taxes

[calamitka 0]

Tkank you very much spg 21.

For us "government will have our money longer" .

I think you should be fine if NVC accepted already I-864, even if interwiew will be after April 15 your wife don't have to bring tax return for 2007 but always better to confirm this with embassy. If you submitted DS230 with doc, who knows your case might be completed already. We called to NVC just 2h ago

Good luck.

[payxibka 10,045]

I was married in 2007 as well. This year, I filed as single for tax year 2007. On the advice of my accountant, I will file an amended return - as married - later in the year when my wife obtains her visa and moves to the US.

Why single? Why not Married filing separate and then amend later... that would be the much more prudent route... besides Married Filing Separate and Single tax rates are similiar....

[spg21 0]

Forgive me if this has been asked a million times, but I thought I read somewhere that you can file as married and file separately. Then where it asks for your spouse's SSN you can put Non Resident Alien and you don't have to bother with doing the W7 or ITIN?

Yes, that's an option. And anyone with a nonresident alien spouse can do that.

Many couples will save significant taxes by filing a joint return, though.

This year, with the economic stimulus rebate being issued only on tax returns that have no ITIN appearing anywhere on the return, some folks may find that filing separately saves them money over a joint return, in addition to avoiding the W7/ITIN paperwork. But it depends very much on your individual tax situation.

I would add one more thing about this after doing more research. If you file married filing separately putting Non Resident Alien as a SSN then you can not claim your spouse as an exemption (field 6b on form 1040) you can only claim your self (field 6a on form 1040). If you want to use the spouse exemption even on a "married filing separately" form you will need to get her an ITIN number. It's a detail ofter missed and it will increase your taxes.