How to file taxes without a spouse's SS#?

[yailukmuu 26]

Moderators please feel free to move this.

Summary: Fiancee arrived on K1 in November. Married in early December. Then hours after USCIS acceptance of AOS--she left. *poof* gone... it's been 36 days now. I've found her and have started divorce. I'm already pushing $3,700.

Now it's tax time. But I don't know her SS#.

I'm using TaxAct, and it DEMANDS--her SS#. But I don't know it and can't get it.

I've tried using 999-99-9999 and I've tried 000-00-0000, all return errors and the program stops dead.

Bad enough to be penalized for married filing single (since she won't answer me) and having to lose such things as "student loan interest," and being limited on losses on a Schedule C which might cost me thousands--but now I cannot file at all.

Has anyone run into this? Suggestions please?

Thanks

Edited February 12, 2014 by yailukmuu

[aaron2020 11,651]

You cannot file a joint return without her. How would you get her to sign?

Sorry, but you'll have to file married filing separately.

The only exception is a "legal separation" which does not apply to you.

There is no such thing as married filing as single.

In addition, you cannot make up a random SS number. Don't commit a crime by making up a number.

Sorry you got scammed. Withdraw the I-864.

Edited February 12, 2014 by aaron2020

[yailukmuu 26]

Seems like good advice but to file "married" separately--requires her SS#.

So online tax services literally "choke," and refuse to move forward unless a SS# is entered.

In reality there seems to be no way to file unless I know her SS# which I now see, was kept from my sight.

I-864 withdrawn Jan 14th, and withdrawn, in hand, at an Infopass meeting the next week at my local USCIS office.

[Jeff @ Missy 9]

Sorry to hear this. Does she have friends or family close by as to where she may have run off to?

I read this recently. I enter the USA Thursday with my wife and child, been married over 2 yrs now.

http://ulyssesulysses.hubpages.com/hub/Why_do_so_many_men_report_bad_Filipina_dating_marrying_experiences

[Pitaya 2,576]

~Moved from K-1 Process to Social Security Numbers Forum~

~Inquiry about SSN, not K-1~

[novedsac 355]

Do you have any children or other adults living with you who are dependent on you? If so, you can file Head of Household.

Otherwise, I would recommend one of two approaches:

1) Determine the difference in tax if you filed married joint vs. married separate. If married joint results in a larger refund, or a smaller payment, than figure out how much it is worth to you and make an offer to your estranged wife. Treat it like a business transaction - it can sometimes be worked out. Say you owe 10k married filing separately vs 4k married joint, then you save 6k by convincing her to cooperate - perhaps its worth offering her 2-3k for her cooperation.

2) If you file married separate, then you're going to have to fill out the paperwork longhand and file the paper forms. However, you can do so without filling out the spouse's SSN. You should attach a note explaining that you were married and have been married through December 31st … and that she has since left and is unreachable, uncooperative and you don't have her SSN. No need to go into the immigration stuff or how you feel about her … just what I noted just previously. IRS will accept this. Should you get audited, just demonstrate that you have a wedding certificate establishing the wedding date in 2013 and a divorce decree establishing the divorce date sometime after 2013.

[Removed030114 48]

Moderators please feel free to move this.

Summary: Fiancee arrived on K1 in November. Married in early December. Then hours after USCIS acceptance of AOS--she left. *poof* gone... it's been 36 days now. I've found her and have started divorce. I'm already pushing $3,700.

Now it's tax time. But I don't know her SS#.

I'm using TaxAct, and it DEMANDS--her SS#. But I don't know it and can't get it.

I've tried using 999-99-9999 and I've tried 000-00-0000, all return errors and the program stops dead.

Bad enough to be penalized for married filing single (since she won't answer me) and having to lose such things as "student loan interest," and being limited on losses on a Schedule C which might cost me thousands--but now I cannot file at all.

Has anyone run into this? Suggestions please?

Thanks

Make an appointment with the IRS and get an ITIN. This is a temporary number that can be used in place of the SSN.

http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Individual-Taxpayer-Identification-Number-(ITIN)

http://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/Individuals/ITIN

Edited February 12, 2014 by CNTrav

[yailukmuu 26]

Thanks CNTrav..... neat idea.

Will this work, even if she has a SS#? (Which she does have)

[aaron2020 11,651]

Make an appointment with the IRS and get an ITIN. This is a temporary number that can be used in place of the SSN.

http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Individual-Taxpayer-Identification-Number-(ITIN)

http://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/Individuals/ITIN

Wouldn't he need his wife to file for the ITIN?

[Removed030114 48]

Thanks CNTrav..... neat idea.

Will this work, even if she has a SS#? (Which she does have)

Apologies. I missed the part where she already has an SSN. No, it will NOT work. She needs to contact the SSN office and provide evidence of her identity and they will provide her SSN.

[yailukmuu 26]

Thank you Novedsac, good ideas there.

Jeff@Missy, that's a fascinating article. Though I don't embrace it all, much of it makes sense especially:

"Eddy Meng refers to Filipino women whom enter the mail-order industry in the hope of marrying abroad, and then sponsoring their family for immigration."

In my case: "If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, It's probably a duck"

Here are some factors to consider:

1) Her elder sister lives, Ate, here as an illegal alien, working as a healthcare worker in Phoenix, AZ, I estimate that she makes about $42,000 ($20/hour, unlimited hours available) a year under-the-table and then (this is a guess) using a purchased (illegal H1-B (she has no skills that would allow a legal H1-B)) Ate then ferrets the money out of the US and purchase house/land in the Philippines. I know that Ate now owns 3 houses in Cebu, plus land in Bohal.

2) Juliet my spouse literally was counting the days for acceptance of AOS. You can see this by searching for jsgen here at VJ--you will find an account that asked only one question: "When does USCIS acceptance occur?"

3) I was friends with, and had met all sisters and brothers in Cebu and Bohol--but when it came to the sister in Phoenix, I didn't even have her name.

I think that's enough quacking. I'll surmise that the plan was to leave for Arizona as soon as USCIS accepted AOS. I'm thinking that either she (or Ate) thought that in time the Green Card would appear. It's also possible as your article hints at that Ate has so much power within the family that Ate "coached" my spouse. A frightening though was that the the set-up was to file a VAWA claim.

I may have inadvertently prevented this. When Juliet decided abruptly to leave, she did things like leave the house with luggage and no coat (it was about 10f (-12C)). She also got physically abusive. It's not that I didn't take the bait, it's more that the mere thought of any domestic violence scared the daylight out of me. So in this case I called a local woman's protective service asking them to have someone come and mediate or if she wanted to leave, to leave in a safe way. I have no doubt that that phone call was recorded. A VAWA claim against a husband calling for help from a Woman's Protective Service may have made what might have been the plan impossible.

I did find the "hidden" sister by tracing Ate's phone number which you can do--but it usually only gets you to a ~7 square mile area. But I did find the name (what was "faked" reversed and changed) and the area. I searched that area for real estate sales/purchase using parts of the fake phonename and Bingo...found a sale and a purchase, so now I had both an address and a true name. Btw, both Ate and her husband are illegals--it amazes me--house flipping in Arizona by illegals. So much for America's seriousness about illegal immigrants.

Looking back there were some clues that should have warned me and they may be of use to some here at VJ

1) Juliet my spouse had built a rather nice house. She had told me that she ran a business but taxes got too high so she closed it. Truth: Ate paid for the house, Juliet built it. Juliet will say that she owns it, but this is not true. Registry of deeds does not have it listed, so in reality nobody owns it. That's sort of typical in Filipino culture--wealth is for the family. But I should have seen that Juliet, if she had a business that could clear $5000 a year and allow saving of 1.3 million peso over 5 years--would never be closed. I now see that the house was built by Ate with money earned under the counter in Phoenix.

2) Ate is married to a well-to-do Norwegian retired ship captain (I'm very good at investigation). He is elderly and from a distance is clearly drinking himself to death, perhaps knowing or maybe not knowing that his wife may be waiting just like a vulture for the prey's death.

3) Ate's sister married an obese, diabetic, elderly American who decided to move to Cebu. This sis had 4 children by the man. One must assume that no matter how much this sister loved the guy--death brought, in this case 18 years of wealth--in the form of SS payments to the children and eventually to the spouse.

Yup, put it all together and in hindsight it seems clear.

What is fascinating is that Juliet, my spouse will not get a green card. Also this botched scheme, botched because of no Green Card which purpose was to jump start Juliet's (again theoretical) bringing Ate into legality as an American Citizen--has failed. Worse, when putting it all together I must assume (as there is no other way a person can leave/enter America every year) that at least Ate is here on an illegal H-1B, for I can think of no other way that she can leave America each year, buy a house and return.

It must be very disconcerting for my spouse to read this because it is really too late to claim a fake VAWA, the time opportunity is gone. It must also be very disconcerting realizing that should I complaint to ICE with names/address of two illegals, one who may (or probably) has a "purchased" H1-B. Hey, so be it, "commit the crime, be prepared to do the time." In short, the "family" illegal empire, rather than getting stronger may be just short of drastically failing.

That article is excellent, thank you. On occasion I'll say to someone: "Can you buy love." Everyone says: "No." But I disagree and believe that all relationships including spousal are purchased. They are not purchased with money, or diamonds or furs--but they must be purchased in each giving what the other desires/needs.

I'll neither fault the Sis who married the elderly, obese man who died. Clearly he got paid his due. I'll not fault Ate's marrying the wealthy Norwegian Captain, I'll have to assume that he got paid his due also. But as far as my spouse--all I got was a loss of two years of my life and expenses of about $10,000, about what a decent used car costs. Oh, but wait...I did spend 40 days and 40 wondrous nights in Cebu and Bohal, and got almost two months of a seemingly wonderful relational/marriage. So, I can say I got nothing--but what I got was not the lasting thing that I had hoped for. The saddest part is that had she stayed I would have truly enjoyed helping the family, especially the two bright nieces who I certainly hope--get the eventual opportunity for college.

Oh well, sorry for being so wordy.

[yailukmuu 26]

Apologies. I missed the part where she already has an SSN. No, it will NOT work. She needs to contact the SSN office and provide evidence of her identity and they will provide her SSN.

*lol* She needs to get her a** out'a Dodge! (For those not familiar with the phrase, Dodge was a wild historic town in America where arguments were solved with guns, from the 1800's)

She has a SS#, and cleverly kept it from me. Therein lies the problem.

I wonder if a spouse has a right to know the SS# of the other spouse?

[aaron2020 11,651]

I wonder if a spouse has a right to know the SS# of the other spouse?

You do not. Privacy rights.

[Removed030114 48]

*lol* She needs to get her a** out'a Dodge! (For those not familiar with the phrase, Dodge was a wild historic town in America where arguments were solved with guns, from the 1800's)

She has a SS#, and cleverly kept it from me. Therein lies the problem.

I wonder if a spouse has a right to know the SS# of the other spouse?

Sounds like you need a lawyer more than an SSN

[yailukmuu 26]

*lol* "You do not -- privacy rights" is about what I expected to hear.

and CNTrav-- I have a lawyer who's pushing $3,700 just for divorce. Heaven forbid I should ask him such a mouth-watering question, I can just imagine the sound inside his head: "ka-ching, ka-ching,"

I'll do as navadesac suggested and file both ways...yes, I'll be forced to file a paper return but at this point I'm not sure what the outcome will be. I do know, for I remember reading it someplace, that most State Courts will generally allow a spouse forced to file "married filing single," who incurs significant cost--to sue the injuring spouse and collect appropriate damages.

Though in this case I might need to collect such damages in bananas....