Taxes - Spouse outside the country

[emekus94 1,125]

Hi all-

 

A family friend recently married. Their spouse is still in their home country of Ghana.

Friend has already filed IR-1/CR-1 since February. They're just waiting.

Question: Clearly for taxes, friend will file "married, jointly"
but how does he go about doing this? As in - wife is still out of the country. She has no SSN. 

Is there a special form he completes? 

Just want to make sure we have some education before he hires an accountant that will mess things up. lol

 

*Disclaimer - I know this is not a tax forum. Just asking how people went about it because I read a while ago some horror stories with folks hiring accountants that are not well versed in immigration and things got complicated.

[Chancy 6,241]

*** Moved from IR1/CR1 Process & Procedures to Tax & Finances During US Immigration, where similar topics are discussed ***

 

7 minutes ago, emekus94 said:

but how does he go about doing this? As in - wife is still out of the country. She has no SSN. 

Is there a special form he completes? 

 

Your friend will need to submit a W7 application for ITIN for his wife, along with the required supporting documents, when he files his 2022 tax returns.  More info here -- https://www.irs.gov/individuals/how-do-i-apply-for-an-itin

 

[Crazy Cat 41,981]

The foreign spouse MUST have either a Social Security number or an ITIN to file a joint return.  Otherwise, the USC can file Married-Filing Separately.

[emekus94 1,125]

2 hours ago, Chancy said:

*** Moved from IR1/CR1 Process & Procedures to Tax & Finances During US Immigration, where similar topics are discussed ***

 

 

Your friend will need to submit a W7 application for ITIN for his wife, along with the required supporting documents, when he files his 2022 tax returns.  More info here -- https://www.irs.gov/individuals/how-do-i-apply-for-an-itin

 

 

2 hours ago, Crazy Cat said:

The foreign spouse MUST have either a Social Security number or an ITIN to file a joint return.  Otherwise, the USC can file Married-Filing Separately.

Well then
Sounds like if you file an ITIN, it can take forever (7ish weeks)
Or file separate for now.

I'll let them know. Thank you both!

[Crazy Cat 41,981]

Just now, emekus94 said:

 

Well then
Sounds like if you file an ITIN, it can take forever (7ish weeks)
Or file separate for now.

I'll let them know. Thank you both!

The USC can file separately now, then amend the tax return to jointly later after the new immigrant receives a SSN.

[top_secret 2,447]

2 hours ago, emekus94 said:

Well then
Sounds like if you file an ITIN, it can take forever (7ish weeks)
Or file separate for now.

 

 

 In our case in 2021 it was more like 6 months.  It is definitely not fast.  But in our case it quite literally resulted in an over $10,000 greater return filing MFJ vs MFS so it was quite worth the wait.  Of course everyone's tax situation will be unique so run the numbers both ways and see what the difference is.

[emekus94 1,125]

21 hours ago, top_secret said:

 

 

 In our case in 2021 it was more like 6 months.  It is definitely not fast.  But in our case it quite literally resulted in an over $10,000 greater return filing MFJ vs MFS so it was quite worth the wait.  Of course everyone's tax situation will be unique so run the numbers both ways and see what the difference is.

For a fact jointly will always be better in their case
But I think what crazycat said might be better for now - which is just file it separate and amend it later. Then u can always get that difference back when u amend.

Because if u are right that it is 6 months for ITIN - I think my friend will rather not file for a tax extension. They rather do it now and amend later, than try to extend filing till the ITIN gets here
but I will give him his options and he and his accountant can figure it out

Edited January 31, 2023 by emekus94

[Chancy 6,241]

7 minutes ago, emekus94 said:

Because if u are right that it is 6 months for ITIN - I think my friend will rather not file for a tax extension.

 

That's not how the application for ITIN works.  W7 + required documents must be submitted along with the filing of tax returns.  W7 cannot be submitted as a standalone application ahead of the tax filing.

 

If your friend wants his initial tax refunds faster, filing MFS would be the way to go.  Then he could file an amendment to MFJ later when his wife moves to the US and gets her SSN.  That's how my USC spouse and I did our taxes for 2020.

 

But if your friend wants the full refund faster, filing MFJ with W7 would be better.  Even if IRS takes around 6 months to process the W7 for ITIN and the tax returns, it would still be faster than the 9 months that IRS took to process our amendment after I got my SSN.

 

[emekus94 1,125]

On 1/31/2023 at 12:24 PM, Chancy said:

 

That's not how the application for ITIN works.  W7 + required documents must be submitted along with the filing of tax returns.  W7 cannot be submitted as a standalone application ahead of the tax filing.

 

If your friend wants his initial tax refunds faster, filing MFS would be the way to go.  Then he could file an amendment to MFJ later when his wife moves to the US and gets her SSN.  That's how my USC spouse and I did our taxes for 2020.

 

But if your friend wants the full refund faster, filing MFJ with W7 would be better.  Even if IRS takes around 6 months to process the W7 for ITIN and the tax returns, it would still be faster than the 9 months that IRS took to process our amendment after I got my SSN.

 

Thank you.
I don't think he cares about the refunds or timeline for it - he's pretty well off. He just wants a simpler process.
And sounds to me like amending the returns later may be easier. Less paperwork and you stick to just waiting for wife. At this rate, no idea when she's even coming