Married or single while wife isn't in US yet

[mike777 0]

So what does my wife need to do right now? being married, Canadian, living in CAN, working for CAN employer.

Does she just need to change her filing status on a form and thats it for now? Maybe I should just have her talk to HR. Does being married generally give one bigger deductions? There is a benefit though when filing married right?

Taxes are so confusing, sorry, my accounting is limited to Accounting 101 and 102. :-)

[Malrothien 6]

When she files her taxes, she will change her status to 'married'. There is a benefit to filing as married, yes, but it isn't nearly as big a benefit in Canada as it is in the US.

Edit: I'm not giving advice as a tax professional, as I am not one. My advice is only coming from personal experience and my memory.

Edited January 26, 2010 by Malrothien

[trailmix 77]

When she files her taxes, she will change her status to 'married'. There is a benefit to filing as married, yes, but it isn't nearly as big a benefit in Canada as it is in the US.

Edit: I'm not giving advice as a tax professional, as I am not one. My advice is only coming from personal experience and my memory.

For Canada though, filing married to a NRA is pretty much of zero benefit I think? There are no extra deductions to be taken, the NRA's income is not taken in to account - it's just a wash. Basically you are just informing them you are married.

[Malrothien 6]

I'm not sure to be honest, none of our NR returns were in this type of situation. The benefit that I meant was a general one, not necessarily with an NRA.

[redmen99 1]

So, in looking through my tax return I did on TurboTax, it says my hubby needs to file an 1040NR in the US for last year. Is that right? He's not even living here yet!

Why do taxes have to be so damn confusing????

Edited January 26, 2010 by redmen99

[rika60607 215]

A non-resident married to a USC can choose to be treated as a resident for tax purposes, right?

Foreign income is excluded from US tax up to approx. 85K.

So it is in your interest to get an ITIN for your wife and file as married.

Hi, I apologize if this has been addressed already.

When I filed taxes during the year on any w-2's, I filed single, because the form states to form single if married to nonresident alien, so I did. My wife also is filing single in Canada.

Question, am I wrong? I looked and couldn't find anything online about it. If I'm wrong, where do I go and how do I go about correcting the issue?

I'm just planning on filing as I normally have all my previous unmarried years.

[Malrothien 6]

So, in looking through my tax return I did on TurboTax, it says my hubby needs to file an 1040NR in the US for last year. Is that right? He's not even living here yet!

Why do taxes have to be so damn confusing????

Your husband doesn't need to file a 1040NR.

[redmen99 1]

Your husband doesn't need to file a 1040NR.

YAY! Thanks Mal!

[Malrothien 6]

Just to clarify, he didn't have income in the US, right? If not, you'd only need to get an ITIN to file your own taxes including him on your return.

Wonder why Turbo Tax said that.

[Married2009 32]

Does getting an ITIN number make it harder for the spouse to get a social security number when it is time? I thought I read somewhere that it complicated the process.

[Malrothien 6]

It shouldn't have any affect on getting an SSN.

[redmen99 1]

Just to clarify, he didn't have income in the US, right? If not, you'd only need to get an ITIN to file your own taxes including him on your return.

Wonder why Turbo Tax said that.

Nope, no US income. I wonder, I read somewhere that the IRS is not issuing ITIN numbers until May 1, could I use his SS# once he gets it and still be ok? His interveiw is March 1, and he will be moving here as soon as he gets his passport back.. I could fiile an extension if I need to.

OH here it is, it was on http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,...87,00.html#what

*Moratorium on NEW Acceptance Agents Applications Starting January 1, 2010

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN) Program is announcing a moratorium effective January 1st through April 30th, 2010 on all new Forms 13551, Application to Participate in the IRS Acceptance Agent Program.

During the moratorium, the IRS will not accept or process Forms 13551, Application to Participate in the IRS Acceptance Agent Program. Only amendments to existing, approved agreements will be accepted during the moratorium. The ITIN Program will resume accepting applications during the new 2010 Acceptance Agent Open Season, effective May 1 through August 31, 2010.

Or do I just do the W7, Oh I'm so confused! LOL

Edited January 27, 2010 by redmen99

[Malrothien 6]

You could wait until he had his SSN, that's fine.

The link you posted is for someone to be an acceptance agent, not for filing the W7.

[Salnik 0]

Info in the Link :

Spousal tax returns are always filed separately - that is, the tax returns are prepared separately. However, when tax returns are prepared using personal income tax return software, most software will give the option of "coupling" the preparation of both returns. The returns are still printed and filed separately, but the software will usually highlight ways in which taxes may be reduced.

You are required to report what your marital status was as of December 31st of the tax year. This is done by ticking the appropriate box on page 1 of the tax return. The boxes include:

Married

Living Common-law

Widowed

Divorced

Separated

Single

You are married or living common-law as long as you and your spouse are not living separate and apart from each other on December 31st because of a breakdown of the marriage or common-law relationship. If you are living apart from each other due to some other reason, you would still be considered married or living common-law.

We have filled for our green card. We got marrid in april 2009. He lives in US and I live in Canada. I don have a Sin number in US as of now .. as I have not got my green card yet.

Questions : Will my husband living in US file his taxes as married ( joint).. If yes then I dont have a Sin number in US. How will this effect ?

[Wyatt's Torch 45]

You could wait until he had his SSN, that's fine.

The link you posted is for someone to be an acceptance agent, not for filing the W7.

Ugh...now I'm REALLY confused. Should I be applying for an ITIN then? Or is there a moratorium?