Income Tax filing newly married

[himher 634]

That's what we did (e-filed). I have to mail in a copy of my exemption court order every year. Last year we had a single form to sign and mail in (equivalent to signing our taxes) + I had to send in the release of exemption for my son (copy of the court order with the income tax deduction section) + we mailed in the declaration to choose to declare my wife as a resident for all of 2007.

We waited until her SS card came in to file. We filed 05/18/08 for the 2007 tax year.

So it IS possible to E-FILE when newly married?

I would just need to send the additional declaration letter (and whatever form I need to find that we both sign) to the Tax Office in the Frankfurt, Germany location, from my husband saying that he would like to be treated as a permanent resident?

Does the foreign spouse has SSN or ITIN?

[himher 634]

That works. I vaguely remember that problem come to think about it. I remember that I removed it all, and then replaced it (I think I entered her income somewhere under the "other misc income" come to think of it which resulted in the same answer (total income was finally correct) you got by entering a substitute W2) but....since we e-filed no W2 was necessary anyway. It doesnt show up anywhere (under any category but it is in the gross income and subtracted down on line 21. For audit purposes I just kept the salary slips/conversion rate downloads (not that I think we'll be audited) but didnt worry about transferring the foreign income to a US document like a W2.

I don't remember that this was difficult at all. We entered it as foreign earned income under "other types of income" in Turbotax. Turbotax added the dollar amount it to the gross then under "other income" put "form 2555" and subtracted it right back out.

I did that first on TT and it took off the foreign income but didn't show it in gross on line 7. So I was getting a HUGE refund because it was deducting his exclusion from only my wages. I knew that was wrong, so found the substitute W2 form 4852 to get it into line 7. Somebody else reported the same thing. Logically I thought if I told TurboTax about the "other" income foreign wages, it would do the rest to get it in the gross. Maybe 2008 TurboTax is quirky on that part. I dunno. Since the substitute W2 has places to say it is foreign income and from a foreign address, I think it was a proper way to report the amount.

[veronicavonn 7]

So, everyone can ignore my posts here. lol

I found the phone number of a friendly accountant/tax advisor in Germany who is American. I called and spoke with him and after reviewing my options, it appears as though it will be easier for me to file as "Married filing Separately".. as MFJ will really only cause me more paperwork and would have the same results.

[rin and john 71]

That's the part that I am getting to right now..

After reading this thread over and over (at least 5 times now) and reading publications on irs.gov, I need to get him an ITIN it appears.

*grrr.*

How long does it take to get one assigned?

Also, I have used www.freetaxusa.com for the past 3 years, and that website I am not able to use this year because it does not support foreign addresses and foreign earned income. *double grrrr.*

I've taken the suggestions of other VJ's and I'm trying out the free TurboTax at the moment..

I had to get Rin an ITIN for TY 2006 (she had not arrived in the USA yet). You have to send the W-7 form with documentation along with your tax return to the IRS (the w-7 instructions tell you where to send it). It took us 10 weeks to get the ITIN, then another 8 weeks to get our refund (we filed in June; got the refund in late October).

[desert_fox 32]

So, everyone can ignore my posts here. lol

I found the phone number of a friendly accountant/tax advisor in Germany who is American. I called and spoke with him and after reviewing my options, it appears as though it will be easier for me to file as "Married filing Separately".. as MFJ will really only cause me more paperwork and would have the same results.

so filing two income tax returns is less paper work that filing one joint return??

youré kidding...right???

[himher 634]

MFJ has a different result than MFS on what planet?

So, everyone can ignore my posts here. lol

I found the phone number of a friendly accountant/tax advisor in Germany who is American. I called and spoke with him and after reviewing my options, it appears as though it will be easier for me to file as "Married filing Separately".. as MFJ will really only cause me more paperwork and would have the same results.

so filing two income tax returns is less paper work that filing one joint return??

youré kidding...right???

[veronicavonn 7]

so filing two income tax returns is less paper work that filing one joint return??

youré kidding...right???

Not kidding, actually.

My husband has some funky taxes from 2008.

Was married, then single, then married again. (Ex-wife dragged on the divorce proceedings quite a long time. Married to me in October.) Also, he has two children from his previous marriage.

So, considering the circumstances, it's A LOT easier. lol

Now, here's a question.

I read somewhere today that I cannot file my taxes until I have been in the foreign country for 365 days (1 year). Meaning, if I wanted to file my taxes today, I couldn't. I have to wait until July 19, the anniversary of my arrival in Germany.

Is this true?

I didn't see this anywhere on the IRS website.

I read about an automatic 2-month extention... And about a 6-month extension... nothing about 365 days.

Anyone know?

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

I found a better way to report the foreign income in TurboTax in a post. This would be instead of doing the "Substitute W2". Mine are already mailed and the bottom line still comes out the same so I'm not changing mine. If you already did a "Substitute W2, you can delete it and report it this way.

But as you already know, you must declare all your world-wide income. TurboTax is misleading about how to do this. In the section "Less Common Income" do NOT fill out the section on "Foreign Earned Income" first because that is only the exclusion. If you have already done that, please delete it. (Note from Nich: You don't have to delete it if you already did the exclusion part first ) First fill out "Miscellaneous Income, 1099-A, 1099-C. There is a check box for "Wages not already reported". If you follow the step-by-step questions, skip all of them until you come to "Foreign Earned Income". Then there will be Yes/No question about whether you are eligible for the "Foreign Income Exclusion". Click Yes and continue until you finish this section. At this point TurboTax knows about your foreign income and it is included in the total.

After that you can go back to "Less Common Income" again, this time selecting "Foreign Earned Income" and entering all the information for your foreign income exclusion. Once you are finished with that, TurboTax subtracts it from the total.

[Craig & Julia 0]

I found a better way to report the foreign income in TurboTax in a post. This would be instead of doing the "Substitute W2". Mine are already mailed and the bottom line still comes out the same so I'm not changing mine. If you already did a "Substitute W2, you can delete it and report it this way.

But as you already know, you must declare all your world-wide income. TurboTax is misleading about how to do this. In the section "Less Common Income" do NOT fill out the section on "Foreign Earned Income" first because that is only the exclusion. If you have already done that, please delete it. (Note from Nich: You don't have to delete it if you already did the exclusion part first ) First fill out "Miscellaneous Income, 1099-A, 1099-C. There is a check box for "Wages not already reported". If you follow the step-by-step questions, skip all of them until you come to "Foreign Earned Income". Then there will be Yes/No question about whether you are eligible for the "Foreign Income Exclusion". Click Yes and continue until you finish this section. At this point TurboTax knows about your foreign income and it is included in the total.

After that you can go back to "Less Common Income" again, this time selecting "Foreign Earned Income" and entering all the information for your foreign income exclusion. Once you are finished with that, TurboTax subtracts it from the total.

I just tested that method, and while it works I am finding it odd that my refund actually goes down a small amount afterwards. Somehow even though it is excluding 100% of the foreign earned income, line 44 on the 1040 becomes bigger afterwards..

[veronicavonn 7]

Now, here's a question.

I read somewhere today that I cannot file my taxes until I have been in the foreign country for 365 days (1 year). Meaning, if I wanted to file my taxes today, I couldn't. I have to wait until July 19, the anniversary of my arrival in Germany.

Is this true?

I didn't see this anywhere on the IRS website.

I read about an automatic 2-month extention... And about a 6-month extension... nothing about 365 days.

Anyone know?

So nobody knows about this???

[*Snowdrop* 604]

Okay - I am really confused... sorry if these questions have been asked earlier in this thread and I haven't understood the answer...

I arrived in the US on a CR1 visa on 15th Dec 2008.

My husband will be including me on his tax return this time (Married filing jointly?)

Because I arrived before the end of 2008 I must declare my UK income earned before I was a resident?

There's a good chance that I may have earned over the limit excluded from tax but even so I have already paid tax in the UK.

Does that mean we have to declare the UK income but it gets ignored because I have already paid tax on it in the UK. If so what's the point in declaring it at all?

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Okay - I am really confused... sorry if these questions have been asked earlier in this thread and I haven't understood the answer...

I arrived in the US on a CR1 visa on 15th Dec 2008.

My husband will be including me on his tax return this time (Married filing jointly?)

Do you have a Social Security number or ITIN number. Need to get one or apply for the ITIN with the tax return.

Because I arrived before the end of 2008 I must declare my UK income earned before I was a resident?

A joint return must include worldwide income (wages, interest, etc) for both spouses for the entire year 2008, no matter where it was earned.

There's a good chance that I may have earned over the limit excluded from tax but even so I have already paid tax in the UK.

If you worked 11 months of 2008 then just estimating various exchange rates you could exclude around 140,500 to 156,000 GBP of income. If you earned more than that you'll have to read further on your own because I didn't study earnings above the exclusion. I think maybe the area of the return for "foreign tax credit" might be where you could deduct those. Say you were over the excludable by $10,000 and that got inluded with husbands and taxed. Later under tax credits you could report the amount of tax you paid on that $10,000, but not all the tax you paid to the UK on the part you excluded. The foreign tax paid is credited/subtracted on line 47. I have no idea if that is the correct procedure, but is something I would explore because you wouldn't be expected to pay full taxes twice. Your return could be a little more complicated that what we have been discussing if you can't exclude all your income.

Does that mean we have to declare the UK income but it gets ignored because I have already paid tax on it in the UK. If so what's the point in declaring it at all?

The only point of declaring it is if you want to file a joint tax return and get the benefits of filing joint. It works out really well if the foreigner had no income or at least under the exludable amount. If it works out better tax-wise to not include your income, then hubby files "married filing separately" and you file nothing since you didn't earn US income.

[tom&tata 2]

Now, here's a question.

I read somewhere today that I cannot file my taxes until I have been in the foreign country for 365 days (1 year). Meaning, if I wanted to file my taxes today, I couldn't. I have to wait until July 19, the anniversary of my arrival in Germany.

Is this true?

I didn't see this anywhere on the IRS website.

I read about an automatic 2-month extention... And about a 6-month extension... nothing about 365 days.

Anyone know?

So nobody knows about this???

I assume you are the US citizen? I think as citizen you need to file taxes on worldwide income - if you are confused, file an extension. If you owe taxes, you will pay interest but if you don't, you should be okay.

I haven't came accross what you posted above.

[tom&tata 2]

Would we get a penalty for getting an extension? We are going to wait till he gets his SS# before filing so I can also get the EIC since my income has been low. (Can we use a SS# that he gets that will apparently say "For Employment Only"?) All of this tax without a SS# ####### is frustrating.....I am getting frustrated with the AOS/EAD process as it is.

If he got SS# - it would not change. It will become unrestricted when the foreign spouse receive the greencard. You can use the SS# to file tax.

If you file for extension, you will not have to pay interest unless you owe tax.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Would we get a penalty for getting an extension? We are going to wait till he gets his SS# before filing so I can also get the EIC since my income has been low. (Can we use a SS# that he gets that will apparently say "For Employment Only"?) All of this tax without a SS# ####### is frustrating.....I am getting frustrated with the AOS/EAD process as it is.

A Social Security number is a unique number where by the IRS can identify you. For the IRS, it's just an id number and doesn't matter if you can work on it or not. That's a different subject...work authorization. Even when you get EAD or get a green card, that SSN will stay the same. If you change your name, your number will not.

You don't have to mail your taxes until April 15, so there is plenty of time to wait on the SSN. If you can't file by then, then file for an extension on April 15. As long as you don't owe the IRS money then there is no problem. If you do end up owing money, they charge you what is like a "late fee" on the amount you owe depending on how long it is before you send them money.