I relocated from India to US. My family was not with me in US for my tax filing period. I get a prompt for SSN for my spouse which I do not have. guidance is appreciated?

[tagteam]

@pk?

[pk]

@snankani  cannot answer the question because  you need to tell me when  you entered the USA this time, any presence in the USA during the last three years, you entered with which visa.  This important because  depending on your visa and period of presence  in the tax year under consideration, you may or may not be able to file with TubroTax  or as Married Filing Separate  ( where these questions come up ).

I will circle back once I hear from you --yes ?

pk

[snankani]

I moved alone in November'2022. My family moved to US in Feb'2023.

I am on L1 Visa. Technically I worked in USA only for 2 months. 

I think I will get a refund even though I may not be eligible for filing tax. 

After googling, I landed on this article which recommends that I might have to use the option in TurboTax to file via mail and I can not e-file since my spouse does not have SSN. 

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/taxes/discussion/cannot-file-if-spouse-does-not-have-ssn/00/57525#...

Can you please confirm and share next steps if possible?

[pk · Accepted solution]

@snankani , Namaste ji

(a) Since you ONLY arrived in Nov. 2022,   with work visa,  you would generally be classed as a Non-Resident Alien. , assuming that during 2020, and 2021  you had no days present in the USA for any reason / visa.

(b) As an NRA, you are required to file form 1040-NR ( not supported by TurboTax )  and generally Taxed by the USA ONLY on US sourced income.  You also cannot use standard deduction but must use  Itemized deduction.   Also any US sourced passive income ( interest, dividend , unless  impacted by Tax treaty  ) will be taxed  at a flat 30%.

(c) The article ref'd by you does not apply because it is talking about  MFS filing with a Non-Resident Alien spouse.

Do you more  help on this  -- you are welcome to PM with specifics of your situation  ( please no Personally Identifiable Info ).

pk

[snankani]

Thanks for the response. I truly appreciate you for making things clear for me on next steps.

[snankani]

@pk Namaste ji,

Thanks for the response. I truly appreciate you for making things clear for me on next steps.

I will ping you separately in case of additional or follow up questions. 

Thanks again.