Filing tax extension 4868 with foreign spouse

[Cindo and Joe 0]

Looks I will be filing an extension since we haven't gotten my spouse's passport certified copy from the Embassy (required to submit W-7).

I want to file married jointly, however file an extension- but turboTax is forcing an EXTRA $400 "make work pay" credit, when i'm pretty sure she is ineligible for this. (she doesn't have an ITIN or SSN yet) I now have an incorrect amount that I need to pay the IRS on the 15th.

It seems as though filing for an extension (regardless if joint is filed later) we BOTH have to send out a 4868? Also I'm guessing for Form 4868 for my wife, she should just put $0 since all of her money is foreign earned income?

[Cindo and Joe 0]

Looks I will be filing an extension since we haven't gotten my spouse's passport certified copy from the Embassy (required to submit W-7).

I want to file married jointly, however file an extension- but turboTax is forcing an EXTRA $400 "make work pay" credit, when i'm pretty sure she is ineligible for this. (she doesn't have an ITIN or SSN yet) I now have an incorrect amount that I need to pay the IRS on the 15th.

It seems as though filing for an extension (regardless if joint is filed later) we BOTH have to send out a 4868? Also I'm guessing for Form 4868 for my wife, she should just put $0 since all of her money is foreign earned income?

Ok, the 4868 (extension) is not required to be sent by both citizen and alien, as 1 form is good enough there is place to put alien's information.

I will now have the extension, . We will be reporting both of our incomes (her Canadian income as well as mine in the U.S.)- only issue I'm stuck with is TurboTax not being immigrant friendly- as seems to be the case with many here. Asks for "W-2" information for spouse, yet she does not have "W-2", it is T-4 I believe.

[SapphireDreams 71]

Ok, the 4868 (extension) is not required to be sent by both citizen and alien, as 1 form is good enough there is place to put alien's information.

I will now have the extension, . We will be reporting both of our incomes (her Canadian income as well as mine in the U.S.)- only issue I'm stuck with is TurboTax not being immigrant friendly- as seems to be the case with many here. Asks for "W-2" information for spouse, yet she does not have "W-2", it is T-4 I believe.

You would have to report it as world income, not US income... so there is a separate spot for it. Then you would need to file another form to get a credit so that you're not being double taxed - to be honest I've been trying to figure it out for myself, but I can't figure it out at all, so we are just going to pay someone to do our taxes this one time...

There is a tax thread with a lot of explanations in it - I suggest you look through it. It's not as simple as just including the Canadian income....there's more to it... (I think, I'm lost myself..)

[Cindo and Joe 0]

You would have to report it as world income, not US income... so there is a separate spot for it. Then you would need to file another form to get a credit so that you're not being double taxed - to be honest I've been trying to figure it out for myself, but I can't figure it out at all, so we are just going to pay someone to do our taxes this one time...

There is a tax thread with a lot of explanations in it - I suggest you look through it. It's not as simple as just including the Canadian income....there's more to it... (I think, I'm lost myself..)

woohooo so excited! thought we slayed the dragon by finally getting a handle on the Visa process...you cut off it's head off and it regrows 2 more in the form of IRS and CRA!

Do you know a good tax person? We need one for the U.S. side of things as well as one for Canadian. Anything good in MTL?

[Udella&Wiz 325]

You should be ok to do it on your own with help from the Canadian forum tax thread and the Serbinski tax forum. We've used Turbo tax since I moved downa nd it successfully handled the various incomes just fine.

The Cdn return should be easier for her since she is only reporting her Cdn income. Have a look at the Cdn tax thread here.

Edited April 13, 2010 by Udella&Wiz