Spouce not eligible to apply for an ITIN according to IRS Interactive Assistant

[nacnudv8]

I am a US citizen (and British citizen).  I am domicile in Britain.  I married a UK citizen in 2022 who has no SSN, TIN etc. She is only a British Citizen, ....period.

My wife has no income to report t the US yet my form 1040 asks me for her SSN (or ITIN)  since I am now filing as "married - separate".

I am not eligible to get a ITIN for her, according to the IRS Interactive Assistant as she is non-USA; non-resident in USA and has no USA income to report.

I wish to file an exemption for her but to do this, apparently I need an ITIN for her.  I seem to be caught in a loop. 

What should I do?

[RalphH1 · Accepted solution]

You can file a “Married Filing Separate” return in your situation, but you must mail it in, and write “NRA” in the spouse’s Social Security number field. As discussed in this other Community thread, you do that by either leaving the field blank (TurboTax should let you continue— there’s an error which lingers on, but it doesn’t matter since you’re not e-filing), or entering a fake number which you subsequently white-out before making your NRA entry.

However, you also have the option of treating her as a U.S. resident (as the IRS tells us here) and filing a joint return. The IRS’s “Interactive Tax Assistant” is a little confusing, but if you’re making the election, then she has a filing requirement. And in that case, you’d select “Filing your own federal tax return” as the reason she’s applying (as it’s her joint return too), and ITA should then give you the “You are eligible...” result on the next screen.

Which is correct, as the IRS clearly states (in many places, including here) that a non-resident alien electing to file a joint return with a spouse who is a U.S. citizen can get an ITIN. You would be taxed on her worldwide income for the entire year on that return though, so you may want to compare the results before deciding on this.

Regarding the exemption question, they’re no longer claimed on federal returns (since 2018) — that’s why the ITA gives you the “ineligible” result if you enter “Being claimed as a spouse on a joint return” as the reason for applying.

@nacnudv8, I hope this is all clear, but don’t hesitate to re-post for additional clarification!

[Opus 17]

You can’t “file an exemption” for your spouse.  A spouse is never a dependent. You either file married filing separately or married filing jointly.

If you file separately, don’t list your spouse or their income on your tax return. Because she does not have a tax number, you will not be able to e-file the separate return, you will have to print and mail it in.

To file jointly, you will have to treat your wife as a US resident for tax purposes. Filing a joint return creates the financial connection to the US that will allow the IRS to issue an ITIN.  However, filing jointly means that you will have to include all of your wife’s worldwide income and pay US tax on it. If she also pays tax in a foreign country, you can claim a deduction or credit for that on your US tax return, which should reduce double taxation, but might not completely eliminate it.  To file a joint return, you would have to prepare an ITIN application and the joint tax return and mail both of them to the IRS. Once the IRS issues, the ITIN, they will process the tax return.

[TomNNJ]

According to the IRS website (Nonresident Spouse | Internal Revenue Service (irs.gov)) - under the Section "Social Security Number," you can apply for an ITIN by filing form W-7 with the IRS.  I suggest that you visit the nearest U.S. consulate for assistance and to provide evidence of your spouse's identity, age, citizenship, residency, etc. so that you don't have to mail the documents to the IRS.

[Opus 17]

@TomNNJ 

The IRS will not issue an ITIN to a nonresident, unless they have a financial connection to the United States. That connection could be created by working in the United States, owning a business that operates in the United States, or filing joint tax return with a US taxpayer.  However, the IRS will not issue an ITIN to a non-resident spouse if the resident spouse plans to file separately because then, the nonresident spouse has no financial connection with the US.  If the taxpayer goes to the Consulate before filing a joint tax return, the ITIN application will be denied because the spouse has no financial connection to the US.  (Yes, the consulate could certainly help file the application, but the IRS will not issue the ITIN.)

[nacnudv8]

many thanks, very clear!

[nacnudv8]

Thank you -very clearly explained.  This makes sense now.