Hi, Im new to this site. Ive lurked for a little while but now I have the sudden need for advice. A little background first- Ive filed for the K3 for my wife in peru in may2006. Right now Im waiting for the DS230 part 2 to be sent to me from the U.S. to peru where Ill be staying until we get the visa(atleast thats my plan). Ive done the 130,129,864, 230part1 Etc... Ok now with my tax question. Im filing my taxes for 2006 right now and I dont know what i should file as. Its obvious that i should be filing as married but I think I might have to file as single, because if i file as married I have to fill out 1040NR or 1040NREZ. The problem is those forms pertain to nonresident aliens. She had a job in the US in 2004 and 2005 but not in 2006 nor was there at all last year. I want to just file as single so I can E-File but I know this isnt wise. Ive only got a few weeks left to do this so I dont want to wait for sth in the mail to get to peru. Is there another form? Am I missing something? What did all of you do?

What you should do is to file Form 4868, Application for Extension of Time to File U.S. Individual Tax Return, with the IRS by the April 15 deadline. This gives you 6 months (4 if you're out the country). Although you are not required to make a payment of the tax you estimate as due, Form 4868 does not extend the time to pay taxes. If you do not pay the amount due by the regular due date, you will owe interest. You may also be charged penalties.

Anyway, you should to go IRS website and read more about filing the extension. After your wife comes to US and get her SSN and everthing, then you can file jointly and claim her as your independence. That way, you pay less tax. It's not cheating the IRS, because you obviously financially support your wife/fiance.

If she worked in US before, what kind of tax identification she uses before ? SSN or ITIN ?
You are married - you can choose married filing separately or married filing jointly. You cannot file single. You can file as head of household but there are certain criteria you need to meet.

If your tax situation is a little more complicated this year, you might just want to invest in a few extra dollars and have it prepared by a professional. Personally, I wouldn't rely on an internet board to give me sound tax advise, but that's just my 2cents.

There is nobody here who filed their taxes the year after they got married but were still waiting for their wifes visa?
Ive talked to the IRS and I know what I have to do, I just want to know if its the same thing all of you had to do?
Telling me to hire a tax guy doesnt help me at all. HnR block doesnt even know what I have to do.

viccardenas,

I filed as married-joint for the tax year in which my wife and I were married, although she did not get her visa and enter the USA until the following year, after I had already filed the return. I had to get her an ITIN to do it. It should be simpler for you - as tom&tata observed, if your wife has worked in the USA before then she should have a SSN.

You fill out your Form 1040 showing both of your incomes from employment on line 7, and any other incomes on the appropriate lines up through line 21. Then you fill out a Form 2555 or Form 2555A to determine her excludable income (which will probably be all of it) and include that number on Form 1040 line 21. The total income on Form 1040 line 22 will then most likely be your income only, but you've got 2 exemptions rather than 1 and you get to use the married-joint tax table to calculate the tax. This should give you a substantial savings.

You also include a joint statement with the return declaring that your wife wishes to be a US tax payer even though she does not live and work in the USA.

Yodrak

Thank you Yodrak, thats exactly what I was looking for. You explained it better than the IRS