Filing Taxes

[celiothrkn 0]

I'm looking at the tax forms right now, but I don't know what to write for my spouse's SSN!

The filing period is Jan 1 to Dec 31, 2009. We got married in late Jan. So to the IRS, that means she's been my wife for the whole year, and I can't possibly file as Single. Yet her CR1 is still being processed so she hasn't gotten here or gotten a SSN yet.

I am not asking for legal or tax advice. I'd like to know if anyone's been through the same situation (as I'm sure many CR1 filers on these forums have), and I'd like to know your experiences. Please share.

[Dakine 26]

When my wife was still in PI I filed jointly and filed a W7 at the same time to get her a ITIN . Worked fine.

Hint! You can fill in, save and send the W7.

[trailmix 77]

I filed 'married filing separately'. Never bothered to go back and modify them - but you could once she has her SSN.

[payxibka 10,044]

ITIN

[christeen 966]

Married filing seperatly and for the SSN just put Unable.. You can do an ammendment later... OR, financially, the best bet is to get her an ITTN and file married filing jointly

[Jaxson 0]

I'm looking at the tax forms right now, but I don't know what to write for my spouse's SSN!

The filing period is Jan 1 to Dec 31, 2009. We got married in late Jan. So to the IRS, that means she's been my wife for the whole year, and I can't possibly file as Single. Yet her CR1 is still being processed so she hasn't gotten here or gotten a SSN yet.

I am not asking for legal or tax advice. I'd like to know if anyone's been through the same situation (as I'm sure many CR1 filers on these forums have), and I'd like to know your experiences. Please share.

is your wife here in the US?

[celiothrkn 0]

No, my wife is not in the US yet but she will be on or around the same time I file. I think she can arrive just before April 15, in which case we wouldn't need the ITIN and can just go to the Social Security Administration and get her a SSN. But the SSA website says it may take a few weeks to get the SSN, which is no different from the ITIN which takes 4-6 weeks. Does anyone know how long it takes to get the SSN from SSA?

At this point I think the married filing separately may be best.

[celiothrkn 0]

Ahh, I found some other posts which said that SSN can be applied 2 weeks after POE and receive it in the mail in 1 week. Much shorter than the several weeks that the SSA website claimed.

[Darnell 8,478]

options

1. don't file on time, delay yer taxes till she's here with a SSN

2. file PAPER return with W-7 form to special IRS address in Austin, she'll get ITIN.

3. file married filing seperately, can still go electronic .

Good Luck !

[Darnell 8,478]

fwiw (sorry ) - I used my option 2 - file married , paper return, with W-7 form, to IRS special address in Austin TX for 2008 TY . I had no issues about it, but I have read recently - some ppl do, because they can't supply the right ID with the W-7 on the foreign spouse - the instructions changed - best ID is copy of passport BIO page with a notary stamp. Chengdu Consulate charges 50 USD for that, but it may be possible for you to have your own personal notary do it in USA (depends on who you know ) .

I had her bio page notarized in the USA, the IRS accepted it, but that was LAST YEAR before the change-over.

I have heard that GUZ does NOT do this notary service, and that BeiJing and Shenyang DO. I do know that Wuhan does not...

[Darnell 8,478]

you'll notice some difference in any tax rebate amount for that stimulus package - an ITIN holder doesn't qualify. but - you can file AMENDED returns later, when she has her SSN, recover some money ... (sorry, that was the last bit I wanted to tell you - ITIN vs SSN ) .

[road417king 7]

I'm looking at the tax forms right now, but I don't know what to write for my spouse's SSN!

The filing period is Jan 1 to Dec 31, 2009. We got married in late Jan. So to the IRS, that means she's been my wife for the whole year, and I can't possibly file as Single. Yet her CR1 is still being processed so she hasn't gotten here or gotten a SSN yet.

I am not asking for legal or tax advice. I'd like to know if anyone's been through the same situation (as I'm sure many CR1 filers on these forums have), and I'd like to know your experiences. Please share.

I'm actually in this same boat right now and have been doing some research in it. Keep in mind that this is not tax advise, its's sharing information that I've discovered.

One important thing to remember: Doesn't matter if you were married on January 1st or December 31st, it's just like having a baby, if it happened in the calendar year, the IRS counts it for the whole year. What you have to establish is residency determination for "resident alien" vs. "nonresident alien" status. And trust me, it's not like you can say "oh, my spouse hasn't been here half the year" and call it good, the IRS rules are very much slanted towards the IRS getting the most money they can.

That said, here's what I've found so far:

If your foreign born spouse has income and you file a joint return, you must also report her "worldwide" income to the IRS using a special form. I would *hope* that there is some way of indicating that she paid some kind of income taxes in the country where she was working, however I wouldn't put it past the IRS to tax you anyway. This would necessitate getting a tax ID.

A possibility: File an extension for your taxes instead of filling your taxes, that gives you until October 15th to file, if her CR1 comes through and she gets a tax ID, then you just have to deal with the worldwide income issue.

Here's a tax website I found that describes all this:

http://www.bnasoftware.com/News_Articles/A...on_Purposes.asp

So you really only have two choices (because lying on your taxes will get you fined and quite possibly some jail time, neither of which you want): File "married jointly" and deal with the above (world wide income reporting), or file "Married Separate" and eat the tax loss.

Either way, my recommendation is talk with a tax professional (not just your average tax preparer, but someone who has experience dealing with this kind of issue).

Good luck!

Mike

[CheeseQuavers 0]

I filed separately from my British Hubby and after putting his name in the spouse name box, I put "NRA" in his SSN box as he is a "Non-Resident Alien" at the time or around the time of filing.

This is what they told me to do when I phoned the IRS in Philly (Int'l office) with my questions, it is also what was recommended to me by another VJ member!

Edited January 13, 2010 by casandra

[road417king 7]

I filed separately from my British Hubby and after putting his name in the spouse name box, I put "NRA" in his SSN box as he is a "Non-Resident Alien" at the time or around the time of filing.

This is what they told me to do when I phoned the IRS in Philly (Int'l office) with my questions, it is also what was recommended to me by another VJ member!

Last night while perusing the forums I found this thread (and asked for more information which was supplied):

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=235947

You might want to consider filing an ammended tax return if the information applies to you. That whole "filing separately" thing, as far as I'm concerned, is a scam perpetrated by the IRS because that gives them the ability to tax you at a higher rate and you really don't have any recourse. At least I've always thought so.

Thanks!

Mike

Edited January 13, 2010 by road417king