immigrant spouse being asked by US husband's accountant to file taxes US??

[jajaju 33]

Hello everyone, I have read a few posts where people have given advice to be wary of what your accountant may tell you about how to do taxes, because at the end of the day they're not thinking of your visa journey they're doing their job. I'm the Australian in this situation and my husband is American. We've been living and working overseas for two years, he's currently ensuring all his taxes and income records are lined up with his family accountant, and the guy has just said that I should file taxes... What?!? This to me makes no sense, I've never lived in the US, never worked, never stayed longer than 3 months. I know we're married but what would my earnings have to do with the US at all, I'm an Australian citizen..

Is the accountant simply doing numbers and thinking as an accountant, or is there any merit to this suggestion.. This is really frustrating us because it's slowing us down with sending off the I-130.

Please advise. Thank you kindly.

[himher 634]

He's not advising that you file taxes. He is advising that the two of you file married/jointly

[jkelly07 120]

if your married. the us citizen spouse must file the taxes to the IRS.GOV it does not matter if your not a citizen yet or in another country your married,go to the website IRS.GOV down load the w-7 and the instructions and read it.

[spn1025 38]

There's 2 ways that the American husband can file his taxes. The question is: did you make a lot of money in Australia? Your husband can figure his taxes both ways to see which will give the biggest refund. If you didn't earn much money, go with option 2. I went with option 2 because my foreign wife didn't work, so she had no income.

1. File "Married Filing Separately". Since you do not have a social security number, your husband will write "NRA" (non-resident alien) in the box on form 1040 asking your social security number. This will give him the same amount of return as if he were filing as Single. Page 13 of form 1040's instructions lists this method.

2. File "Married Filing Jointly". If you didn't earn much money, this will give a much larger return. He will have to file a form W7 with his return, and mail the W7 and his completed return to the address on the instructions for form W7. It will take about 2 months longer to get his return, but it's worth it. The form W7 is an application for an ITIN, basically a temporary social security number used for tax reporting purposes only. Any foreign children being claimed on his return will also need an ITIN. There are additional documents that he will have to send in also, such as a copy of your birth certificate, copy of your passport, etc. See the instructions for W7.

Form 1040: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040.pdf

Form 1040 instructions: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040.pdf

Form W7: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw7.pdf

Form W7 instructions: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/iw7.pdf

[newacct 688]

1. File "Married Filing Separately". Since you do not have a social security number, your husband will write "NRA" (non-resident alien) in the box on form 1040 asking your social security number. This will give him the same amount of return as if he were filing as Single.

Married Filing Separately is MUCH worse tax-wise than Single.

2. File "Married Filing Jointly".

To add, since she is a nonresident alien, they will also have to do the "Nonresident Spouse Treated as Resident" election. Also, the implication of doing this is that her income abroad will need to be reported on their U.S. taxes.

Edited March 18, 2013 by newacct

[himher 634]

Declared but subsequently excluded.

Keeping the "visa journey" in mind this is what we did. We married in summer, 2007. My wife never stepped foot in the US that year. I still filed "married / joint" for 2007, checked her off as resident for tax purposes, declared her income, then excluded her income as foreign earned. This gave us a nice married/joint return for 2007 to use for AOS (she was a K3) in 2008. Her income was not taxed as it did not exceed the foreign earned income exclusion for 2007 and we did not file under the "resident" test but the "physical presence" test and we saved a lot in taxes with the married/joint return that I filed in place of married/separate.

Summary: Each of you can exclude $95,100 off the top before taxes kick in. The accountant probably advised your husband and you to pool your income, exclude the above portion of it, and reduce the net taxes owed by a significant amount by filing married/jointly rather than separately AND come out of it with a married/joint tax return (that married/joint thing appears to get USCIS all excited as evidence of valid marriage)

Hope that helps

[JohnR! 5,495]

Hello everyone, I have read a few posts where people have given advice to be wary of what your accountant may tell you about how to do taxes, because at the end of the day they're not thinking of your visa journey they're doing their job. I'm the Australian in this situation and my husband is American. We've been living and working overseas for two years, he's currently ensuring all his taxes and income records are lined up with his family accountant, and the guy has just said that I should file taxes... What?!? This to me makes no sense, I've never lived in the US, never worked, never stayed longer than 3 months. I know we're married but what would my earnings have to do with the US at all, I'm an Australian citizen..

Is the accountant simply doing numbers and thinking as an accountant, or is there any merit to this suggestion.. This is really frustrating us because it's slowing us down with sending off the I-130.

Please advise. Thank you kindly.

Jajaju, your husband's tax situation should not depend on his tax returns much too early in the process which means that he can go ahead and file it. He will need to become current with his returns at some point in the future.

For the US Internal Revenue Service, from the moment he got married his filing status had to be either 'married filing separately' or 'married filing jointly'. Your income would come into play if he decided to file as 'married filing jointly', in which case the income of both of you would be considered. As a US citizen he must file taxes and report income, even that received abroad. If he brings you into his tax return then your income would also need to be reported. In a nutshell that is how your income comes into play, even though you have never lived or worked in the US. (However if you do not have a SSN or ITIN I am not sure how he can even file married/jointly but that is something his CFA is better suited to advise him.)

Having said that, dealing with back taxes is not really all that complicated and they will accept back taxes for as long as he is willing to file. The hardest part in the process is getting the W-2 and all the form required to file. The actual filing itself is simple.

Good luck!

[jajaju 33]

ahh ok thank you all for clearing that up. Makes sense, but still seems dodgy to me to check myself as resident for certain times for tax purposes. I just had figured that's the opposite of what immigration wants to see. Anyway thank you very much I will proceed as advised!!

[JohnR! 5,495]

ahh ok thank you all for clearing that up. Makes sense, but still seems dodgy to me to check myself as resident for certain times for tax purposes. I just had figured that's the opposite of what immigration wants to see. Anyway thank you very much I will proceed as advised!!

Just notice that if he were to claim you as a dependent or married filing jointly that would not characterize you as a resident. The IRS recognizes dependents and spouses who are not US residents.

When it comes to taxes, there are no borders or continents! We are all one big huge human family where all are welcome!!!

[jajaju 33]

Just notice that if he were to claim you as a dependent or married filing jointly that would not characterize you as a resident. The IRS recognizes dependents and spouses who are not US residents.

When it comes to taxes, there are no borders or continents! We are all one big huge human family where all are welcome!!!

hahaha too funny, all aboard!

[The Mean Lady 604]

if your married. the us citizen spouse must file the taxes to the IRS.GOV it does not matter if your not a citizen yet or in another country your married,go to the website IRS.GOV down load the w-7 and the instructions and read it.

This is not true.

You can file separately and not include the foreign spouse at all.

Married Filing Separately is MUCH worse tax-wise than Single.

Not possible. Because you have the same amount of deduction for both

[JohnR! 5,495]

hahaha too funny, all aboard!

When it comes to money, Uncle Sam does not discriminate...

[newacct 688]

Not possible. Because you have the same amount of deduction for both

Yeah but look at the tax brackets.

[spn1025 38]

Declared but subsequently excluded.

Keeping the "visa journey" in mind this is what we did. We married in summer, 2007. My wife never stepped foot in the US that year. I still filed "married / joint" for 2007, checked her off as resident for tax purposes, declared her income, then excluded her income as foreign earned. This gave us a nice married/joint return for 2007 to use for AOS (she was a K3) in 2008. Her income was not taxed as it did not exceed the foreign earned income exclusion for 2007 and we did not file under the "resident" test but the "physical presence" test and we saved a lot in taxes with the married/joint return that I filed in place of married/separate.

Summary: Each of you can exclude $95,100 off the top before taxes kick in. The accountant probably advised your husband and you to pool your income, exclude the above portion of it, and reduce the net taxes owed by a significant amount by filing married/jointly rather than separately AND come out of it with a married/joint tax return (that married/joint thing appears to get USCIS all excited as evidence of valid marriage)

Hope that helps

I don't know where you came up with this $95,100 thing. Post a link please.

[spn1025 38]

heh. just found something interesting in regards to the "NRA" option I posted earlier. Page 13 of 1040 instructions lists it as an option, but this page http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/General-ITIN-Information says you can't use it. Look down where it says "how do I know if I need an ITIN?"

"IRS processes returns showing SSNs or ITINs in the blanks where tax forms request SSNs. IRS no longer accepts, and will not process, forms showing "SSA205c," "applied for," "NRA," blanks, etc."

However, according to 1040's instructions on page 13: "Be sure to enter your spouse's SSN or ITIN. If your spouse does not have and is not required to have an SSN or ITIN, enter "NRA".

So which is correct? That's kinda conflicting instructions isn't it? Either way, the married filing separately option isn't the best option.