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How can I file taxes with my new foreign spouse who doesn't have a social security number

Forum|Forum|6 years ago
June 7, 2019
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I am an American citizen and got married to a foreign spouse in November 2015. My wife came on a K-1 fiancee visa, which has since expired and we are waiting on her green card application to be processed by the department of homeland security. Until we get her green card, she can't get a social security number, which I need to do our taxes. What are my best options for filing my 2015 tax return? We are both living in the United States now.

TurboTax Deluxe Online

Best answer by Fern

Tax law states because you are married, you must file your taxes using either the Married Filing Jointly status or Married Filing Separately status.  Your spouse, will be considered a nonresident alien.

You have two choices in filing your taxes.
Choice 1
• Treat your spouse as a resident alien for tax purposes.   If you do this, you will need to include your spouse's worldwide income in your US tax return and it will be subject to US taxes.

To do this follow these steps.
   1. Attach a statement to your tax return, signed by both spouses, that states that one spouse is a nonresident alien and the other is a U.S. citizen or resident alien, and you are choosing to both be treated as US residents for the tax year.
   2. List the name, address and Social Security number (or Individual Taxpayer Identification number) of each spouse.  You will need to complete a Form W-7, Application for IRS Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) (http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw7.pdf).  This form will be attached to your tax return.  Turbo Tax does not support the Form W-7.  You can complete it outside of Turbo Tax.  You will have to print, sign and mail your return in if you are using Form W-7.
   3. For the first year you make the choice, you have to file a joint return. In later years you can file joint or separate returns. Married Filing Jointly will give you a higher standard deduction and has other benefits that are not available using a married filing separately status, but you do have to include your spouse’s worldwide income in joint income.

Choice 2
• Treat your spouse as a nonresident alien for tax purposes. You will not have to include your spouse's non-US income on your U.S. tax return. You will have to use the filing status of Married Filing Separately.
   1.  If you file as Married Filing Separately AND your spouse has no income from sources within the US AND is not claimed as a dependent of another US taxpayer, you CAN claim an exemption for your husband. You will need either a social security number or an ITIN for your husband to claim the exemption.

https://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/Nonresident-Spouse-Treated-as-a-Resident

F

FernAnswer

Employee

Tax law states because you are married, you must file your taxes using either the Married Filing Jointly status or Married Filing Separately status.  Your spouse, will be considered a nonresident alien.

You have two choices in filing your taxes.
Choice 1
• Treat your spouse as a resident alien for tax purposes.   If you do this, you will need to include your spouse's worldwide income in your US tax return and it will be subject to US taxes.

To do this follow these steps.
   1. Attach a statement to your tax return, signed by both spouses, that states that one spouse is a nonresident alien and the other is a U.S. citizen or resident alien, and you are choosing to both be treated as US residents for the tax year.
   2. List the name, address and Social Security number (or Individual Taxpayer Identification number) of each spouse.  You will need to complete a Form W-7, Application for IRS Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) (http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw7.pdf).  This form will be attached to your tax return.  Turbo Tax does not support the Form W-7.  You can complete it outside of Turbo Tax.  You will have to print, sign and mail your return in if you are using Form W-7.
   3. For the first year you make the choice, you have to file a joint return. In later years you can file joint or separate returns. Married Filing Jointly will give you a higher standard deduction and has other benefits that are not available using a married filing separately status, but you do have to include your spouse’s worldwide income in joint income.

Choice 2
• Treat your spouse as a nonresident alien for tax purposes. You will not have to include your spouse's non-US income on your U.S. tax return. You will have to use the filing status of Married Filing Separately.
   1.  If you file as Married Filing Separately AND your spouse has no income from sources within the US AND is not claimed as a dependent of another US taxpayer, you CAN claim an exemption for your husband. You will need either a social security number or an ITIN for your husband to claim the exemption.

https://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/Nonresident-Spouse-Treated-as-a-Resident

C

chcaohan

Same situation. But what if I do not want to claim an exemption for my husband, does he have to apply for ITIN or SSN?

M

mgbeat808

What if you newly married and your wife lived outside the us?

S

sd0n05

I have the same problem

DaveF1006

There are two procedures to prepare your return..

Prepare your return by Filing Married Filing Jointly. Be sure to include all world wide income in this return for both spouses.

Attach a statement to your tax return, signed by both spouses, that states that one spouse is a nonresident alien and the other is a U.S. citizen or resident, and you are choosing to both be treated as US residents for the tax year.
List the name, address and Social Security number (or Individual Taxpayer Identification number) of each spouse. You will need to complete a Form W-7, Application for IRS Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) ( http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw7.pdf). This form will be attached to your tax return. Turbo Tax does not support the Form W-7. You can complete it outside of Turbo Tax. You will have to print, sign and mail your return in if you are using Form W-7. If you haven't received an ITIN or Social Security number prior to filing, put NRA in the social security field. You will need to file this return by mail.
Mail the return to the address on the instruction sheet that prints with the return.

For the first year you make the choice, you have to file a joint return. In later years you can file joint or separate returns. Married Filing Jointly will give you a higher standard deduction and has other benefits that are not available using a married filing separately status, but you do have to include your spouse’s worldwide income in joint income.

You may also file Married Filing Separate by:

Prepare your return in TurboTax by choosing the option as Married Filing Separately.
When you get to the Let’s get ready to e-file screen, select File by Mail.
TurboTax will give you an error regarding the missing Social Security number or ITIN for your spouse. Proceed to print with the error, but write Nonresident Alien or NRA in the space for your spouse’s Social Security number before mailing in your return.
Mail the return to the address on the instruction sheet that prints with the return.

@sd0n05

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R

Rex Pope

For what it is worth:

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/us-citizens-and-resident-aliens-abroad-head-of-household

K

KarenJ2

If your spouse is a nonresident and you are going to file married filing separately and you are not applying for an ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number) with your return. then you need to follow the below steps.

In order to compete your return in TurboTax, you are going to have to enter a "dummy' social security number so you can finalize and print your return. You can enter 305-44-0001. You cannot e-file.
Once your return is printed you will need to "white-out" the dummy social security number. In it's place on page one of your return enter NRA (nonresident alien)/

How to Print and Mail your Return in TurboTax

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J

Josh931

What if my spouse was a full time student and graduated in 2018. She has a SSN from when she was a student. Can we use that same SSN even if she is no longer a student? She also does not work and i completely support her and our household.

K

Kaur-go

Why are you not allowed to efile??

DoninGA

Employee

@Kaur-go wrote:

Why are you not allowed to efile??

A tax return cannot be e-filed if there is are alphabetic characters in a tax return numeric field, ie NRA in the Social Security number box.

P

patel007

Hello friends, Today I will give you a full solution to how I filled tax return married filing jointly.

My scenario - I got married in Jan 2019 and my wife did not come to the U.S until April 2020. So now I decided to file married filing jointly. I tried turbo-tax and H&R block online but I did not let me file married filing separately or jointly. The system keeps asking for my wife's social security number or ITIN number. I ask almost every agent in H&R block and other local to help with this but they had only one answer that I should file as single. I tried to file as single but I saw that there is a big amount waiting for me to pay back to IRS.

Solution: After a lot of research I came to know there is a way I can file ITIN number and that allows me to file as married filing jointly.

Step 1) go the IRS website and find agents located in your country where your souse resides ( for me it was India ).

Note: These agents are certified by IRS

Acceptance Agent Program

Step 2 ) call agents and tell your situation. They have a package for both ITIN and U.S basic tax returns cost about $250.

Step 3) since you are claiming your spouse's income. You must submit all his/her income to the US. For example, my wife only worked about 4 months.

Plus, you and your spouse's financial assets.

Step 4) Just trust agents, they will take care of everything. They take care of ITIN and extension if you need it.

Step 5 ) I received a final draft from the agent that was shocking. I received a refund almost twice the amount that I had to give IRS for filing as single.

Step 6) remember for single tax deduction is $12000 and for married, its $24000 plus you can claim your spouse and child as a dependent.

Taxes: Single vs. Married | How to File - SmartAsset.

J

JulieS

If you e-file with a dummy SSN, you return will be rejected as it will not match the Social Security Administration's files.

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K

Kz1992

My spouse lives aboard, she is currently in process of getting in CR1 visa. She is a house wife and has no income aboard. How would I file taxes? We have been married since January 2022.

Thank you

DoninGA

Employee

@Kz1992 wrote:

My spouse lives aboard, she is currently in process of getting in CR1 visa. She is a house wife and has no income aboard. How would I file taxes? We have been married since January 2022.

Thank you

If you are a US citizen or US resident and your spouse does not have a Social Security number or an ITIN and you are not applying for an ITIN with the tax return then you can only file your tax return as Married Filing Separately. Where asked to enter the spouse's Social Security number enter 999-88-9999. You can only print and mail your tax return, it cannot be e-filed. When you print the tax return erase the Social Security number for your spouse and manually enter NRA for non-resident alien.

See this TurboTax support FAQ for the procedure to print and mail a tax return using the online editions - https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1944348-how-do-i-print-and-mail-my-return-in-turbotax-online