Nonresident Spouse's ITIN entry on extension form 4868 when uncertain if MFS or MFJ?

[KG31]

My spouse is a nonresident foreign national with no ITIN nor US filing obligation of her own. If I'm uncertain whether or not we'll be applying for her ITIN when filing, how should I fill extension Form 4868 box 3 "Spouse SSN/ITIN"?

1. [blank]

2. NRA (for nonresident alien; read anecdotally but couldn't find direct IRS source for this)

3. ITIN TO BE REQUESTED (even if not sure we'd request it)

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We are not ready to decide if I MFS alone or we MFJ together via a 6013g election (treating her as a tax resident). Still seeking a solid international tax pro to advise us on long term implications. She will have an SSN eventually when she's issued a green card, which wouldn't happen before the extension filing deadline in October.

Side note: even if I end up filing MFS, we might still try to amend that to MFJ once she's issued an SSN (and before the 2024 amendment deadline of April 2028)...rather than going through the ITIN process. One tax pro mentioned this could be an easier strategy at the cost of us loaning the government the refund we'd otherwise get if obtaining an ITIN for her now.

Thanks in advance!

[JenniferT314159]

It appears from the Form 4868 Instructions that in order to apply for an extension that also covers your spouse then you have to enter "ITIN to be requested".  If you file MFS and you spouse does not have and is not required to have an SSN or ITIN, then you enter "NRA" for the name of spouse under the MFS filing status check box.  See the form 1040 instructions.

[DaveF1006]

From everything I have seen and read, I would file this return Married Filing Jointly and declare your nonresident spouse as a resident for tax reporting purposes. 

You won't be able to electronically file, but you can include a written statement with the return explaining that you applied for Green Card Status and SSN. Then mail the return.

[KG31]

Thank you for the reply, Dave. I understand how the 1040 filing process works. We will not have decided MFS vs MFJ (although MFJ looks better) in time for tax day. What I'm specifically asking about is, which procedure is correct for dealing with my spouse not having an ITIN at the extension phase?

Straight from the 4868 instructions: "If you don’t have an ITIN, enter “ITIN TO BE REQUESTED” wherever an SSN is requested." To me, this reads "you", as in, applying to the person filing the extension. It doesn't reference for the spouse scenario.

If I was planning to MFS (hypothetically), I would not need to supply my spouse's ITIN anyway, correct? Since she doesn't have a filing obligation currently, she'd not need to file her own 4868 extension normally. (Also on the extension, one doesn't even need to indicate planned filing status.)

Hence, my question is can I either leave "spouse SSN/ITIN" as either blank or "ITIN TO BE REQUESTED"?

[DaveF1006]

It depends. Based on the Form 4868 instructions, the phrase "ITIN TO BE REQUESTED" is  used when the filer themselves does not yet have an ITIN. However, when it comes to a spouse's ITIN, the instructions don't explicitly clarify whether this applies in the same way. Here is how it should work.

If you plan to file Married Filing Separately (MFS), your spouse does not need to be included on Form 4868, meaning you can leave the spouse SSN/ITIN field blank.

If you plan to file Married Filing Jointly (MFJ) but your spouse does not yet have an ITIN, then entering "ITIN TO BE REQUESTED" in the spouse SSN/ITIN field is a common approach.

[KG31]

@DaveF1006, thank you for that clarification.

We are not 100% sure about MFS vs MFJ yet. We haven't fully assessed the long term implications of the 6013g election (to treat nonresident alien spouse as resident for tax purposes)...since it's a lifetime election and one can only chose and revoke the election once.

It may be possible that we amend the 2024 return later, once my spouse is issued a residence card (no need for W7 / ITIN if amending at that point, I think?).

Given the uncertainly of filing, would it be OK to leave Spouse SSN/ITIN blank?

Thanks again.

[DaveF1006]

Yes, but you may need to mail the return in.