CONFUSED K3 WHAT TO FILE FOR 2007 INDV TAX RETURN(1040A) IS IT SINGLE;MARRIED FILING JOINTLY; MARRIED FILING SEPARATELY

[nova71 0]

HELP! I WILL BE HAVING MY INTERVIEW THIS COMING MAY 29TH IT'S JUST THAT WE'RE WORRYING ABOUT MY HUSBAND'S 1040a(INDIVIDUAL TAX RETURN) UP TO NOW HE'S NOT SURE WHAT TO FILE FOR HIS 2007 TAX RETURN, HE DOESN'T KNOW WHICH IS BETTER, TO FILE AS SINGLE; MARRIED FILING JOINTLY; OR MARRIED FILING SEPARATELY, HE IS OPTING TO FILE MARRIED FILING SEPARATELY BUT WORRYING THAT HE WILL BE NEEDING MY SSN NUMBER, OR TIN NUMBER(?), AND HE ALSO SAID HE WILL BE NEEDING MY ORIGINAL PASSPORT FOR THIS, HELP GUYS, IS IT OKAY IF HE FILE AS SINGLE EVEN IF HE'S ALREADY MARRIED(WE'RE MARRIED JUNE 30,2007) SO THAT HE WON'T BE GETTING MY ORIGINAL PASSPORT AND HAVE IT NOTARIZED THERE IN THE US? I DON'T WANT TO GIVE HIM MY PASSPORT BECAUSE I WILL HAVE MY MEDICAL THIS MAY 7TH(EARLY), AND EVEN IF I GIVE HIM MY PASSPORT I DON'T KNOW IF HE CAN GET A TIN NUMBER FOR ME. WILL IT BE A PROBLEM IF THE CONSUL WILL NOTICE WHY HE FILED SINGLE EVEN IF MARRIED ALREADY? HOPE YOU'LL ENLIGHTENED US...THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT TO US...THANK YOU GUYS.

[Gator's Bike 0]

HELP! I WILL BE HAVING MY INTERVIEW THIS COMING MAY 29TH IT'S JUST THAT WE'RE WORRYING ABOUT MY HUSBAND'S 1040a(INDIVIDUAL TAX RETURN) UP TO NOW HE'S NOT SURE WHAT TO FILE FOR HIS 2007 TAX RETURN, HE DOESN'T KNOW WHICH IS BETTER, TO FILE AS SINGLE; MARRIED FILING JOINTLY; OR MARRIED FILING SEPARATELY, HE IS OPTING TO FILE MARRIED FILING SEPARATELY BUT WORRYING THAT HE WILL BE NEEDING MY SSN NUMBER, OR TIN NUMBER(?), AND HE ALSO SAID HE WILL BE NEEDING MY ORIGINAL PASSPORT FOR THIS, HELP GUYS, IS IT OKAY IF HE FILE AS SINGLE EVEN IF HE'S ALREADY MARRIED(WE'RE MARRIED JUNE 30,2007) SO THAT HE WON'T BE GETTING MY ORIGINAL PASSPORT AND HAVE IT NOTARIZED THERE IN THE US? I DON'T WANT TO GIVE HIM MY PASSPORT BECAUSE I WILL HAVE MY MEDICAL THIS MAY 7TH(EARLY), AND EVEN IF I GIVE HIM MY PASSPORT I DON'T KNOW IF HE CAN GET A TIN NUMBER FOR ME. WILL IT BE A PROBLEM IF THE CONSUL WILL NOTICE WHY HE FILED SINGLE EVEN IF MARRIED ALREADY? HOPE YOU'LL ENLIGHTENED US...THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT TO US...THANK YOU GUYS.

nova what i got from my husband was his form 1040ez(income tax return for single and joint filers with no dependents) attached to his W-2 he will be going to include me on 2008 and what does the embassy required are 2005,2006,2007

if he is going to have file affidavit of support (form 134) tell him to notorized the form. If u are K3 u don't have to send your passport to him cause during interview st. lukes 1 requirements is your passport.

hope others will help you with this matter too. Goodluck on May 29th your interview.

[✿Ice Rain✿ 0]

Hi Nova17,

I am also on K3. My husband was advised to just filed for single since i am not there yet in US, and i dont have SSN which is needed if my husband will file as "married". He was advised by the agency who prepared his taxes for this year. They said it is okay to file single even he is married already. My husband can just file married on 2008 ITR, which is on next year 2009.

However those who opted to file as married, while wife is still abroad (NO SSN), they provided a ITN and send their husbands their passports with notarization, which is of course hassle to do.

Just tell your husband to file 'single', it's no problem, thats what we did.

Shape

Edited April 26, 2008 by SHAPE OF MY HEART

[JSRF 0]

It is better to file Married that way you both with get more money from George W. refund check. Also it better for tax break. Due to the fact you are married you live outside the USA, he will be a break on earn income as half of his income is your and you live outside the USA. There is several reason it better to file jointly as married. He can file single, and once you get here file correct copy of his income taxes, but he will not get the full Goerge W. tax break. Good luck and God bless.

[✿Ice Rain✿ 0]

The situation here is not that easy, yeah her husband can file "married", but the problem is, the OP is having her medical and interview this coming month of May and no enough time already to send her passport back and forth. And of course if i were the OP i cant risk my passport to send just for my husband to file as "married" for 2007, which is not so much big deal whether he file as married or single for 2007.

Nova17, filing as single for your husband wont give you problem. What will be a problem is when you risk to send your passport going back and forth.

Good luck.

It is better to file Married that way you both with get more money from George W. refund check. Also it better for tax break. Due to the fact you are married you live outside the USA, he will be a break on earn income as half of his income is your and you live outside the USA. There is several reason it better to file jointly as married. He can file single, and once you get here file correct copy of his income taxes, but he will not get the full Goerge W. tax break. Good luck and God bless.

[✿Ice Rain✿ 0]

Sorry, i meant Nova71 not Nova17, you guys confused me , LOL!!!

[Gator's Bike 0]

It is better to file Married that way you both with get more money from George W. refund check. Also it better for tax break. Due to the fact you are married you live outside the USA, he will be a break on earn income as half of his income is your and you live outside the USA. There is several reason it better to file jointly as married. He can file single, and once you get here file correct copy of his income taxes, but he will not get the full Goerge W. tax break. Good luck and God bless.

ur right they will get more money but the situation aint easy buddy..., they can do it when she is in US anyway, so that will be the time they can get of the money LOL . I suggest to follow wat shape was advice .

Edited April 26, 2008 by gurl

[july052007 0]

hmmmm....guys i dont think it will matter wether you send you passport to the US or not... i guess what i mean is,,, you can notarize your copy of passport to any notary public here in the country.. and they will honor that... as long as it is notarized! coz in the US even if you send your passport to ur hubby, they wont notarize it unless you are there present during the notary OR you have a friend who notarize these stuff even youre not around during the notary!! i think if im not mistaken, one VJ member before also posted that they just sent a notarized copy of passport from PINAS and that made it thru IRS and got an ITIN....

so i guess it still is better to file jointly... better proof for the interview and better for the wallet...

just an opinion....

[july052007 0]

and one more thing.... when u file jointly and the SO is not in the US, u will need to send a declaration letter stating the SO's current address... and that will show that she is not in the US and no way to notarize her/his passport there without her presence.... so i guess it is really ok to have it notarized here in pinas and send the copy to the tax filer in the US... no need to send the Passport back and forth...

[Skeeter211 2]

Only one note....yes...you will pay less taxes by filing married than single, but it makes no difference on the Bush stimulus package checks. I read that in order to get the full amount of the married couple, both must have an SSN and an ITIN (Interim Tax ID Number) will not work. In their case she would be given an ITIN until she gets to the USA and can apply for an SSN so no extra benifit there. Depending on the amount of money the USC makes, the tax difference could be significant though and might be worth it if all it takes is a copy of the passport notarized in the Philippines. I would have your tax preparer figure it both ways to see how big that difference is.

Scott

[july052007 0]

ur right there skeeter!! i think they should weigh the benefits they're getting... if its just breaking even... then maybe they can just file for taxes jointly for the mere purpose of very good interview material/proof... or maybe just do the easier route of filing separately...

[warwick8 0]

wow.....wish a thread like this was started before i got here anyway, what my husband and I did was file an extension (i had my interview March 6 and deadline of filing was april 15) so, anyway, i just brought his w2s and 2005 and 2006 1040s. When i got here, we filed as "married filing jointly" and put "SSN to follow" in the blank provided and attached a copy of our AOS application with the tax form. We did this because one of my husband's friend who is also married to a pinay did this a month ahead of us and they got their refund back. We just sent our tax form a week ago so it's still too early to tell if it will work for us.

[edp333 9]

Legally, you need to file Married since you were married in 2007, either jointly or seperately. I filed an extension since my wife's passport was held by the Embassy. Granted, it is not easy, but the legal way to do it. I did not want to take the chances of illegaly filing single.

Yesterday, we got a copy of her passport notarized and sent in the W7 (ITIN) form along with the 1040 to the IRS in Houston.

I filed Married filing seperately to get the stimulus refund. It was the only way to qaulify and resulted in a larger refund for our situation. Also, without a SSN for your spouse, you will not qualify for any Earned Income Credit.

[anxiousandwaiting 0]

Legally, you need to file Married since you were married in 2007, either jointly or seperately. I filed an extension since my wife's passport was held by the Embassy. Granted, it is not easy, but the legal way to do it. I did not want to take the chances of illegaly filing single.

Yesterday, we got a copy of her passport notarized and sent in the W7 (ITIN) form along with the 1040 to the IRS in Houston.

I filed Married filing seperately to get the stimulus refund. It was the only way to qaulify and resulted in a larger refund for our situation. Also, without a SSN for your spouse, you will not qualify for any Earned Income Credit.

My husband and I did the same thing. We had to file "married" separately. I had to get an ITIN number in the meantime. My interview was at the end of April, so he filed his taxes on time, but then will file an adjustment once I get my SSN. I went to a tax attorney and he notarized my passport and we sent in the W7 and my husband sent in his 1040 to Houston as well.

[N360 0]

Legally, you need to file Married since you were married in 2007, either jointly or seperately. I filed an extension since my wife's passport was held by the Embassy. Granted, it is not easy, but the legal way to do it. I did not want to take the chances of illegaly filing single.

Yesterday, we got a copy of her passport notarized and sent in the W7 (ITIN) form along with the 1040 to the IRS in Houston.

I filed Married filing seperately to get the stimulus refund. It was the only way to qaulify and resulted in a larger refund for our situation. Also, without a SSN for your spouse, you will not qualify for any Earned Income Credit.

edp33 is right. Legally and technically, people should file as married.

That's not what I did however.

I filed as single because like many people here have said... It's such a hassle. My wife lives in Mindanao and what the IRS wanted for ITIN is just too much.

I do plan to amend our 2007 tax returns when she gets here and gets a social security #. I'm sure we'd get more money back after the amendment but its really not about the refund.

I HAVE TO amend the tax because I was married in 2007. And as long as you amend your return as soon as possible, I think you'd be ok to file as single.