4,214 $6,951

Difference $2,737.....

I don't know about you... but do want to give the US Government an extra $2,737 of your money...

Ok.. Well that Austin address has been in existance for about a week... I just downloaded a W-7 last week and it was still the Philadephia address.... So go ahead and send it to Austin now...

Amy,

In your situation filing as a SINGLE person is NOT an option so your comparison should be Married Filing Joint or Married Filing Seperate (or if you have another qualifying person Head of Household). Those are your only three potential options.

Yes. I spoke to the IRS for 2 and a half hours last night.

Thanks

How weird! I'll call to double check the address change before actually mailing everything though.

Ok.. The above numbers would be the same whether it was SIngle or Married Filing Seperately...

FOr Head of Household in the above scanario the differences in the tax amounts would be $4,844 of Tax for HH vs $3,719 for MFJ or a difference of $1,125...

I agree that VJ is maybe not THE last word on tax advice -- but Fwaguy sounds a lot more sure of what he's talking about than the IRS lady I just talked to!!

I called a few days ago for instructions and was told: file a W-7 to get an ITIN number for my foreign, non-resident spouse. (Filing married IS the ONLY option, even though we were married 3 days before the end of 2006.)

Then, I went to do the form and it says DO NOT SUBMIT THIS FORM IF YOU HAVE, OR ARE ELIGIBLE TO OBTAIN, A US SSN.

OK, I called the IRS again for clarification. This time, I was told, NO, DON"T file the W-7, because your husband will be getting a SSN. If I get him an ITIN it will "mess things up" (her words) because then he'll have 2 accounts with the IRS - an ITIN and a SSN.

In both cases, it seemed like the IRS people were typing my questions into a computer, waiting for the answer, then giving me what came up on their screen. The 2nd lady eventually suggested I file my taxes without getting him an ITIN, then later do an amended return, when he gets his SSN. I didn't really have confidence in her anymore, so I said Thank you and hung up.

I've searched a bit on VJ for threads on the topic; read a few that didn't clarify much for me. Does anyone know about this idea of it being a problem to get the spouse an ITIN, then later s/he gets a SSN?

YOu can only get an ITIN if your spouse isn't eligible for a SSN... Since I am assuming that your husband is still in France and won't be back in the US until after April, go ahead and apply for an ITIN with your 1040. After he arrives in the US, you can start to use the SSN.. and it won't mess anything up... All an ITIN is is a placeholder until one gets a SSN...

I could be in a similar boat. The way I see it is that for the 2006 tax year, I will be filing a W-7 / 2555 form for my wife. Before the end of the 2007 tax year, my wife will be here (God willing) and acquire a SSN. I will then file "normally". How can that be confusing for the IRS to explain?

Your spouse (and mine) was NOT eligible for a SSN when the 2006 tax year ended. That's how I am treating it. Good luck! Some people are really make it confusing.

If you are filing married-joint and your non-resident spouse is a student overseas and has zero income, do you still have to fill out & send form 2555 with the W-7 and the 1040?

Yes..

Don't need to send the 2555 if he has no income, but you do need an ITIN...

intresting