When I moved to Italy to reside with my Italian husband, I rented my U.S. condominium, and this generated a loss. “Married filing separately” prevents me from taking the loss; but does it make a difference that my husband is a NRA who will not file a U.S. return?
Yes, you would be able to claim the loss on a married filing jointly return. However, it will be much more complicated.
If he is a nonresident alien, you would jointly need to make an election to both declare your worldwide income for the entire year. He could use foreign tax credit on the US tax return to help offset double taxation. This election would need to be attached to your printed return and mail.
I assume he does not have an ITIN (individual taxpayer identification number). You would need to file Form W-7 requesting an ITIN. This form requires that you provide his original documents (or documents certified by the issuing agency) such as his passport to the the IRS for review. This form and his documents would need to be sent to the IRS along with your tax return (or you can go to a designated IRS office in the US).
Either way, if he does not have an ITIN or SSN, you will need to enter a dummy SSN in TurboTax to complete your return. You can use 999-88-9999. Once your return is complete, you will need to print your return and "white out" the dummy SSN on the return and write in the space "NRA." You will need to mail your return to the IRS.
To make an election to file jointly: page 8 Publication 519
To apply for an ITIN: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw7.pdfYes, you would be able to claim the loss on a married filing jointly return. However, it will be much more complicated.
If he is a nonresident alien, you would jointly need to make an election to both declare your worldwide income for the entire year. He could use foreign tax credit on the US tax return to help offset double taxation. This election would need to be attached to your printed return and mail.
I assume he does not have an ITIN (individual taxpayer identification number). You would need to file Form W-7 requesting an ITIN. This form requires that you provide his original documents (or documents certified by the issuing agency) such as his passport to the the IRS for review. This form and his documents would need to be sent to the IRS along with your tax return (or you can go to a designated IRS office in the US).
Either way, if he does not have an ITIN or SSN, you will need to enter a dummy SSN in TurboTax to complete your return. You can use 999-88-9999. Once your return is complete, you will need to print your return and "white out" the dummy SSN on the return and write in the space "NRA." You will need to mail your return to the IRS.
To make an election to file jointly: page 8 Publication 519
To apply for an ITIN: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw7.pdfThis is a thoughtful answer, but not exactly responsive to my question. I know about married filing jointly, which is something we don't wish to do. As for the inability to claim the loss if I'm married filing separately, sounds like it's irrelevant that my spouse is a NRA; the prohibition still applies.