stimulus check amount for a US citizen and her nonresident spouse with a SSN

[payxibka 10,044]

12 minutes ago, Phil&Marina said:

Hello!

If a couple has not filed jointly yet, but the stimulus check already came for the US citizen in the couple, the non-citizen spouse has no way of getting the stimulus separately this year.

Is this correct? 

Thanks 

At worst you will get it in 2021 when you file your 2020 return 

[Phil&Marina 95]

12 minutes ago, payxibka said:

At worst you will get it in 2021 when you file your 2020 return 

So, if the taxes have not been filed at all yet, the wife awaiting AOS and the US citizen husband cannot file separately for them to both get the stimulus.

 

Correct? 

Thank you 

[NikLR 13,220]

21 minutes ago, Phil&Marina said:

So, if the taxes have not been filed at all yet, the wife awaiting AOS and the US citizen husband cannot file separately for them to both get the stimulus.

 

Correct? 

Thank you 

No.

The non-USC will get a tax credit when they file their 2020 return. 

[Steeleballz 7,550]

28 minutes ago, Phil&Marina said:

Hello!

If a couple has not filed jointly yet, but the stimulus check already came for the US citizen in the couple, the non-citizen spouse has no way of getting the stimulus separately this year.

Is this correct? 

Thanks 

 

      You are asking if one spouse gets $1200 now as an advance payment based on their 2018 return filed as single, could the second spouse get the $1200 separately as an advance payment based on the 2019 return filed jointly right now? I don't believe so, but I am not certain. People are still filing 2019 returns so hopefully if it happens that way to anyone, people will post their experience. 

[Phil&Marina 95]

10 minutes ago, NikLR said:

No.

The non-USC will get a tax credit when they file their 2020 return. 

Thank you. This is what I thought. 

I have also heard this could potentially cause issues with the immigration status down the road.

3 minutes ago, Steeleballz said:

 

      You are asking if one spouse gets $1200 now as an advance payment based on their 2018 return filed as single, could the second spouse get the $1200 separately as an advance payment based on the 2019 return filed jointly right now? I don't believe so, but I am not certain. People are still filing 2019 returns so hopefully if it happens that way to anyone, people will post their experience. 

I am also thinking this might not be worth it. The tax refund from filing jointly as a couple will be lost then. 

[geowrian 22,335]

15 minutes ago, Phil&Marina said:

I have also heard this could potentially cause issues with the immigration status down the road.

No idea where you heard this, but it's not correct. This is not a public charge issue or anything like that.

 

15 minutes ago, Phil&Marina said:

I am also thinking this might not be worth it. The tax refund from filing jointly as a couple will be lost then. 

It would be treated like 2 x $1200 rebate-wise (1 per tax return). Filing jointly just combines that.

The biggest difference is the income threshold. If either individual has over $75k in income, then filing separately makes even less sense.

Edit: This assumes you can qualify as a tax resident on your own - i.e. via the substantial presence test. You cannot be a tax resident solely as the spouse of a USC when filing separately.

Edit 2: Looking at your timeline, unless you have spent significant time in the US prior to coming o the K-1 visa, that does not seem to apply.

 

I'd say just wait until you do the 2019 taxes to file jointly for the larger standard deduction, and filing 2020 taxes jointly to also claim the remaining $1200 in income.

Unless that money is needed ASAP AND you don't mind having to amend taxes later to get the most back possible, waiting until the 2020 returns makes more sense to me. YMMV

Edited April 15, 2020 by geowrian

[Crazy Cat 39,180]

16 minutes ago, Phil&Marina said:

I have also heard this could potentially cause issues with the immigration status down the road.

Where?  Absolutely incorrect.

[portorusa 431]

4 hours ago, Lucky Cat said:

Anyone who wants to see if he/she is eligible can now use the official IRS stimulus payment portal (which just opened today).  It will tell you if you are eligible, and it will allow you to update your bank information.  https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/economic-impact-payments .  I just used it to provide my bank info to the IRS.  It also said "You are eligible for this payment".

How do I update bank info? I clicked on the link, and it gives general info on who is eligible and who is not. 

[Crazy Cat 39,180]

Just now, portorusa said:

How do I update bank info? I clicked on the link, and it gives general info on who is eligible and who is not. 

Click "Get My Payment"....

[geowrian 22,335]

1 minute ago, portorusa said:

How do I update bank info? I clicked on the link, and it gives general info on who is eligible and who is not. 

I think it only lets you provide the bank account info if you had none on file. Once provided, or if you already had one, it will use that. If that is invalid, they will send a physical check afterwards.

Quote

• Check your payment status
• Confirm your payment type: direct deposit or check
• Enter your bank account information for direct deposit if we don't have your direct deposit information and we haven't sent your payment yet

 

[Crazy Cat 39,180]

Just now, geowrian said:

I think it only lets you provide the bank account info if you had none on file. Once provided, or if you already had one, it will use that. If that is invalid, they will send a physical check afterwards.

 

I think that is correct.......I had no bank information on file, so it allowed me to enter it.

[geowrian 22,335]

Just now, Lucky Cat said:

I think that is correct.......I had no bank information on file, so it allowed me to enter it.

Yup, same.

[arken 4,197]

3 minutes ago, geowrian said:

I think it only lets you provide the bank account info if you had none on file. Once provided, or if you already had one, it will use that. If that is invalid, they will send a physical check afterwards.

 

Agreed, i already had direct deposit for 2019 tax return and my stimulus is already deposited in my bank this morning.

Edited April 15, 2020 by arken

[portorusa 431]

8 hours ago, JenTex said:

I am a USC with SSN and my wife is still in limbo in Canada awaiting interview. I filed MFJ and used her ITIN and reported her Canadian income for 2019 taxes and yesterday I got a direct deposit for $2400. I saw earlier yesterday where the same happened to someone else but can't find the post at the moment. So either they're screwing up (which is very possible) or they've changed/waived the ITIN thing. Guess we'll see what happens with everyone else. 

You are lucky, congrats! We are in the same situation (USC with SSN, foreign spouse with ITIN, filed 2019 a month ago as MFJ) but we did NOT receive any stimulus as of today:( Bank info reported to IRS is the same, never changed.

[portorusa 431]

Please tell me how do I check the payment status? To find out if they sent the stimulus or not.