Foreign Spouse, no SSN, Living Abroad

[dale-mulderrig]

I'm living in the UK, attending school full-time. In 2015 I married a British Citizen. She lives and works here in the UK, and I live with her while I attend university. As a result, she's not a US resident of any kind as far as I know, so she pays no taxes nor files any returns with the IRS. But, because her information is included on my tax form, it wants her SSN. Of course, she has none. It also doesn't let me enter NRA or any other Not Applicable code in the field. What should I do?

[bwa · Accepted solution]

If your spouse is a non-resident alien, you have several choices:

• You can file married filing jointly.  To do so, your spouse will need to have either a social security number or a taxpayer identifying number.  The IRS discusses the joint return election here:  http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/Nonresident-Spouse-Treated-as-a-Resident .  Note: to use the joint return the non-resident alien would be treated for tax purposes as a US resident alien. That means they would be taxed on their worldwide income, although the foreign earned income exclusion may apply.  The IRS discusses the joint return election here:  http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/Nonresident-Spouse-Treated-as-a-Resident . 
• You can file married filing separately.  If you do and your spouse does not have US source income, he/she would not be required to file.     If your spouse is a non-resident alien without an SSN/EIN you cannot e-file the return.  You can print the return ignoring error messages for no spouse SSN and writing “NRA” in the SSN block for the spouse before you mail it.
• If you have a dependent living with you, you may be able to file as Head of Household.  To do so, you must not choose to have your non-resident alien spouse treated for tax purposes as a resident alien; you need a qualifying dependent living with you such as your child. The qualifying dependent cannot be your spouse and you cannot claim the Earned Income Tax Credit as you are still considered married for EITC purposes and are not filing a joint return.  See See https://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/U.S.-Citizens-and-Resident-Aliens-Abroad---H...

If your spouse is eligible for an SSN apply at a social security office or US consulate. You must complete Form SS-5. You must also provide original or certified copies of documents to verify your spouse's age, identity, and citizenship.   If your spouse is not eligible to get an SSN, he/she can file Form W-7 with the IRS to apply for an ITIN.   Use IRS Form W-7 to apply for a Taxpayer Identifying Number. A copy is here:  http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw7.pdf . You need to attach your federal tax return to the application.

The tax return and W-7 cannot be e-filed.  They are mailed to a special location:

     Internal Revenue Service

     Austin Service Center

     ITIN Operation

     P.O. Box 149342

     Austin, TX 78714-9342

[dale-mulderrig]

For clarification: If I file "Married Filing Separately", are we required to include any additional paperwork or can I just file it and be done?

[bwa]

Married filing separate requires no additional paperwork.  However, due to the missing SSN it needs to be filed by mail.

[rob_taxes_ttax]

If filing by mail, can I still use turbo tax to get things ready up to the point of mailing?

[VolvoGirl]

Yes of course.  Do you have a more specific question?

by the way, This is a new forum layout. Some posts that have June 2019 dates are really older posts from the old forum that got moved over. So they might be for prior years and not current info. When they migrated over the dates got changed to June 2019. And the screen shots got deleted. 

[rob_taxes_ttax]

I have a similar question. My wife lives in Mexico, is not a resident of US, and is currently applied for a visa interview. She has made no US income. I'm wondering if I can similarly apply married filing separately or something different would be a better option, and mail in my taxes as was recommended previously? I doubt she has taxable income.

[KrisD15]

You can file Married Filing Jointly or Married Filing Separately. 

If you decide to file Married Filing Jointly, which might have a better result for you, you can include a W-7 with your return.

The W-7 is an application to get an Individual Taxpayer's Identification Number (ITN) for your wife until she gets a Social Security Number.

W-7

The return cannot be e-filed through TurboTax, although you can use the program to calculate and print the return. You'd need to enter 111111111 for her social security number, and then white-out after you print the return. 

I would suggest you take the return, the W-7 and her Identifying documents to an IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center (TAC) 

Below is a link to find an office and make an appointment.

It  is also possible to have copies of the documents certified and sent through the mail.  

IRS Taxpayer Assistance Centers

[rob_taxes_ttax]

Thanks! Does the I-7 or somewhere else specify what identifying documents are needed?

[MaryK4]

The IRS website is the best resource- Individual Taxpayer Identification Number

@rob_taxes_ttax

[ExpatTaxpayer]

Why can't TurboTax just allow the spouse's name and SSN to be left blank? Or is this something the IRS requires for e-filing? TurboTax does ask at one point whether the spouse is a "non-resident alien".

[Nangida]

My spouse is a non-resident alien and we are both living in a foreign country. I'm filing my return as married filing separately. To what address should I send my Tax Return?

[Critter-3]

For efiling a SS# or ITIN is required ... for a non resident spouse use 999- 88 - 9999.   SO in the  FILE tab choose to mail in the return  and erase the fake SS#  and write in NRA  on the 1040 form if filing separately  and then the mailing instructions will print with the PDF. 

[smonahan11]

I am married filing separate and my spouse is a UK citizen. Why am I required to file by mail? This seems to be something that Turbo Tax can fix. Other tax preparation software packages are able to accommodate this.

Steve

[smonahan11]

I am married filing separate and my spouse is a UK citizen. Why am I required to file by mail? This seems to be something that Turbo Tax can fix. Other tax preparation software packages are able to accommodate this.

Steve