@Kiesha99s wrote:
My husband is a F1 student and he was told to apply for ITIN. The problem is that because of high demand of requests at IRS, most likely he might receive it no sooner than 15 April. We are applying MFJ (married filling jointly). A tax consultant said that we have to send the W7 form (required for ITIN) and the identification documents required for this form attached with the tax return documents that we filled jointly to IRS. Eventually IRS will attach an ITIN number for my husband to our tax return case. I want to ask how legit is this information and if this is not true what should we do?
If you are a US citizen or US resident and your spouse does not have a Social Security number or an ITIN and you are not applying for an ITIN with the tax return then you can only file your tax return as Married Filing Separately. Where asked to enter the spouse's Social Security number enter 999-88-9999. You can only print and mail your tax return, it cannot be e-filed. When you print the tax return erase the Social Security number for your spouse and manually enter NRA for non-resident alien.
See this TurboTax support FAQ for the procedure to print and mail a tax return using the online editions - https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1944348-how-do-i-print-and-mail-my-return-in-turbotax-online
If you decide to file your tax return as Married Filing Jointly you must apply for an ITIN with the tax return and you would need to be providing a statement with your tax return that you want your Nonresident Alien Spouse Treated as a Resident. See IRS Publication 54 Tax Guide for U.S. Citizens and Resident Aliens Abroad pages 7 and 8 - https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p54.pdf
Go to this IRS website for ITIN information - https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/general-itin-information
