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robeberts
New Member

My wife is German. We live in Germany and she pays no US taxes. I have no SSN or Tax payer number for her. What do I do?

 
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NatalieC
New Member

My wife is German. We live in Germany and she pays no US taxes. I have no SSN or Tax payer number for her. What do I do?


Hello,  If your spouse doesn't have and isn't required to have an SSN or ITIN (she is not required to file a U.S. tax return), enter “NRA” in the space for your spouse's SSN. Of course, you would have to print, manually write in the 'NRA' and mail your tax return.

You might need to apply for an ITIN for her.  Per IRS, if your spouse is a nonresident alien, he or she must have either an SSN or ITIN  if  :

1.  You file a joint return or

2.  You file a separate return and claim an exemption for your spouse, or

3.  Your spouse is filing a separate return.

For filing status, you can file either Married Filing Jointly ( see  Nonresident to resident  ) or simply Married Filing Separate. 

[In the TurboTax program, you would follow the step-by-step interview questions to choose the appropriate filing status, enter your spouse information and leave the SSN blank, after print out the return , you can leave it blank or hand-write APPLIED in the space.]

If you want to file Married Filing Separate, you can qualify for an exemption for your spouse only if:

 - Your spouse had no gross income.

-- Your spouse won't file a tax return.

 - Your spouse didn't qualify as the dependent of another taxpayer.

Additionally, you cannot e-file a tax return which does not include a SSN or ITIN.  If you fall under one of the above conditions, you will have to manually apply for an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number ITIN on Form W-7 for her.  

See https://www.irs.gov/Individuals/General-ITIN-Information.   

Although you cannot e-file, you can still use the TurboTax program to prepare your tax return and required forms. Then print, attach to the Form W-7 with the required documentation ( see the above link ) and submit everything to the IRS Austin

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