Tax question - Married or Single status?

[DeathStrike 9]

Hello,

It is that time of year .... and need to file taxes. I miss those days when it was simple, all I had to do is to fill in W2 and 1098 and claim/pay the refund/balance.

Ok, here is the situation:

I got married last July (2011). I am a LPR (naturalization papers filed), I applied for F2A for my spouse on september (I 130 still in initial review). My W4 status at work states I am single (forgot to change it).

Now, She will not be here till end of this year (2012), even if everything goes smoothly it is unlikely for her case to start processing before tax day in April. I didnot have to pay for any support to her in 2011.

What should be my Tax filing status ? Single? Married filing jointly? Married filing separately?

I read about ITIN, where she has to fill up a W7 and attach it with 1040A if she files seperately or jointly ... but I am very confused about that too.

Can anybody help me here ? What should I be doing with taxes this year?

Thanks.

[Dave&Roza 748]

I would file married as you are married. Now whether you file jointly or seperately, that is a question you must answer based on your tax situation. There are benefits and drawbacks to each choice. I would not worry about getting an ITIN and wait until she gets her SSN (whenever that is). Just remember that if you file jointly that you will have to declare her income, but then there is the foreign tax credit. Might be best to file seperately and not have to deal with her income--again it is your call. I hope I made this as clear as mud .

Dave

[DeathStrike 9]

I would file married as you are married. Now whether you file jointly or seperately, that is a question you must answer based on your tax situation. There are benefits and drawbacks to each choice. I would not worry about getting an ITIN and wait until she gets her SSN (whenever that is). Just remember that if you file jointly that you will have to declare her income, but then there is the foreign tax credit. Might be best to file seperately and not have to deal with her income--again it is your call. I hope I made this as clear as mud .

Dave

So, I can file as MFJ .. without a ITIN and SSN ? she doesnot have any income (foreign) so those fields will be empty anyways.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Married filing separately

[habibi83 12]

Hello,

It is that time of year .... and need to file taxes. I miss those days when it was simple, all I had to do is to fill in W2 and 1098 and claim/pay the refund/balance.

Ok, here is the situation:

I got married last July (2011). I am a LPR (naturalization papers filed), I applied for F2A for my spouse on september (I 130 still in initial review). My W4 status at work states I am single (forgot to change it).

Now, She will not be here till end of this year (2012), even if everything goes smoothly it is unlikely for her case to start processing before tax day in April. I didnot have to pay for any support to her in 2011.

What should be my Tax filing status ? Single? Married filing jointly? Married filing separately?

I read about ITIN, where she has to fill up a W7 and attach it with 1040A if she files seperately or jointly ... but I am very confused about that too.

Can anybody help me here ? What should I be doing with taxes this year?

Thanks.

The best person to ask this would be ur tax advisor; however for immigarion purposes I would recommend filing Married/joint; tax adviser can apply online for TIN# which will be mailed to u.

[aaron2020 11,651]

Hello,

It is that time of year .... and need to file taxes. I miss those days when it was simple, all I had to do is to fill in W2 and 1098 and claim/pay the refund/balance.

Ok, here is the situation:

I got married last July (2011). I am a LPR (naturalization papers filed), I applied for F2A for my spouse on september (I 130 still in initial review). My W4 status at work states I am single (forgot to change it).

Now, She will not be here till end of this year (2012), even if everything goes smoothly it is unlikely for her case to start processing before tax day in April. I didnot have to pay for any support to her in 2011.

What should be my Tax filing status ? Single? Married filing jointly? Married filing separately?

I read about ITIN, where she has to fill up a W7 and attach it with 1040A if she files seperately or jointly ... but I am very confused about that too.

Can anybody help me here ? What should I be doing with taxes this year?

Thanks.

You file either as married filing jointly or married filing separately. You are not single so you cannot file as single.

Married Filing Separately - You report only your income. Simple as that.

Married Filing Jointly - Your wife as a nonresident alien spouse can elect to be taxed as a US taxpayer. She will need to obtain an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN). (A taxpayer needs either a Social Security Number or an ITIN to file a tax return.) You file jointly and report her income and your income together.

There is no simple answer as to which will get you a bigger tax refund. You will have to figure your taxes out both ways to see which choice is better for you.

If the foreign spouse has very little income, the better result usually would be to file as married filing jointly.

http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/international/article/0,,id=96734,00.html

[rin and john 71]

For TY 2006 (married Oct 2006, Rin arrived April 2007) I did the ITIN - filed in June, refund in September. Not too difficult. I used Turbotax and printed a copy. Then did the W-7 and sent both to Austin along with the letter saying to treat Rin as a resident for 2006. If you can do your taxes yourself, you can do this.

If your foreign spouse has foreign income, you will also need to file form 2555.

http://www.irs.gov/p...s-pdf/f2555.pdf

When you file MFJ, you report your spouses foreign income on your 1040, then use form 2555 to exclude it from tax (up to $92,900 in foreign income in 2011).

If the W-7 is too difficult (getting passport copy notarized, etc) and you cannot wait out the extension, then I would file MFS and do an amended return (file 1040X) as soon as your spouse has her SSN. We had Rin's passport copy notarized at the US Embassy in Thailand.