Question

Amend Return

Forum|Forum|3 years ago
June 4, 2023
1 reply
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Hi, I was wondering if I could amend a return with a non resident alien spouse that does not have a SSN or an ITIN. My HOH status was fine for federal tax, but CA state did not allow it because I was married and living with spouse, but I’m the one paying all our expenses, along with our dependents as well.
But my question is, after we apply for an ITIN for spouse, can I amend 2022 year return?

Not A Product Question

N

NCPERSON1

if you are married and living with your spouse, how did you come to the conclusion that filing status HOH was fine for federal purposes?

if you live with your spouse, you can not file HOH.

Your only choices are Married-filing Joint or Married- Filing Separate. Suggest resolving this issue before tackling CA. You can certainly amend the return.

here is the offical IRS tool to determine filing status

https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/what-is-my-filing-status

T

TomD8

Employee

Married taxpayers whose spouse is a nonresident alien may file using the Head of Household status. However, the taxpayer must have another qualifying person to be eligible for HOH; the spouse doesn’t count.

**Answers are correct to the best of my ability but do not constitute tax or legal advice.

N

NCPERSON1

@TomD8 - before posting, I used the IRS app to assess HOH.... While I agree that HOH is permitted if the NRA spouse lived separate from the taxpayer with a qualifying dependent, the tool indicates that if the two lived together, HOH is not a permissible status - it has to be MFS with no flexibility:

As soon I answered that the two were married and lived together, this is the resulting filing status:

"Your filing status is married filing separately. You are not eligible for any other filing status."

if I answered they were married and didnt live together, after entering info about the qualifying dependent, indeed, HOH was the resulting status.

The OP indicated they lived together.

https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/what-is-my-filing-status

However, I do stand corrected.

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/international-taxpayers-filing-status-if-married-to-a-nonresident-alien-youtube-video-text-script#:~:text=IN%20GENERAL%2C%20WHEN%20A%20U.S.,FILING%20STATUS%20IF%20YOU%20QUALIFY.

OPTION NUMBER TWO IS TO FILE AS HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD.

IN ORDER TO QUALIFY FOR THIS STATUS, YOU MUST HAVE PAID MORE THAN HALF THE COST OF KEEPING UP YOUR HOME FOR THE YEAR.

IN ADDITION, A QUALIFYING PERSON MUST HAVE LIVED WITH YOU IN YOUR HOME FOR MORE THAN HALF OF THE YEAR.

TO FIND OUT IF YOU QUALIFY, USE WORKSHEET 1, “COST OF KEEPING UP A HOME,” IN PUBLICATION 501 TO DETERMINE WHETHER YOU PAID MORE THAN HALF OF THE COST OF KEEPING UP YOUR HOME.

YOU CAN USE TABLE FOUR IN PUBLICATION 501 TO SEE IF YOU ARE A QUALIFYING PERSON.

ANY PERSON NOT DESCRIBED IN TABLE FOUR IS NOT A QUALIFYING PERSON.

BUT IF BOTH CONDITIONS WE JUST DISCUSSED DO EXIST.

THAT IS, YOU MUST HAVE PAID MORE THAN HALF THE COST OF KEEPING UP YOUR HOME FOR THE YEAR AND A QUALIFYING PERSON MUST HAVE LIVED WITH YOU IN YOUR HOME FOR MORE THAN HALF OF THE YEAR.

THEN, YOU MAY CHOOSE THE HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD FILING STATUS.

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