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January 13, 2025
Question

My spouse is not a resident of the United States of America. We are filing separately. What information for him do I need to file my taxes?

  • January 13, 2025
  • 2 replies
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My spouse is not a resident of the USA, he is an alien and does not work or live in the USA. How do I go about filing when he doesn't have a SSN

    2 replies

    Employee
    January 13, 2025
    **Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to offer the most correct information possible. The poster disclaims any legal responsibility for the accuracy of the information that is contained in this post.**
    Employee
    January 13, 2025

    Briefly, you either,

    a. file as married filing separately, leaving of your spouse.  I don't know if you can e-file this year, in the past you could not.  You may need to print your return and write "NRA" in the space for your spouse's name.

     

    b. File as married filing jointly, by electing (choosing) to treat your spouse as a US person for tax reasons.  You report all their income, no matter how small, as well as yours.  You must apply for a tax ID number for your spouse (ITIN).  You can't e-file, instead you print and mail the return and the ITIN application to the IRS along with any required proof for the ITIN. 

    https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/nonresident-spouse

     

    Joint filing has lower taxes as some deductions and credits are reduced for married filing separately.  But the choice to treat your spouse as a US person for taxes is not easy to undo, and may cause you to pay more tax if they start making money.