Questions about joint taxes

[payxibka 10,047]

Ultimately, filing as single would be incorrect but the IRS doesn't hunt people down and jail them or assess penalties for paying too much in taxes. The error can simply be corrected by filing an amended return after your wife arrives. That's what we did with absolutely no problem. Further, I used the early refund to finance my second trip to China. Married filing separately requires a tax ID number for the wife too, doesn't it?

From the IRS:

You also must enter your spouse's full name in the space provided and must enter your spouse's SSN or ITIN in the space provided unless your spouse does not have and is not required to have an SSN or ITIN.

Not 100% clear but gives an indication that there might be some "wiggle" room on this topic.

Edited March 28, 2008 by fwaguy

[pushbrk 13,058]

Ultimately, filing as single would be incorrect but the IRS doesn't hunt people down and jail them or assess penalties for paying too much in taxes. The error can simply be corrected by filing an amended return after your wife arrives. That's what we did with absolutely no problem. Further, I used the early refund to finance my second trip to China. Married filing separately requires a tax ID number for the wife too, doesn't it?

From the IRS:

You also must enter your spouse's full name in the space provided and must enter your spouse's SSN or ITIN in the space provided unless your spouse does not have and is not required to have an SSN or ITIN.

Not 100% clear but gives an indication that there might be some "wiggle" room on this topic.

Yes, it does. When I tried to do it, Turbo Tax gave me a warning. Perhaps the return would be accepted if mailed but I chose not to try efiing. Instead I just filed as single and amended later.

[Jimmy and Angela 0]

or you could file for an extension

[ColombianoGringo 0]

Because of my salary, I got taxed extremely heavily when filing married but separate. I was forced to do that when going through a divorce and my tax bill was much larger than it would have been if filing single.

I am probably going to file single for now and then simply file an amended return once my wife gets here. I don't feel like writing a check for thousands of dollars only to let the IRS hang on to it for several months until my wife gets here.

I can't file an extension because I'm sure the embassy will want to see my 2007 return.

Edited March 28, 2008 by ColombianoGringo

[payxibka 10,047]

I can't file an extension because I'm sure the embassy will want to see my 2007 return.

Sure you can... you can show them your 2007 tax return that you have accurately have prepared and intend on filing (on or about August 15, 2008) but have not.....

Edited March 28, 2008 by fwaguy

[lucyrich 20]

If you file as single, then by signing your return, you're swearing under penalty of perjury that you are not married. At all.

True, the IRS probably doesn't have any way of knowing your marital status, so they're unlikely to come after you. That may be especially true if by filing as "single" you paid more tax than you would ultimately be liable for after you amended to file a joint return.

But the USCIS will want to see your return. How do you propose to convince the USCIS that you're in a bona fide marriage when you're swearing up and down to the IRS that you're single?

[ColombianoGringo 0]

These kind of catch-22 situations are yet one more thing that makes this whole immigration process so completely screwed.

I would be hesitant to simply file an extension so as to not give some embassy ####### a potential reason to further delay my wife's visa.

I suppose I'll just have to suck it up and let the IRS hang on to thousands of dollars of my money while the state department and the embassy waste another few months of our lives. Of course, if I owed the IRS money, they would charge me interest and penalties, but you can bet they won't be paying me any.

Edited March 28, 2008 by ColombianoGringo

[Z and S 0]

I am not giving any advice or opinion here (I have very little knowledge about tax & immigration), just sharing what I did in the hope of hearing what others did or have to say on the subject....

I just filed "married jointly," along with an application for ITIN (W7 form). As for passport copy, it was notarized by a regular notary in India, and there is no "apostille." I figured that it would probably be a month or two before my file is processed. Even if they reject it, hopefully my wife would be here by then, and I would be able to get her passport notarized here. And if not, I will worry about it then. I thought about filing single and amending later, but that sounds so scary (giving incorrect marital information under penalty of perjury) I opted to do it this way. I also feel confident about dealing with IRS and convincing them it was a small mistake than having to deal with USCIS if they question the "single" filing status, or worse yet, having to deal with the aftermath of rejected application.

Right but the biggest obstacle in the ITIN scenario is getting a notarized copy of her passport. Have you addressed how you're going to accomplish that?

[payxibka 10,047]

These kind of catch-22 situations are yet one more thing that makes this whole immigration process so completely screwed.

I would be hesitant to simply file an extension so as to not give some embassy ####### a potential reason to further delay my wife's visa.

I suppose I'll just have to suck it up and let the IRS hang on to thousands of dollars of my money while the state department and the embassy waste another few months of our lives. Of course, if I owed the IRS money, they would charge me interest and penalties, but you can bet they won't be paying me any.

The embassy "#######" as you say, has no idea if the presented return has been filed or not so I don't understand your hesitation on the extension.

Depends on the circumstances but they do pay interest.

[pushbrk 13,058]

If you file as single, then by signing your return, you're swearing under penalty of perjury that you are not married. At all.

True, the IRS probably doesn't have any way of knowing your marital status, so they're unlikely to come after you. That may be especially true if by filing as "single" you paid more tax than you would ultimately be liable for after you amended to file a joint return.

But the USCIS will want to see your return. How do you propose to convince the USCIS that you're in a bona fide marriage when you're swearing up and down to the IRS that you're single?

Your are exaggerating. People file amended returns all the time for all kinds of reasons. Filing as single means you pay more taxes. The IRS will gladly allow your filing as single to stand as long as you wish and just keep the extra money. Saying you're married when you're not could be a problem though.

Signing a return is not "swearing up and down". Further the Consular officers are aware of the unique difficulties of filing joint taxes before visa issuance. Lots of people do exactly as I did with no problem whatsoever. They just file as single and amend the return after their spouse arrives.

[july052007 0]

i never had my passport copy notarized by the EMBASSY here in manila... i just notarized it the ordinary way... and i also send my passport to my husband and have him notarize a copy of it from the US... (which is a bit hard to do since they dont notarize papers own by people not physically present.. so if you know anyone who can notarize it, a friend maybe... do it! 2 notarized copies is just making sure IRS will process it... but ive read from one couple here that an ordinary notary (from the foreign SO's country) will do!!)

hope that helps... yup we signed both the 1040 too.... and the declaration letter too... sent all of it together with the W7 form...

Good luck!!

p.s.

the thing is with filing jointly and wife is an alien... you wont get your stimulus refund.. not like when u file separately... you will get a stimulus refund...

(no valid SSN no stimulus refund!!!)