Need ITIN for wife even though "Married, filing separately"?

[shogimatt 0]

I'm just now filing my taxes, and I was stuck in TurboTax when it asks for my wife's SSN. She of course doesn't have an SSN because our I-130 is still pending approval.

I did some research and discovered the W-7 form for getting an ITIN. It was my impression that we needed an ITIN for my wife even if we are filing separately, but the following text appears on the W-7:

e. Spouse of a U.S. citizen/resident alien. This category includes:

●A nonresident alien husband or wife who is not filing a U.S. tax

return (including a joint return) and who is not eligible to obtain an

SSN but who, as a spouse, is claimed as an exemption, and

●A nonresident alien electing to file a U.S. tax return jointly with a

spouse who is a U.S. citizen or resident alien.

I'm not interested in claiming her as an exemption (although TurboTax might have done this for me automatically). I'm more interested in avoiding another long (10 weeks?) stage of paperwork just to get this number. According to the wording on this document, it seems that the W-7 does not apply to spouses who are not claimed as exemptions and are filing separately.

Does anyone have experience with this?

Thank you, as always, for your help!

Matt

[mlybrand 0]

I am also interested in this topic and related issues. I did download IRS Pub 519 U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens and will be schooling myself a little. I actually started researching ITINs for the purposes of adding my wife as my beneficiary (pension, life insurance, etc), but am holding for now until I have a clearer understanding of the admonitions on the W-7 form about not filing for an ITIN unless you are filing income taxes (do they mean in the future or do they mean at the time of filing the W-7). W-7 lists exemptions for being able to file for an ITIN without filing income taxes, but none of the listed circumstances are even remotely related to the purposes I want an ITIN for.

Just curious, buy why are you just now filing? April 15 was eons ago...

Mark

[sweetcitygirl 0]

Hello, i dont know if this will help you, but i tried to use turbo tax also and i ran into the same problem with no ssn for my husband. So i just forgot about using turbo tax and printed out some tax forms, federal and state and filled them out by hand and just filed married filing seperately and then wrote in my husbands name where they ask you when your filing seperately and then i put doesnt have one my husband is not a citizen in the ssn box. I sent it in and already got a transcript mailed and everything was fine. It got filed and everything is good. Maybe this will help you. Maybe if your using the paid version of turbo tax you can get more help or go to h and r block and maybe they know how to file when your spouse doesnt have a ssn, instead of going through all that hassel for the special number.

Take care, sweetcitywife

I'm just now filing my taxes, and I was stuck in TurboTax when it asks for my wife's SSN. She of course doesn't have an SSN because our I-130 is still pending approval.

I did some research and discovered the W-7 form for getting an ITIN. It was my impression that we needed an ITIN for my wife even if we are filing separately, but the following text appears on the W-7:

e. Spouse of a U.S. citizen/resident alien. This category includes:

●A nonresident alien husband or wife who is not filing a U.S. tax

return (including a joint return) and who is not eligible to obtain an

SSN but who, as a spouse, is claimed as an exemption, and

●A nonresident alien electing to file a U.S. tax return jointly with a

spouse who is a U.S. citizen or resident alien.

I'm not interested in claiming her as an exemption (although TurboTax might have done this for me automatically). I'm more interested in avoiding another long (10 weeks?) stage of paperwork just to get this number. According to the wording on this document, it seems that the W-7 does not apply to spouses who are not claimed as exemptions and are filing separately.

Does anyone have experience with this?

Thank you, as always, for your help!

Matt

[PK and PK 13]

I'm just now filing my taxes, and I was stuck in TurboTax when it asks for my wife's SSN. She of course doesn't have an SSN because our I-130 is still pending approval.

I did some research and discovered the W-7 form for getting an ITIN. It was my impression that we needed an ITIN for my wife even if we are filing separately, but the following text appears on the W-7:

e. Spouse of a U.S. citizen/resident alien. This category includes:

●A nonresident alien husband or wife who is not filing a U.S. tax

return (including a joint return) and who is not eligible to obtain an

SSN but who, as a spouse, is claimed as an exemption, and

●A nonresident alien electing to file a U.S. tax return jointly with a

spouse who is a U.S. citizen or resident alien.

I'm not interested in claiming her as an exemption (although TurboTax might have done this for me automatically). I'm more interested in avoiding another long (10 weeks?) stage of paperwork just to get this number. According to the wording on this document, it seems that the W-7 does not apply to spouses who are not claimed as exemptions and are filing separately.

Does anyone have experience with this?

Thank you, as always, for your help!

Matt

Call up IRS tax hotline. They have some experts there that are quite helpful. BTW getting a W7 took only 4 weeks for us. Only catch is get your spouse's passport copy notarized by a US notary or the US consulate in a foreign country. They wouldn't accept any other kinds of notarization for us.

[Malrothien 6]

I'm just now filing my taxes, and I was stuck in TurboTax when it asks for my wife's SSN. She of course doesn't have an SSN because our I-130 is still pending approval.

I did some research and discovered the W-7 form for getting an ITIN. It was my impression that we needed an ITIN for my wife even if we are filing separately, but the following text appears on the W-7:

e. Spouse of a U.S. citizen/resident alien. This category includes:

●A nonresident alien husband or wife who is not filing a U.S. tax

return (including a joint return) and who is not eligible to obtain an

SSN but who, as a spouse, is claimed as an exemption, and

●A nonresident alien electing to file a U.S. tax return jointly with a

spouse who is a U.S. citizen or resident alien.

I'm not interested in claiming her as an exemption (although TurboTax might have done this for me automatically). I'm more interested in avoiding another long (10 weeks?) stage of paperwork just to get this number. According to the wording on this document, it seems that the W-7 does not apply to spouses who are not claimed as exemptions and are filing separately.

Does anyone have experience with this?

Thank you, as always, for your help!

Matt

Call up IRS tax hotline. They have some experts there that are quite helpful. BTW getting a W7 took only 4 weeks for us. Only catch is get your spouse's passport copy notarized by a US notary or the US consulate in a foreign country. They wouldn't accept any other kinds of notarization for us.

It can be notarized by a notary that is approved by the US if they are in a country that is a part of the Hague Convention - whereas India is not.

http://www.hcch.net/index_en.php?act=conve...atus&cid=41

[MsSheka 0]

I'm just now filing my taxes, and I was stuck in TurboTax when it asks for my wife's SSN. She of course doesn't have an SSN because our I-130 is still pending approval.

I did some research and discovered the W-7 form for getting an ITIN. It was my impression that we needed an ITIN for my wife even if we are filing separately, but the following text appears on the W-7:

e. Spouse of a U.S. citizen/resident alien. This category includes:

●A nonresident alien husband or wife who is not filing a U.S. tax

return (including a joint return) and who is not eligible to obtain an

SSN but who, as a spouse, is claimed as an exemption, and

●A nonresident alien electing to file a U.S. tax return jointly with a

spouse who is a U.S. citizen or resident alien.

I'm not interested in claiming her as an exemption (although TurboTax might have done this for me automatically). I'm more interested in avoiding another long (10 weeks?) stage of paperwork just to get this number. According to the wording on this document, it seems that the W-7 does not apply to spouses who are not claimed as exemptions and are filing separately.

Does anyone have experience with this?

Thank you, as always, for your help!

Matt

Is she here in the US? were you married at the end of the tax year?

[Old Dominion 26]

It's just simpler to get the ITIN and deal with the brief delay in processing -- maybe a week or two at most. It means you can't file online, but otherwise things will move more quickly now that the filing season is long gone.

[GabiandVi 34]

Actually, I filed on turbo tax and my husband doesn't have an ssn or an itin. We tried several years ago to get the itin so he could open a bank account with my bank, but i don't remember what happened. For whatever reason, we dropped the ball on that one. For the space where it asks for his ssn, I put "Applying for". My friend's accountant told her to do that for her husband when they were living abroad and starting the process. Anyway, turbo tax kept telling me I was missing some information, but I kept saying file anyway. (I guess that is how Geitner got around his oversight as well.) I filed 4 years worth of returns with "applying for" in that spot. (I owed nothing for the first three of those years and got a big rebate for the last year due to foreign earned income exclusion all four years. But I don't think it would have made a difference if I had owed anything.)

My friend was married and living in her husband's country for 7 years before she ever filed, and then she only filed for the 3 years she needed to file to apply for his visa. That was her accountant's advice. No one ever asked about the tax returns. But she had no income. They were looking at her assets. I guess they will look more closely at returns when they are your AOS proof, but I don't think the alien spouse's ssn will become an issue.

[imaisha 0]

Call up IRS tax hotline. They have some experts there that are quite helpful.

I tried calling that hotline back in February when I was preparing my taxes and they were completely useless. An hour and a half of getting switched up and down the chain of command and in the end they told me nothing that wasn't on the IRS website. Maybe you'll have more luck though.

In the end I filled out my federal and state returns online with TurboTax, filing as "married filing separately." Because my husband didn't have a social security number I couldn't e-file so I just mailed them in. Had no problems with my federal return- had my refund direct deposited a few weeks later. New York State sent me a letter a little while after I submitted the return saying something like, "We are missing some information, please tell us your spouse's SSN." I just wrote them a letter saying, "My husband is a non-resident alien. He has never lived or worked in the United States. My filing status is "married filing separately" and so his SSN is not required. My federal tax return was accepted without issue, please continue processing my return." Got my refund from them a few weeks after that. In retrospect I should've included that letter in the first place. I wouldn't waste time with the ITIN unless you need it for something else (adding your spouse to a bank accounts etc.).

[Candy/SadanNasir 2]

I tried calling that hotline back in February when I was preparing my taxes and they were completely useless. An hour and a half of getting switched up and down the chain of command and in the end they told me nothing that wasn't on the IRS website. Maybe you'll have more luck though.

In the end I filled out my federal and state returns online with TurboTax, filing as "married filing separately." Because my husband didn't have a social security number I couldn't e-file so I just mailed them in. Had no problems with my federal return- had my refund direct deposited a few weeks later. New York State sent me a letter a little while after I submitted the return saying something like, "We are missing some information, please tell us your spouse's SSN." I just wrote them a letter saying, "My husband is a non-resident alien. He has never lived or worked in the United States. My filing status is "married filing separately" and so his SSN is not required. My federal tax return was accepted without issue, please continue processing my return." Got my refund from them a few weeks after that. In retrospect I should've included that letter in the first place. I wouldn't waste time with the ITIN unless you need it for something else (adding your spouse to a bank accounts etc.).

I need to know if I may file single even though I am married.

Here are the factors:

(1) My husband is a non-resident alien; we are awaiting approval of his IV (immigrant visa), while he is living abroad. He has not earned a wage in this country and holds a valid tourist visa to date.

(2) I am a USC

(3) I have no other dependents which I might claim for HOH

(4) In order to file joint we must have a ITIN, which will take a min. of 8-10 weeks to obtain, after the 1-2 weeks we must wait for appropriate documentation to arrive in the mail, plus the time we must wait for IRS to process our federal with the ITIN. This is problematic because: (a) I must submit tax information for funding purposes to my university; and (b) because we must submit additional immigration information ASAP that requires our tax info.

Related question:

What is the average processing, wait time, for IRS transcripts? I will request for completed year 2007, and be requesting for year 2008 which I will be submitting to amend this week. How long after I submit amendment for 2008 should I wait before requesting 2008 IRS transcript? Should I request both 2007 and 2008 at the same time?

Please advise

Peace!

[Wife of Mohammed 0]

I need to know if I may file single even though I am married.

Here are the factors:

(1) My husband is a non-resident alien; we are awaiting approval of his IV (immigrant visa), while he is living abroad. He has not earned a wage in this country and holds a valid tourist visa to date.

(2) I am a USC

(3) I have no other dependents which I might claim for HOH

(4) In order to file joint we must have a ITIN, which will take a min. of 8-10 weeks to obtain, after the 1-2 weeks we must wait for appropriate documentation to arrive in the mail, plus the time we must wait for IRS to process our federal with the ITIN. This is problematic because: (a) I must submit tax information for funding purposes to my university; and (b) because we must submit additional immigration information ASAP that requires our tax info.

Related question:

What is the average processing, wait time, for IRS transcripts? I will request for completed year 2007, and be requesting for year 2008 which I will be submitting to amend this week. How long after I submit amendment for 2008 should I wait before requesting 2008 IRS transcript? Should I request both 2007 and 2008 at the same time?

Please advise

Peace!

I requested my tax transcripts for 2006, 2007 and 2008 on feb. 27 midnight (suprised because they were working sat night so late!) and I got it last week on mar. 4. It don't take that long. You should request the last 3 years, its free.

I married in dec 2009, and I'm going to file joint marriage because of the tax refund benefit. My husband is mailing me his passport. I am not in any rush to complete my paperwork. I think for the AOS, I can just give them the tax transcripts. They will have my check stubs for the last 6 months of work (dec 2009-may 2010) to prove my 2009 income.

If I were in your position and needed the tax documents immediately, I would file online as single. But in your case, maybe its safe to file separate and send in any 'current' tax transcripts.

Good luck...hope this helps

[elmcitymaven 9,711]

I need to know if I may file single even though I am married.

Here are the factors:

(1) My husband is a non-resident alien; we are awaiting approval of his IV (immigrant visa), while he is living abroad. He has not earned a wage in this country and holds a valid tourist visa to date.

(2) I am a USC

(3) I have no other dependents which I might claim for HOH

(4) In order to file joint we must have a ITIN, which will take a min. of 8-10 weeks to obtain, after the 1-2 weeks we must wait for appropriate documentation to arrive in the mail, plus the time we must wait for IRS to process our federal with the ITIN. This is problematic because: (a) I must submit tax information for funding purposes to my university; and (b) because we must submit additional immigration information ASAP that requires our tax info.

Just to point out that once you are married you cannot file as "single" -- you are married! You may file "married filing separately." You do not need an ITIN to file in this manner. Before we moved to the States, I had been living abroad for many years married to a non-USC. I was instructed by the IRS to file married filing separately to avoid the issue of the ITIN, and in the place on the 1040 for the social security number or ITIN, to write "NRA" for "non-resident alien." This was perfectly acceptable to the IRS.

Hope this helps!

[christeen 966]

I second the above post... I was married for 7 years before my husband applied for GC and we had NO ITTN# for him (Complicated story, but it was financially better that he did not have one and remain Non resident Alien)...

We filed married filing seperatly, in the space for the spouses SS#, you can write the NRA, None, Non-Resident etc... You will have issues electronically filing, but you can print the return out and mail it.

So you do not have to get an ITTN#.

[Candy/SadanNasir 2]

I requested my tax transcripts for 2006, 2007 and 2008 on feb. 27 midnight (suprised because they were working sat night so late!) and I got it last week on mar. 4. It don't take that long. You should request the last 3 years, its free.

I married in dec 2009, and I'm going to file joint marriage because of the tax refund benefit. My husband is mailing me his passport. I am not in any rush to complete my paperwork. I think for the AOS, I can just give them the tax transcripts. They will have my check stubs for the last 6 months of work (dec 2009-may 2010) to prove my 2009 income.

If I were in your position and needed the tax documents immediately, I would file online as single. But in your case, maybe its safe to file separate and send in any 'current' tax transcripts.

Good luck...hope this helps

Thank you WOM:

I did some more research this week and everything is worked out now; I mailed off taxes, DS-3032 and I-864 today.

*I filed MFS, wrote in NRA on the line for spouses SSN

*I had an issue with how to report my stipend/fellowship income and found out how to claim this as well. When MFS, one cannot claim one's spouse for exception, nor can one claim earned income credit or life time learning credit OR deduct any educational expenses. However, if one has the proper documentation showing that AFTER tuition and qualified expenses are deduced from academic aid (fellowships, scholarships, loans, etc. [yes loans too, any amount over tuition and qualified expenses that is refunded directly to the student]), the total amount of such aid is written to the left of line 7 on Fed form 1040, to the left of the amount written in, one writes 'SCH' (as per irs.gov website).

(the reason I mention the above is because I have seen a few posts with similar concerns: how to report student aid as income)

So we will file for the W7 when I receive my husband's documents in the mail. It is illegal for anyone to send their passport through the mail in Pakistan so we are going with the other alternative: civil birth certificate + national I.D. card. If the national I.D. can't be sent either, we will be seeing each other in the summer anyway so he can give the documents to me then when he gets here.

H&R block was clueless, the financial aid department was as well. My husband and I had not the slightest clue of how to proceed. The only thing that can be done at times, is time consuming research. The information is out there, the irs.gov website has all the detailed information I never thought I would need to know

Thank you for your reply.

Peace

[Candy/SadanNasir 2]

Just to point out that once you are married you cannot file as "single" -- you are married! You may file "married filing separately." You do not need an ITIN to file in this manner. Before we moved to the States, I had been living abroad for many years married to a non-USC. I was instructed by the IRS to file married filing separately to avoid the issue of the ITIN, and in the place on the 1040 for the social security number or ITIN, to write "NRA" for "non-resident alien." This was perfectly acceptable to the IRS.

Hope this helps!

It does help thank you for your reply. Everything was filed and mailed this week.

I second the above post... I was married for 7 years before my husband applied for GC and we had NO ITTN# for him (Complicated story, but it was financially better that he did not have one and remain Non resident Alien)...

We filed married filing seperatly, in the space for the spouses SS#, you can write the NRA, None, Non-Resident etc... You will have issues electronically filing, but you can print the return out and mail it.

So you do not have to get an ITTN#.

Thank you for your reply Christeen