I am an American citizen and got married to a foreign spouse in November 2015. My wife came on a K-1 fiancee visa, which has since expired and we are waiting on her green card application to be processed by the department of homeland security. Until we get her green card, she can't get a social security number, which I need to do our taxes. What are my best options for filing my 2015 tax return? We are both living in the United States now.
Tax law states because you are married, you must file your taxes using either the Married Filing Jointly status or Married Filing Separately status. Your spouse, will be considered a nonresident alien.
You have two choices in filing your taxes.
Choice 1
• Treat your spouse as a resident alien for tax purposes. If you do this, you will need to include your spouse's worldwide income in your US tax return and it will be subject to US taxes.
To do this follow these steps.
1. Attach a statement to your tax return, signed by both spouses, that states that one spouse is a nonresident alien and the other is a U.S. citizen or resident alien, and you are choosing to both be treated as US residents for the tax year.
2. List the name, address and Social Security number (or Individual Taxpayer Identification number) of each spouse. You will need to complete a Form W-7, Application for IRS Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) (http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw7.pdf). This form will be attached to your tax return. Turbo Tax does not support the Form W-7. You can complete it outside of Turbo Tax. You will have to print, sign and mail your return in if you are using Form W-7.
3. For the first year you make the choice, you have to file a joint return. In later years you can file joint or separate returns. Married Filing Jointly will give you a higher standard deduction and has other benefits that are not available using a married filing separately status, but you do have to include your spouse’s worldwide income in joint income.
Choice 2
• Treat your spouse as a nonresident alien for tax purposes. You will not have to include your spouse's non-US income on your U.S. tax return. You will have to use the filing status of Married Filing Separately.
1. If you file as Married Filing Separately AND your spouse has no income from sources within the US AND is not claimed as a dependent of another US taxpayer, you CAN claim an exemption for your husband. You will need either a social security number or an ITIN for your husband to claim the exemption.
https://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/Nonresident-Spouse-Treated-as-a-Resident
Tax law states because you are married, you must file your taxes using either the Married Filing Jointly status or Married Filing Separately status. Your spouse, will be considered a nonresident alien.
You have two choices in filing your taxes.
Choice 1
• Treat your spouse as a resident alien for tax purposes. If you do this, you will need to include your spouse's worldwide income in your US tax return and it will be subject to US taxes.
To do this follow these steps.
1. Attach a statement to your tax return, signed by both spouses, that states that one spouse is a nonresident alien and the other is a U.S. citizen or resident alien, and you are choosing to both be treated as US residents for the tax year.
2. List the name, address and Social Security number (or Individual Taxpayer Identification number) of each spouse. You will need to complete a Form W-7, Application for IRS Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) (http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw7.pdf). This form will be attached to your tax return. Turbo Tax does not support the Form W-7. You can complete it outside of Turbo Tax. You will have to print, sign and mail your return in if you are using Form W-7.
3. For the first year you make the choice, you have to file a joint return. In later years you can file joint or separate returns. Married Filing Jointly will give you a higher standard deduction and has other benefits that are not available using a married filing separately status, but you do have to include your spouse’s worldwide income in joint income.
Choice 2
• Treat your spouse as a nonresident alien for tax purposes. You will not have to include your spouse's non-US income on your U.S. tax return. You will have to use the filing status of Married Filing Separately.
1. If you file as Married Filing Separately AND your spouse has no income from sources within the US AND is not claimed as a dependent of another US taxpayer, you CAN claim an exemption for your husband. You will need either a social security number or an ITIN for your husband to claim the exemption.
https://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/Nonresident-Spouse-Treated-as-a-Resident
Same situation. But what if I do not want to claim an exemption for my husband, does he have to apply for ITIN or SSN?
I chose Choice 1 (treat my wife from a different country as a resident). What is the address should I send the declaration statement and the tax return to?
Can someone please answer the question "what if I do not want to claim an exemption for my husband, does he have to apply for ITIN or SSN?" I have the same predicament
I am going to file Married filing separately. Do I still have to file a tax return for my husband? or do I just file mine.
Similar Situation but my husband hasn't entered the country as of yet. We are in the process of filing for his spousal Visa
What about New York State taxes? The law requires that I e-file.
What if you newly married and your wife lived outside the us?
then you're saying that you're treating him as a resident you need to report his income his world in, US income and he needs to IGN or social security it says that at the have a blessed day
List as non-resident alien filing separately then you don't need a social security or his income that's his problem
My question is what if I married him gave him a Visa and now it's time for taxes but I find out he has a wife in Africa am I responsible for her to worldwide
My wife is from Argentina. I worked as a waiter in Nebraska, and to file my tax return in 2016, 2017 and 2018, I was instructed to put 999-99-99 for her SSN. I received my refund without any problems. I'm not sure if the info came from TurboTax or from the IRS.
For what it is worth:
What if my spouse was a full time student and graduated in 2018. She has a SSN from when she was a student. Can we use that same SSN even if she is no longer a student? She also does not work and i completely support her and our household.
If your spouse is a nonresident and you are going to file married filing separately and you are not applying for an ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number) with your return. then you need to follow the below steps.
How to Print and Mail your Return in TurboTax
@Kaur-go wrote:
Why are you not allowed to efile??
A tax return cannot be e-filed if there is are alphabetic characters in a tax return numeric field, ie NRA in the Social Security number box.
Hey @Fern !
I had a question about the exemption you mention here:
"If you file as Married Filing Separately AND your spouse has no income from sources within the US AND is not claimed as a dependent of another US taxpayer, you CAN claim an exemption for your husband. You will need either a social security number or an ITIN for your husband to claim the exemption."
My husband and I just moved to the US in February and I am a US citizen and he has a green card but his social security card has not arrived yet. I am researching what to do for filing if his social security number is delayed. Would the tax exemption be higher if I file jointly or if I claim the exception above? All of his income from 2019 was made outside of the US.
You are better off filing married filing jointly. You can do this with an election from page 8 of Publication 519, Choosing Resident Alien Status. You would both need to declare your worldwide income for calendar year 2019. Your spouse can utilize foreign tax credit to help offset any double taxation on his income earned outside the US.
You would need to print and mail your return and attach the election to file married filing jointly to your return when mailed.
You would need to file an extension until October 15, 2020. Hopefully, you will receive the SSN by then. To file jointly, you would need to receive the SSN by the extended due date of the return.
There is a problem with filing married filing separately to claim an exemption for your spouse. Exemptions for spouse and children are no longer available for for US tax filings. However if you file married filing jointly you can receive a standard deduction of $24,400.
My wife has not got an SSN. We are filing jointly. If we submit all tax return documents and W7 form to IRS Texas, is it enough for filing our tax returns? Or, do we also need to submit to the Department of the Treasury (Internal Revenue Service for tax return) and Franchise Tax Board (for CA state tax return)?
@oclyn wrote:
My wife has not got an SSN. We are filing jointly. If we submit all tax return documents and W7 form to IRS Texas, is it enough for filing our tax returns? Or, do we also need to submit to the Department of the Treasury (Internal Revenue Service for tax return) and Franchise Tax Board (for CA state tax return)?
You only submit your federal tax return and the Form W-7 to the IRS in Austin, Texas. Once the ITIN is approved for your spouse you can use that number on your state tax return.
If I go with the first option: treat spouse as a resident alien for tax purposes. Does that also apply for the state (California) tax return? I am wondering if it is possible to treat my spouse as a US resident in the federal return but a NON-resident in the California state return.