Hi,
I'm looking to understand my options for filing taxes. I want to do a joint return with my wife (we got married in 2022), and while I qualify as a US tax resident alien, she does not. It is my understanding that I can elect to have her treated as a tax resident. To do this, we have to provide a declaration. Does this mean we have to file our taxes by mail (and that, we can't file taxes online?)
An additional complexity in our case is while my wife has employment authorization, she does not have a social security number yet. We expect to be able to request one later in March, when she arrives in the US. Since the tax deadline is April 18th, I'm not too confident that the SSN will arrive in time to file taxes. Can we apply an ITIN for her in this instance? (IRS guidelines seem to imply that only someone who is ineligible for a SSN may apply for an ITIN).
If we can't apply for an ITIN, can we still file our taxes without her SSN? Since we're kind of waiting for an SSN?
Or should I apply for an extension? (per TurboTax, I should expect a refund if I file jointly, but owe taxes if I file separately). How does filing an extension work if I will be doing a joint tax return? How do we both get the extension? (since I don't have an SSN\ITIN for my wife, which looks like something that has to be filled in on the extension request)
Thanks,
Navneet
