Filing taxes as married

[frenchphenom5 0]

I'm doing turbotax, and for my wife I put 000-00-0000 for her SSN and now I don't know what to do. Also, because I've only been outside of the US since September 2010, I can't file a 2555. Any advice?

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

I didn't realize this thread was still going.

Here's how to navigate foreign income in Turbotax.It is found under "Less Common Income." Remember this is also for Americans who worked abroad for an American or foreign company so don't let the multi-use form confuse you.

How was the income reported to you? Statement from foreign employer

Value of employer paid goods...home, car, etc Skip all that

Was _____ a US citizen? No

Was ____ a resident alien while working outside the US? Tick YES, because to the IRS, you are a resident alien for the whole of 2010 because of the statement you wrote electing to be treated that way.

Income tax treaty? YES (you'd have to look that up, but NO won't allow the exemption)

Ways to qualify for the foreign income exclusion? Bonafide resident

Date started living in foreign country? Probably date of your birth

Date stopped living there? Entry to US date if already here.

Skip everything trying to determine if you get to exclude your foreign home. That's for Americans assigned overseas. The rest is fairly self explanatory. Be sure to enter your foreign address and employer when asked.

Does ___ have an employment contract? NO (for Americans abroad)

Type of visa? Don't tick any of the four. You don't have a visa TO the the foreign country in this question

Does your visa limit the time you can work outside US? Tick nothing or unlimited works.

That should get you through TurboTax. Some questions are self explanatory. Proceed to finish the return and mail it to the place of filing for your location along with the statement you wrote. Make sure line 21 of the 1040 has a negative number showing your foreign income was taken off. Next year with a greencard and no foreign income, it's like any USC couple filing.

If you don't have a SSN, the I posted earlier about mailing to Austin to get the ITIN.

[Guinness 3]

Yes, you only use your salary if your wife has no income to report.

really confused here :unsure:

wife earned no income, but did get disability payments from the Irish government.

must I list this income here in USA ?? it was not much and she was here most of the year on VWP.

but we did not marry until December.

do I also need to file W-7 and send it to Austin address ??

[dwheels76 5,468]

Thank you for this post. I was jsut going to do my 2011 taxes and wanted to know and was ready to post and read this.

4o its W7 and his passport. Seems simple enough.

Thanks

[July15 4]

Nich-Nick

Thank your for this great Info! How about State Taxes? I'm in California, do I also mail them copies of these forms except 1040 but I'll include 540? What di you do? Thank you.

Edited February 6, 2012 by July15

[max+patricia 24]

Does anyone know the affect filing MFJ may have at NVC or the interview? I'm curious if a tax transcript would be accepted since it could technically have both the USC's income + the sponsored immigrant's income.

On the note of income - my wife worked very few hours last year in Venezuela, but made some $. When we added it up and converted it to USD, it's not much and I know it'd be exempt from tax - but I'd like to include it to be honest. Only problem is, she has no paperwork at all about her income - she just knows how much she made per month and for how many months. We have no way of getting that documentation. Is this a problem? Should we mention it in the statement about electing to be treated as a taxpayer?

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Nich-Nick

Thank your for this great Info! How about State Taxes? I'm in California, do I also mail them copies of these forms except 1040 but I'll include 540? What di you do? Thank you.

I've never filed state income taxes so don't have an answer. Texas doesn't have a state income tax.

Only problem is, she has no paperwork at all about her income - she just knows how much she made per month and for how many months. We have no way of getting that documentation. Is this a problem? Should we mention it in the statement about electing to be treated as a taxpayer?

It is not a problem. IRS doesn't ask for documentation to be sent in. We had none. It was an estimate based on monthly earnings times months worked. The statement isn't a cover letter to explain things. No don't mention it in the statement. Make some notes for how you came up with the number and the exchange rate you used. Save those in your records so you remember how you came up with the number on the off-chance you would be chosen for a random audit.

[1love 2]

I didn't realize this thread was still going.

Here's how to navigate foreign income in Turbotax.It is found under "Less Common Income." Remember this is also for Americans who worked abroad for an American or foreign company so don't let the multi-use form confuse you.

How was the income reported to you? Statement from foreign employer

Value of employer paid goods...home, car, etc Skip all that

Was _____ a US citizen? No

Was ____ a resident alien while working outside the US? Tick YES, because to the IRS, you are a resident alien for the whole of 2010 because of the statement you wrote electing to be treated that way.

Income tax treaty? YES (you'd have to look that up, but NO won't allow the exemption)

Ways to qualify for the foreign income exclusion? Bonafide resident

Date started living in foreign country? Probably date of your birth

Date stopped living there? Entry to US date if already here.

Skip everything trying to determine if you get to exclude your foreign home. That's for Americans assigned overseas. The rest is fairly self explanatory. Be sure to enter your foreign address and employer when asked.

Does ___ have an employment contract? NO (for Americans abroad)

Type of visa? Don't tick any of the four. You don't have a visa TO the the foreign country in this question

Does your visa limit the time you can work outside US? Tick nothing or unlimited works.

That should get you through TurboTax. Some questions are self explanatory. Proceed to finish the return and mail it to the place of filing for your location along with the statement you wrote. Make sure line 21 of the 1040 has a negative number showing your foreign income was taken off. Next year with a greencard and no foreign income, it's like any USC couple filing.

If you don't have a SSN, the I posted earlier about mailing to Austin to get the ITIN.

Thanks Nich Nick for this info. I guess this means that you do not have to actually buy the software from the store to be able to access this information.

From your explnantion, this information can also be accessible from the online version of turbo tax.

pls correct me if i am wrong, because i have been under the impresssion that you have to actually buy it from the store to access that feature to enter the foreign spouse information.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Thanks Nich Nick for this info. I guess this means that you do not have to actually buy the software from the store to be able to access this information.

From your explnantion, this information can also be accessible from the online version of turbo tax.

pls correct me if i am wrong, because i have been under the impresssion that you have to actually buy it from the store to access that feature to enter the foreign spouse information.

For 2010 taxes when I wrote these steps, I had tried it in both installed (Basic $29.99 version) and online free version. I haven't tried foreign income at all for 2011 versions so don't even know if the questions are structured the same as above. 2010 was totally different from 2009 version so I can't say what's written above even fits TurboTax's 2011 program design.

With that said, I greatly prefer the $29 installed version. It is easier for me to navigate. I found online fiddly and more limited. Installed you can save your work as a new filename, then try for example "married filing separately" by changing up the filing status or deleting something without starting from scratch entering everything from the beginning. You are modifying the original by calling it a "save as" name. Then you have two versions you can open easily. You haven't messed up your original work because it's saved and you're working in file (example) "SmithTaxes-Filing Separate" or any name you want to call your try-it-outs.

**Slightly off topic**

There is a brand new requirement for 2011 from the IRS called Form 8938 Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) which has nothing to do with your foreign earned income but may be needed by those who are older and have pension plans or investments in a foreign country whose values exceed $100,000 is USD (filing jointly). It's aimed at those that hide money in offshore accounts, but does include my husband's UK pension fund as best I can determine. It's again just reporting it, even if he isn't old enough to draw payments from it yet. So a head's up to anybody reading this who worked at a job many years and has a pension fund sitting in your home country.

[monyfer 27]

For those of you who e-filed but decided to declare your spouse as a permanent resident for the whole year, I know there is a signed declaration you have to send to the IRS. How did you do this if you E-filed? Just sent it separately, or printed out a copy of the e-file and sent it with it to a general IRS address?

[monyfer 27]

bump