change ITIN to SSN

[motinsf]

Mailing tax return... very annoying... I've been still waiting for the notice since this July...

[NCperson]

@ozman1958 

<<...when you file your 2020 tax return, there is a "rebate" area where you check it if you now have a Social Security number replacing the ITIN number. >> 

this is not true.  look at the link below and then look at the reconciliation form on page 57, question 2.   It asks if you have a valid SS#.  There is no check mark on this form related to an ITIN.  (note: it's page 58 of the pdf file, but at the bottom of the page, it's page 57)

if you follow question 2 and question 3, if you don't have the SS#, you aren't eligible for the stimulus. There is an exception for members of the US Armed forces when one of the spouses doesn't have an SS#.  

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-dft/i1040gi--dft.pdf

[ozman1958]

@NCperson 

<<this is not true.  look at the link below and then look at the reconciliation form on page 57, question 2.   It asks if you have a valid SS#.  There is no check mark on this form related to an ITIN.  (note: it's page 58 of the pdf file, but at the bottom of the page, it's page 57)

if you follow question 2 and question 3, if you don't have the SS#, you aren't eligible for the stimulus. There is an exception for members of the US Armed forces when one of the spouses doesn't have an SS#. >>

I very much appreciate the link to the DRAFT 2020 1040 instructions @NCperson provided. It verifies what I was trying to explain in my post...that IF your upcoming 2020 tax return has valid Social Security numbers (and no ITINs)...AND...you did not receive an "economic impact" payment (stimulus check) in 2020 (which my wife and I did not)...AND...you are within the income threshold for receiving an economic impact payment in the full amount (which my wife and I are)...THEN...you are going to get $1200 per individual (or $2400 for married filing jointly.)

How this applies to me (and perhaps others):

Me: American citizen with Social Security number.

Spouse: Foreign born citizen that used an ITIN for filing 2019 taxes...but during 2020...an immigration visa was granted. Spouse officially immigrated...and now has a Social Security number.

When we file 2020 taxes in 2021...we will eligible for the "Recovery Rebate." We will get $2400 applied to our refund amount.

The link below takes you to a copy of the DRAFT 1040 form for 2020. Go to Line 30. We will enter $2400 in this box. (The agent I spoke to said it was a "check box," but actually...it's a field to enter in the "Recovery Rebate.") It is considered "an overpayment" and will be applied to our refund amount.

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-dft/f1040--dft.pdf

It was upsetting that my wife and I...along with a few million others...were PUNISHED by the US government for marrying a person who was not a US citizen. In order to facilitate the immigration visa process, we had combined all of our financials, including IRS tax filings (using an ITIN.) The USCIS is serious about routing out fraud when it comes to marriages and immigration visas. Combining the financials helps to prove that the marriage is real and not an attempt at immigration fraud.

In my opinion, this is a half-baked fix in the 2020 IRS tax law. For those who still have an ITIN and no valid Social Security number and who select Married Filing Jointly, the PUNISHMENT for being in love and marrying a foreign-born person...remains.

[NCperson]

<<who select Married Filing Jointly,>>

the last line of your post is significant. 

While I appreciate your position and frustration, Congress in the CARES act wanted to make sure taxpayer money only went to those who had legal and permanent right to be here and the SS# was the way to control for that.  Again, the taxpayer is footing the bill for these stimulus payments.

Every married taxpayer has the right to file either married-joint or married-separate.  Any couple where one has an SS# and other has an ITIN can file 'married-separate' and in that manner the person with the SS# would be eligible for up to the $1200 stimulus payment.  

There simply is no requirement to file 'joint'; there is only a requirement to file 'married' if you are legally married. 

[Critter-3]

Sorry you feel so slighted however you have to understand that the congress passed the law quickly without thinking it thru completely  and then the IRS had to implement it somehow ASAP which they did during a pandemic and  a tax season with antiquated equipment and a reduced staffing situation.   I commend them for getting out as many checks as they did as fast as they did.   Sadly some folks didn't get the advance check due to mistakes they made in how they filed ( or didn't file )  and some due to circumstances beyond their control  so a percentage of the population will have to wait until they file the 2020 return next year to get the 2020 credit if they did not get it in advance.  

[ozman1958]

@NCperson 

If you insist on nit-picking my posts on this topic, I will accept the challenge of debating you.

No where have I said that my wife, who had an ITIN until just recently, deserved the stimulus payment.

However, I...as an American citizen...did deserve it. You got it, didn't you...Mr. Taxpayer @NCperson?

The argument that Married Filing Jointly where one person has a Social Security number and the other an ITIN fails the "fairness test."

Am I to understand that the IRS could not sort out who had Social Security numbers and send those individuals a stimulus check? That's impossible to believe.

Even though I filed Married Filing Jointly, the IRS could have (and should have) put in a filter for those with spouses having an ITIN...and sent me, the American citizen taxpayer, the same $1200 that you got this year.

Whose fault is it that they did not? Does it even matter? I assume that the IRS had been an active participant in the CARES act discussion as it was being formulated with Congress. We're paying for some real geniuses in Washington DC, aren't we? 😕

If you continue to argue in favor of the bloated and woefully inept IRS and US government, then go ahead...but you will lose credibility.

I consider the exclusionary rule of the Married Filing Jointly with an ITIN as a great injustice to me personally. This news of the "Recovery Rebate" more than pleases me. My foreign-born wife who now has a Social Security number is now going to get the $1200, too!

So thank you, Mr. Taxpayer @NCperson. We will enjoy every one of those dollar bills when they get delivered to us sometime in March 2021.

I would have been happy if it had only been me getting the $1200 earlier this year like most everyone else...just saying. So would a lot of other Americans who were excluded, I imagine.

So hat's off to those in the IRS and US government for giving a few of us the opportunity to still get that CARES act stimulus check in a round about way. Just desserts...yummy!

[NCperson]

I wasn't meaning to debate you, just laying out the facts of the broad situation - it wasn't pointed at you directly. 

The facts are 

1) Congress created these rules in the CARES Act.   The way they wrote the law,  nonresident aliens were not eligible for the stimulus

2) Any married couple with this SS# / ITIN situation could file married-separate so that the person with the SS# could get the stimulus they were afforded under the law 

The time for debate was before the law was passed and our Congressional representatives debated this before the law was signed.  There is nothing to debate now; facts are facts.

this is the CARES Act

https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/3548/text?q=product+actualizaci%C3%B3n#toc-...

and in section 6428, section 3 it states: 

ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘eligible individual’ means any individual other than—

“(A) any nonresident alien individual,

[ozman1958]

@NCperson 

...and yet you persist....

Some of us have pretty easy tax returns. My wife and I filed BEFORE the CARES Act was signed into law. And once again, we filed Married Filing Jointly to facilitate her receiving an immigration visa from the USCIS. When we filed...the CARES act wasn't even on our radar. It didn't exist at the time.

IRS law states that a 1040x (amended return) cannot be used to change filing status.

Now...who again is at fault that I did not receive a stimulus check like you did?

I insist on getting the last word on this, btw. Reply to me again about ^^^ this unjust nonsense ^^^...and I will  stand my ground. Understand?

[NCperson]

@ozman1958 - you may be pleased to know Congress listened to you.... as for the new tax law that is about to be signed, according to the New York Times: (note the change is retroactive to the 1st stimulus payment. )

What if I’m a citizen married to someone who is not and uses an Employer Identification Number instead of a Social Security Number?

In the spring, that usually meant that neither of you was eligible for payments. Now, when two people are married and filing their taxes jointly and only one spouse has a Social Security number, they would be eligible for a single $600 payment. Each of their children with Social Security numbers would also be eligible for the $600.

This change would be retroactive, which means that you could use your 2020 tax return to claim the payment that you did not get in the spring.

[motinsf]

Hi everyone who's waiting for IRS to process through moving the all tax returns  from ITN to SSN for yourself or your spouse, I just wanted to share with you guys that I have received a letter from IRS that stating that it's done 🙂

I sent letter to them on this July 8th, so it took 5.5 months. I called them 3 times to check status, but got no info other than them asking me to contact and check in several weeks. In the last a few months, I didn't even bother them... I guess they are slow, but get the job done after all 🙂

Good luck for those waiting for a good news!

[abhi77]

I also received last year confirmation from IRS that they've updated my wife's ITIN to SSN for all previous tax records. I am ready to file taxes for 2020 and claim the missing stimulus money (1st and 2nd stimulus). There is a area in e-file software (turbotax) to enter amount received.

My questions is should I file taxes online or paper copy? When you file a paper copy you can attach supporting documents like confirmation mail received from IRS but I am not sure filing online. My spouse did not get the 2nd $600 stimulus payment this January even after confirmation from IRS last year that ITIN to SSN is complete. Please let me know your thoughts on this. Thanks. 

[ozman1958]

I filed online. Both Federal and state returns were accepted. No supporting documentation was necessary, appartently.

Apparently...because...

...the processing of my returns has not yet been completed...and as of today...the refund (which includes the missed stimulus payments) has not been received.

[Abhip77]

Thanks. So returns appecpted that means ssn is updated in the  IRS system and hopefully missing stimulus amount will be processed. 

[KrisD15]

Please use the TurboTax program best suited to your needs, enter the new Social Security Number and e-file. 

The Recovery Rebate Credit should balance everything out. 

@abhi77

[Lguerrero4751]

Did you get a response after you submitted an amended return?