IRS & SSA questions...

[mlybrand 0]

Hi again,

I will be directing my questions to SSA and IRS in the next week or so, but I was sure many of you have had experience with this. I just got married to my lovely wife on 07/31, but she is still in Peru and will remain there until we get the visa situation sorted out. My concerns are the following:

1. What is my IRS filing situation? Do I claim her and my step-son? How do I treat her income? What documentation do I provide to the IRS regarding her, my step-son, her income?

2. Will the SSA issue SSNs for her and my step-son, for the purposes of adding her to my bank accounts, making her the beneficiary on my retirement and life insurance, for tax filing, etc? And will I be able to request the number for her? If so, what documentation will I need to provide?

3. Assuming I get the above numbers, will this complicate matters when we get the visa approval stage (since my understanding is that part of the process involves the information being sent to SSA for an issuance of SSNs)? What can I do to ease and mitigate any issues with a pre-existing number? Is it relatively easy to remove the "not for employment purposes" on such an SSN?

I will follow up here as I get more info, but would appreciate any experiences you guys can share with me.

Mark

[Pooh and Piglet 0]

1. What is my IRS filing situation? Do I claim her and my step-son? How do I treat her income? What documentation do I provide to the IRS regarding her, my step-son, her income?

Filing status depends on your choice of treating your spouse as Resident Alien or Non-Resident Alien. Likely choices would be married filing joint & Resident Alien or married filing seperate & Non-resident alien. The choice to make would be based on the calculation whether its better to include her and step-son AND her income or file seperate and not include income and NOT include dependents.

2. Will the SSA issue SSNs for her and my step-son, for the purposes of adding her to my bank accounts, making her the beneficiary on my retirement and life insurance, for tax filing, etc? And will I be able to request the number for her? If so, what documentation will I need to provide?

No, but you can apply for TINs (Tax Identification Numbers) if you are filing a tax return with their names on it. Note you will likely have trouble adding her to a bank account in the US if she is not physically here to sign etc. The TIN should be fine for purposes listed. (but maybe you have to wait until next tax season to get the #) You have to send in the passport to get the number, plus the correct forms, plus the tax return.

3. Assuming I get the above numbers, will this complicate matters when we get the visa approval stage (since my understanding is that part of the process involves the information being sent to SSA for an issuance of SSNs)? What can I do to ease and mitigate any issues with a pre-existing number? Is it relatively easy to remove the "not for employment purposes" on such an SSN?

N/A. You will have applied for a TIN.

[mlybrand 0]

Filing status depends on your choice of treating your spouse as Resident Alien or Non-Resident Alien. Likely choices would be married filing joint & Resident Alien or married filing seperate & Non-resident alien. The choice to make would be based on the calculation whether its better to include her and step-son AND her income or file seperate and not include income and NOT include dependents.

Although since she is in Peru and therefore non-resident, can I still claim that she is "resident". It seems unlikely that she would be here before the end of the year, so next year, when she is with me, I may have to make a different decision (although then I would have socials, so it would just be about the income at that point). Am I seeing this correctly?

If I go married, filing separately, will I still need TINs for her and my step-son?

Thanks again for the input.

Mark

[Pooh and Piglet 0]

Although since she is in Peru and therefore non-resident, can I still claim that she is "resident".

Yes. You need to write a letter stating your intention with your tax return and fill out the appropriate forms for TIN. See irs.gov. This has worked highly in my favor since my wife has no income!

It seems unlikely that she would be here before the end of the year, so next year, when she is with me, I may have to make a different decision (although then I would have socials, so it would just be about the income at that point). Am I seeing this correctly?

My guess is you'll want to file joint when she gets here. (since at that point she IS a resident alien. i.e. no decision to be made on her residence status for tax purposes)

If I go married, filing separately, will I still need TINs for her and my step-son?

I think there is no purpose (i.e. submitting a tax form) for them to get TINs in this case.

The TIN that my wife received has basically only been good for taxes. It could be used to fill in the SS section of life insurance. too - it replaces the SS. but I have been unable to get any bank account yet since she is not here to sign - and I know a brokerage account required passport with visa for her to get an account.