IR1: Filed taxes as single. What should I do now?

[Springrain22 427]

2 minutes ago, Waffle123 said:

We submitted the taxes to the NVC and they also said Single, had no problems with that.

I will reply here after the interview to let you know whether it caused any problems! My husband promised to call IRS to find out what we should do though. 

Thank you very much and again, I wish you all the best. Hopefully we both do not need no amend it...

[Shauneg 762]

Have you asked for the fee you paid your accountant back? Tax accounting 101.

[Chardon Ne' 71]

you do not claim your spouse on your taxes except under specific circumstances but you do file a joint tax return. a social or ITIN is only required if you make the election to treat your non resident alien spouse as a Resident alien for tax purposes. You are not required to do so though. Also yes you should have filed married filing separately and you can amend your taxes.

[NovaSprings 89]

IMHO there are two items involved in this.  1. is USCIS and their requirements for proving tax transcripts and bonified marriage documents, and 2. the IRS and filing proper tax documents.  For USCIS as many have pointed out, your choice may not matter, it depends on many factors including the CO and your evidence.  The two agencies may not be related or share information, however, from and IRS perspective, when you are married, you are married and not single, so filing as single would not be correct.  

Edited April 7, 2017 by NovaSprings

[Michael2017 368]

We are in the same situation. I talked to my lawyer, he advised to fill married filing separately and to file the taxes in PAPER with SSN N/A for the spouse. IRS accepts this, we added an cover letter to exaplain. Easy. No need for a ITIN number!

[cyclone27 710]

CO is only concerned with income not filing status  - care less about how u filed your taxes. Amend and file married jointly once she is here and has a social.

 

So no I would not bother right now!

[Sukie 1,439]

I know it is confusing.

 

The REASON that accountants say to file "single" when you are married with an overseas spouse is that NO computerized tax preparation software will allow a "Married" status without a spouse's social security number.  It's a safety that is built into the software.

 

So...people in our position have to file a PAPER copy of a tax return (which accountant's don't like to do).  When you do this, you can file "Married Filing Separately" and hand-write "NRA"  (Non-Resident Alien) in the Spouse's SSN space.

 

Most people in this situation are filing in the year they got married, but the spouse has not yet made it to the US.  One can easily see how you could think "Single" in this case. 

 

Bottom line:  If you are married, you must file as married.  Either Married filing Jointly, or Married filing Separately.

 

OP - you should amend your last three year's taxes.  Your so-called accountant should do this for free, since he gave you incorrect information.  But do it.  And then fire your accountant.

 

If you go ahead and file the amendments, you can copy the paperwork you are submitting and your spouse can show this - BUT ONLY IF IT COMES UP.  It's highly likely that it will not be an issue at all.

 

It's not really USCIS/NVC/Embassies that care about how you file your taxes.  They just want to see that you have enough money to sponsor the immigrant.  But the IRS can and will come after you if they think you filed incorrectly and they didn't get enough of your money. 

 

OP - you do not want to file "Married Filing Jointly", because that will mean FBAR reports and having to see if there are tax treaties, etc.  But you can and should amend to Married Filing Separately. 

 

Just remember - tax prep software wants that SSN.  You must file a PAPER tax return.

 

Best of luck!

 

Sukie in NY

[JessieABC 159]

5 hours ago, Springrain22 said:

OK, how to amend then? Do I really need to get her an ITIN to proceed or I can just amend with "married filing separate" with NRA written for her SSN? She did not work in 2016 at all.

Married is married.  As others have said, you cannot file single if you are married. If you got married at any time during the year, then for tax purposes you are considered married for that year.

 

TIN is only required in the following situations:

• If you are filing Married Filing Jointly in which case you would need to report her worldwide income
• If you are filing Married Filing Separately and are claiming exemptions for your spouse

If she does not have a TIN/SSN:

• File Married Filing Separately is your only option if she doesn't have an ITIN/SSN
• Higher taxes but less paperwork and much easier than ITIN process; you can always amend later when she moves here
• Where it asks for SSN, you will have to write in "NRA" and paperfile for the year
• Your accountant will have to file an exemption for e-filing (for fed and state as needed) 

Your account was giving you the wrong advice and should lose his CPA license.  Even if your spouse isn't here, you need to change your tax statuses accordingly or it could be considered a tax crime if information was intentionally misrepresented: 

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2672769-i-filed-as-single-but-im-married-will-the-irs-know

 

Get a new accountant before you amend or fire your accountant after he does it for free like Sukie suggested 

Edited April 7, 2017 by JessieABC

[broppy 204]

16 minutes ago, JessieABC said:

• File Married Filing Separately is your only option if she doesn't have an ITIN/SSN
• Higher taxes but less paperwork and much easier than ITIN process; you can always amend later when she moves here

It's not always higher taxes when filing separately with an NRA spouse! Check the figures before actually amending earlier returns - there's no obligation to go back and refile jointly until the tax year the spouse actually becomes a resident (and by the time it comes to filing that return, spouse would most likely have an SSN).

[Crazy Cat 39,279]

8 hours ago, Springrain22 said:

Hello everyone!

 

..... my accountant stated that I am single, as he said he could not make it "Married" because it is requires my wife's SSN .......

Start by getting a new accountant......He/She is 100% incorrect......You MUST file married, if you are married......I have filed for the 2 years as "married, filing separately" with no problems......My wife has neither a SSN nor an ITIN.  I write "NRA" in her SSN field......

 

But, unfortunately, I cannot claim an exemption for her because she doesn't have a SSN....In addition, I can not file electronically.

Edited April 7, 2017 by missileman

[JessieABC 159]

1 minute ago, broppy said:

It's not always higher taxes when filing separately with an NRA spouse! Check the figures before actually amending earlier returns - there's no obligation to go back and refile jointly until the tax year the spouse actually becomes a resident (and by the time it comes to filing that return, spouse would most likely have an SSN).

You have a point.  If the foreign spouse makes quite a lot more and would take you over and beyond into a higher tax bracket, then Filing Separately may actually be beneficial.  

 

Filing separately also causes you to lose the following:

• Education benefits
• Earned Income Credit (EIC)
• Child and Dependent Care Credit (usually)
• Adoption Credit (usually)
• The same benefit married filing jointly couples get for personal exemptions, itemized deductions, the Child Tax Credit, and capital losses (all of these deductions are reduced by half)

I filed separate and am already crying silently over my lost deductions.

[IcezMan_IcezLady 582]

6 hours ago, sparkles_ said:

I know everyone says amend, but my spouse and I married at the end of the tax year, he had no status yet and I filed head of household with the kids minus him and it was never mentioned. You have 2 years I think to amend....so if you do file single, you can fix it later. The IRS won't bark your door down about it either, and the IOs that interview you won't call the IRS, only want a reasonable explanation why. 

HoH is different from claiming SINGLE

[sparkles_ 456]

37 minutes ago, IcezMan_IcezLady said:

HoH is different from claiming SINGLE

Sure is, but the fact that you can amend tax returns quite a while after filing in any status still exists. That was my main point, that any filing status can be amended to what it should have been

[Springrain22 427]

2 hours ago, cyclone27 said:

CO is only concerned with income not filing status  - care less about how u filed your taxes. Amend and file married jointly once she is here and has a social.

 

So no I would not bother right now!

So, again, did you mean that I can just do nothing right now until she is here? Meaning that I can just leave everything as it is, go ahead with NVC, complete her case, get her visa and move to the USA, and then amend my taxes? Is this what you meant? Is it safe and CO will not deny her visa?

[JessieABC 159]

6 hours ago, Waffle123 said:

We submitted the taxes to the NVC and they also said Single, had no problems with that.

I will reply here after the interview to let you know whether it caused any problems! My husband promised to call IRS to find out what we should do though. 

Would love to find out what happens! Please post after the interview and let us know!