Need help to understand information regarding ITIN

[Cydill 0]

hi people..i would like to ask some questions regarding ITIN. i got here in the US last July 9,2008 as a K3 Visa. we havent started the process for AOS since its kinda expensive and really need to earn for it. my husband haven't updated his status or haven't declared me as his dependent on his tax file. should we go ahead and file an ITIN or just wait until i get an SSN? does the two have big difference? thanks! godbless!

[Otto 83]

hi people..i would like to ask some questions regarding ITIN. i got here in the US last July 9,2008 as a K3 Visa. we havent started the process for AOS since its kinda expensive and really need to earn for it. my husband haven't updated his status or haven't declared me as his dependent on his tax file. should we go ahead and file an ITIN or just wait until i get an SSN? does the two have big difference? thanks! godbless!

ITIN is only good for filing taxes and usually for opening a bank account (depending on state and/or bank). You can not use it for work, starting a credit history or for identification. (for example)

[Cydill 0]

hi people..i would like to ask some questions regarding ITIN. i got here in the US last July 9,2008 as a K3 Visa. we havent started the process for AOS since its kinda expensive and really need to earn for it. my husband haven't updated his status or haven't declared me as his dependent on his tax file. should we go ahead and file an ITIN or just wait until i get an SSN? does the two have big difference? thanks! godbless!

ITIN is only good for filing taxes and usually for opening a bank account (depending on state and/or bank). You can not use it for work, starting a credit history or for identification. (for example)

thank you so much for the information

[JingJoseph 0]

hi people..i would like to ask some questions regarding ITIN. i got here in the US last July 9,2008 as a K3 Visa. we haven't started the process for AOS since its kinda expensive and really need to earn for it. my husband haven't updated his status or haven't declared me as his dependent on his tax file. should we go ahead and file an ITIN or just wait until i get an SSN? does the two have big difference? thanks! godbless!

ITIN is only good for filing taxes and usually for opening a bank account (depending on state and/or bank). You can not use it for work, starting a credit history or for identification. (for example)

thank you so much for the information

We just went through this. ITIN isn't worth the paper its wrote on.

State to state dont think makes any difference. Bank accounts

can be opened with your passport, depends on the bank.

Not trying to tell you guys to do something not legal but you

have no SSN yet right?. We found out two days ago if I filed

married (joint return) even though wifey cant work (yes she

has a ITIN also) I can't file head of household put it short

instead of a refund some reason I (we) had to pay.

If you have no SSN yet don't do a joint return. Let hubby

claim head of household until you have income. That ITIN

I got my wife thinking our taxes would be lower back fired.

We got a penalty for being married, even though she can't work.

Call it a marriage penalty.

[Cydill 0]

hi people..i would like to ask some questions regarding ITIN. i got here in the US last July 9,2008 as a K3 Visa. we haven't started the process for AOS since its kinda expensive and really need to earn for it. my husband haven't updated his status or haven't declared me as his dependent on his tax file. should we go ahead and file an ITIN or just wait until i get an SSN? does the two have big difference? thanks! godbless!

ITIN is only good for filing taxes and usually for opening a bank account (depending on state and/or bank). You can not use it for work, starting a credit history or for identification. (for example)

thank you so much for the information

We just went through this. ITIN isn't worth the paper its wrote on.

State to state dont think makes any difference. Bank accounts

can be opened with your passport, depends on the bank.

Not trying to tell you guys to do something not legal but you

have no SSN yet right?. We found out two days ago if I filed

married (joint return) even though wifey cant work (yes she

has a ITIN also) I can't file head of household put it short

instead of a refund some reason I (we) had to pay.

If you have no SSN yet don't do a joint return. Let hubby

claim head of household until you have income. That ITIN

I got my wife thinking our taxes would be lower back fired.

We got a penalty for being married, even though she can't work.

Call it a marriage penalty.

thanks for the information. as of now i dont have ssn because we're still saving the money for the AOS, its just expensive thats why its not yet started, so many bills to pay, etc. My husband's work requires me to have an SSN before he can get me a health insurance thats why somehow we're trying to find some answers and they just back to us that the ITIN will be a temporary replacement for the SSN since by next year we will finish the paper. One thing as well he haven't declared me i believe on his tax as a dependent so having the ITIN i think will help.

[rogerbhai 0]

hi people..i would like to ask some questions regarding ITIN. i got here in the US last July 9,2008 as a K3 Visa. we haven't started the process for AOS since its kinda expensive and really need to earn for it. my husband haven't updated his status or haven't declared me as his dependent on his tax file. should we go ahead and file an ITIN or just wait until i get an SSN? does the two have big difference? thanks! godbless!

ITIN is only good for filing taxes and usually for opening a bank account (depending on state and/or bank). You can not use it for work, starting a credit history or for identification. (for example)

thank you so much for the information

We just went through this. ITIN isn't worth the paper its wrote on.

State to state dont think makes any difference. Bank accounts

can be opened with your passport, depends on the bank.

Not trying to tell you guys to do something not legal but you

have no SSN yet right?. We found out two days ago if I filed

married (joint return) even though wifey cant work (yes she

has a ITIN also) I can't file head of household put it short

instead of a refund some reason I (we) had to pay.

If you have no SSN yet don't do a joint return. Let hubby

claim head of household until you have income. That ITIN

I got my wife thinking our taxes would be lower back fired.

We got a penalty for being married, even though she can't work.

Call it a marriage penalty.

you can't file as married? and list spouse's itin as ssn?

Another tangential question.

Can one apply for ITIN if spouse is not in US (i.e. if K3 is in process).

[rin and john 71]

An ITIN is typically obtained at the same time as tax filing. Rin and I married in October 2006 and she received her visa and came to the USA in April 2007. I filed my 2006 return in April 2007 and had to include the form for the ITIN with it (submitted a paper return and had to send to a different address). By doing so, I could file "married filing jointly" even though Rin was not present in the USA a single day of 2006 (she had no foreign income, but would have had to include it if she had).

With regards to the SSN, Rin and the children did not get one until September 2008. I had waited to file AOS until we were relatively positive that the green cards would be after our 2nd anniversary (making them 10 yr gc's instead of 2 yrs). The only issue for us, was I delayed filing taxes this year until after they had SSNs because a SSN was necessary to get the tax rebate. Otherwise I would have filed this year with the ITIN again.

Questions:

Kirstein24 - When were you married? If in 2007, your husband could have filed "married filing jointly". If you had little or no foreign income this would have lowered your taxes or increased your refund. Also, you cannot be listed as a dependent. You are a spouse. Your husband's only filing options are "married filing jointly" or "married filing separately".

Rogerbhai - Yes you can get an ITIN for a spouse even if they do not reside in the USA. I did while waiting for Rin's K3 approval.

[rin and john 71]

More information on filing status taken from the IRS website:

Generally, your marital status on the last day of the year determines your status for the entire year.

If you are unmarried, or if you are legally separated from your spouse under a divorce or separate maintenance decree according to your state law, and you do not qualify for another filing status, your filing status is single.

Generally, to qualify for head of household status, you must be unmarried and you must have paid more than half the cost of maintaining as your home a household that was the main home for a qualifying person for more than half the year. You may also qualify for head of household status if you, though married, file a separate return, your spouse was not a member of your household during the last six months of the tax year, and you provided more than half the cost of maintaining as your home a household that was the main home for more than one half of your tax year of a qualifying person.

If you are married, you and your spouse may file a joint return or separate returns. If your spouse died and you did not remarry in the year that your spouse died, you may still file a joint return for that year. This is the last year for which you may file a joint return with that spouse.

You may be able to file as a qualifying widow or widower for the two years following the year your spouse died. To do this, you must meet all four of the following tests:

You were entitled to file a joint return with your spouse for the year he or she died. It does not matter whether you actually filed a joint return,

You did not remarry in the two years following the year your spouse died,

You have a child, stepchild, or adopted child (a foster child does not meet this requirement) for whom you can claim a dependency exemption, and

You paid more than half the cost of maintaining a household that was the main home for you and that child, for the whole year.

After the two years following the year in which your spouse died, you may qualify for head of household status.

More detailed information on each filing status can be found in Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information.

So HOH is possible, under limited conditions for married couples.

[rogerbhai 0]

An ITIN is typically obtained at the same time as tax filing. Rin and I married in October 2006 and she received her visa and came to the USA in April 2007. I filed my 2006 return in April 2007 and had to include the form for the ITIN with it (submitted a paper return and had to send to a different address). By doing so, I could file "married filing jointly" even though Rin was not present in the USA a single day of 2006 (she had no foreign income, but would have had to include it if she had).

With regards to the SSN, Rin and the children did not get one until September 2008. I had waited to file AOS until we were relatively positive that the green cards would be after our 2nd anniversary (making them 10 yr gc's instead of 2 yrs). The only issue for us, was I delayed filing taxes this year until after they had SSNs because a SSN was necessary to get the tax rebate. Otherwise I would have filed this year with the ITIN again.

Questions:

Kirstein24 - When were you married? If in 2007, your husband could have filed "married filing jointly". If you had little or no foreign income this would have lowered your taxes or increased your refund. Also, you cannot be listed as a dependent. You are a spouse. Your husband's only filing options are "married filing jointly" or "married filing separately".

Rogerbhai - Yes you can get an ITIN for a spouse even if they do not reside in the USA. I did while waiting for Rin's K3 approval.

thanks you mentioned you filed your return in 2007 with ITIN application after Rin was in US.. that conflicts with your last statement "you can get an ITIN for a spouse even if they do not reside in the USA. I did while waiting for Rin's K3 approval." can you please clarify what you meant.. can I apply for my wifes ITIN now, or do I have to wait till I file taxes?

thanks

[rin and john 71]

An ITIN is typically obtained at the same time as tax filing. Rin and I married in October 2006 and she received her visa and came to the USA in April 2007. I filed my 2006 return in April 2007 and had to include the form for the ITIN with it (submitted a paper return and had to send to a different address). By doing so, I could file "married filing jointly" even though Rin was not present in the USA a single day of 2006 (she had no foreign income, but would have had to include it if she had).

With regards to the SSN, Rin and the children did not get one until September 2008. I had waited to file AOS until we were relatively positive that the green cards would be after our 2nd anniversary (making them 10 yr gc's instead of 2 yrs). The only issue for us, was I delayed filing taxes this year until after they had SSNs because a SSN was necessary to get the tax rebate. Otherwise I would have filed this year with the ITIN again.

Questions:

Kirstein24 - When were you married? If in 2007, your husband could have filed "married filing jointly". If you had little or no foreign income this would have lowered your taxes or increased your refund. Also, you cannot be listed as a dependent. You are a spouse. Your husband's only filing options are "married filing jointly" or "married filing separately".

Rogerbhai - Yes you can get an ITIN for a spouse even if they do not reside in the USA. I did while waiting for Rin's K3 approval.

thanks you mentioned you filed your return in 2007 with ITIN application after Rin was in US.. that conflicts with your last statement "you can get an ITIN for a spouse even if they do not reside in the USA. I did while waiting for Rin's K3 approval." can you please clarify what you meant.. can I apply for my wifes ITIN now, or do I have to wait till I file taxes?

thanks

You can file for an ITIN without your spouse being present in the USA. You should be able to get one without filing taxes, but not sure why you would. It is only valid for federal tax purposes. More info can be found here:

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw7.pdf

Other than filing a federal return, I didn't need one. Your spouse will have to go to the embassy and have a copy of her passport certified/validated. When I went with Rin, they knew what I was talking about. I asked for them to notarize it and they gave me something else. Can't remember exactly what it was.

John

Edited October 11, 2008 by rin and john

[Dakine 26]

I filed a W7 for my wife and daughter for a joint return while they were still in the Philippines. Mainly for proof of bonafide marriage. IRS excepted wifes but not step daughters.

[Reba 2]

You can apply for an ITIN if your spouse is still living outside the US. However, you can only apply for an ITIN at tax time, they don't give them out at any other time from what we were told when we went to IRS to ask them about it.

more information about it at the IRS website

[ninjarocket 1]

Filling a joint return saved me close to $5000 this year, even though my wife had never been to the US. I took my wife's passport with me to the US and had a notarized copy made in my local bank for submitting with the W7 (application for ITIN) and tax return.

You can still file joint return without an ITIN, but can't claim personal exemption.

[Brian&Mel 0]

Filling a joint return saved me close to $5000 this year, even though my wife had never been to the US. I took my wife's passport with me to the US and had a notarized copy made in my local bank for submitting with the W7 (application for ITIN) and tax return.

You can still file joint return without an ITIN, but can't claim personal exemption.

For those who filed a joint return with a spouse with ITIN, you are not entitled for any stimulus payment.

[JingJoseph 0]

An ITIN is typically obtained at the same time as tax filing. Rin and I married in October 2006 and she received her visa and came to the USA in April 2007. I filed my 2006 return in April 2007 and had to include the form for the ITIN with it (submitted a paper return and had to send to a different address). By doing so, I could file "married filing jointly" even though Rin was not present in the USA a single day of 2006 (she had no foreign income, but would have had to include it if she had).

With regards to the SSN, Rin and the children did not get one until September 2008. I had waited to file AOS until we were relatively positive that the green cards would be after our 2nd anniversary (making them 10 yr gc's instead of 2 yrs). The only issue for us, was I delayed filing taxes this year until after they had SSNs because a SSN was necessary to get the tax rebate. Otherwise I would have filed this year with the ITIN again.

Questions:

Kirstein24 - When were you married? If in 2007, your husband could have filed "married filing jointly". If you had little or no foreign income this would have lowered your taxes or increased your refund. Also, you cannot be listed as a dependent. You are a spouse. Your husband's only filing options are "married filing jointly" or "married filing separately".

Rogerbhai - Yes you can get an ITIN for a spouse even if they do not reside in the USA. I did while waiting for Rin's K3 approval.

thanks you mentioned you filed your return in 2007 with ITIN application after Rin was in US.. that conflicts with your last statement "you can get an ITIN for a spouse even if they do not reside in the USA. I did while waiting for Rin's K3 approval." can you please clarify what you meant.. can I apply for my wifes ITIN now, or do I have to wait till I file taxes?

thanks

You can file for an ITIN without your spouse being present in the USA. You should be able to get one without filing taxes, but not sure why you would. It is only valid for federal tax purposes. More info can be found here:

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw7.pdf

Other than filing a federal return, I didn't need one. Your spouse will have to go to the embassy and have a copy of her passport certified/validated. When I went with Rin, they knew what I was talking about. I asked for them to notarize it and they gave me something else. Can't remember exactly what it was.

John

True your spouse can file for a ITIN any time of the year. But it might not be a good

idea. Not sure why you would should be stated it's not in your or your loved ones

interest to do so. You or she doe's not need this, if your situation is self employed,

take the standard deduction is all you claim. In our case wife has a ITIN. Has not been

able to work without a SSN. Had no income at all. As of one week ago we found through

H&R block and four hours on the phone with IRS. Some reason we got some kinda

marriage penalty.

I did find out the difference between using as the commercial says "i got people"

and tax software the same company sells. Those "people" might not even want to

find deductions you can take legally. That $69.95 software will without proof to

"i got people". In my HO for 3 years now. (yes we got the ITIN when wife was

still in China). Your case may be different but in ours the poster of the website

for ITIN's should call them before the post. As with uscis what you see on a website

may not be true.

Don't think a ITIN will get you anything but a number to pay fed taxes for

a job she or him don't have. Thats all its for. If you found a way around it

more power to you. It must have been software and not "people".

You can't rely on a website someone posts, he should know better.

Futhermore yes your spouse can apply for a ITIN while over seas.

But you need to know just what good it will do you. In our case and

many others no good at all. As with all things .gov you cannot take a page

pasted from anyone as absolute law. You have to find whats best for you.

A pasted website, do not for any reason rely on that.

Another says got a 5K refund. But didn't go into details. Maybe an audit

coming soon. Point is in this tax mess since your spouse is in another

country or he/she is here and has no income. We got burned.

That may cost you, in our case more than we could pay.

Advice we got last week from H&R block as well as "agent ))(&%^$

from the IRS was she is not a citizen, has no income at all. Continue

to claim head of household until she has an SSN and a Job.

No dis-respect to out of date IRS posters or 5k refunds.

Do not rely on any of them. Take the time to call them,

explain your situation, DO NOT rely on anything posted.

Last thing you want is the IRS down on you. You as well

as I are on a K visa. You dont keep this right by them

sit back and watch AOS go right out the window.