F2A Spouse + Tax Return

[PD is Current. 50]

Filing jointly for the first time for 2011. Would someone verify these are the right steps?

1) Fill out w-7 form for my wife in overseas to get ITIN#.

2) Get a notarized copy of her passport page.

3) File my taxes jointly say using Turbo tax, then print out tax forms.

4) File taxes return by mail along with w-7 and notarized copy of her passport to

Internal Revenue Service

Austin Service Center

ITIN Operation

P.O. Box 149342

Austin, TX 78714-9342

[Darnell 8,478]

yup - that's what we did.

You checking the China forum? There's a recent topic about it.

you are missing the cover letter, letting the IRS know that you two are OPTING to have her considered a resident alien for tax purposes.

Must be signed by the two of you, since is a joint return.

Edited March 2, 2012 by Darnell

[PD is Current. 50]

you are missing the cover letter, letting the IRS know that you two are OPTING to have her considered a resident alien for tax purposes.

Must be signed by the two of you, since is a joint return.

can you explain why? My F2-A case is not approved yet.

What must be signed by us both, the said covered later?

thx

[Darnell 8,478]

why are you missing it? unknown. Her immigration status not matter with married-filing-jointly to the IRS, at all.

This letter is to be sent in, however, with the tax documents.

drill around a bit here, search on ITIN with the advanced search tool, click on 'display as posts' and you'll see what others have done.

Edited March 2, 2012 by Darnell

[PD is Current. 50]

why are you missing it? unknown. Her immigration status not matter with married-filing-jointly to the IRS, at all.

This letter is to be sent in, however, with the tax documents.

drill around a bit here, search on ITIN with the advanced search tool, click on 'display as posts' and you'll see what others have done.

can't you answer the question directly.

[Darnell 8,478]

can you explain why? My F2-A case is not approved yet.

What must be signed by us both, the said covered later?

thx

My apologies - I not understand you, or in 'which voice' you speak.

Good Luck, whatever yer doing.

[lubnajavid 20]

@PD similar situation to yourself - looks like you have everything - i have seen some people on VJ state that a cover letter is sometimes beneficial but i cant see anywhere it says that its necessary - it would be from your wife to the IRS - stating that she is married to you, a resident alien or USC, and she lives overseas, but wants to be considered as a resident alien for 2011

i googled just now - and found this page - see the bottom of the page:

http://www.hooyou.com/news/news092911vs.html

i took an excerpt out :

"Nonresident Aliens Married to Resident Aliens or U.S. Citizens

When a nonresident alien is married to a resident alien or U.S. citizen and they want to file a joint tax return, then they may elect to treat the nonresident alien spouse as a resident alien for tax purposes. If you and your spouse elect to do this, then the nonresident alien spouse will be treated as a resident alien for the entire tax year, even though the nonresident alien spouse does not meet either the substantial presence or the green card test. You can even consider your nonresident spouse a resident for federal withholding purposes in your paycheck. If the resident alien spouse loses or revokes resident alien status, however, then both spouses are treated as nonresident aliens for tax purposes. Death, legal separation and divorce also terminate resident alien tax status for the nonresident alien spouse.

Why would an alien want to be taxed as a resident alien?

Some people may wonder why an alien would want to have his global income taxed under U.S. law. One reason is that some aliens may not have global income. Also, a resident alien can claim a personal tax exemption and dependent tax exemption in accordance with U.S. law, thus potentially reducing their total tax. Finally, an alien may want to take advantage of tax credits that are available under U.S. law, such as the Lifetime Learning Credit or the Earned Income Tax Credit."

As you can see - there are some advantages.

I can tell you that i have visited the local IRS office a couple of times - and your list of items is correct - they actually told me to bring the paperwork (entire return and W-7 and passport copy) to them and they would send it to the appropriate department (yes its in austin tx)

I was also given the following telephone numbers to ask of additional help - perhaps they might be useful to you also:

Specialty Tax Hotline 1800 829 4933

International Taxpayer Customer Service 1 267 941 1000

As for the actual return - you and your wife both need to sign, if you file married/joint

Out of curiosity - are you going to use the offline version of turbotax or the online?

Hope you get your ITIN and your 2011 taxes filed first time! I will let you know if i come across any wrinkles, as i will be filing as soon as i come back from my visit to see my wife at the end of march:)

Edited March 5, 2012 by lubnajavid

[ali28 1]

Please I have a question, and i hope someone help me: I have only 2 years in america, and I'm worry if i need a joint sponsor or no even if my income in this 2 years meets the minimum Federal poverty guideline income requirement?

My PD is 28Jan2010

[PD is Current. 50]

@PD similar situation to yourself - looks like you have everything - i have seen some people on VJ state that a cover letter is sometimes beneficial but i cant see anywhere it says that its necessary - it would be from your wife to the IRS - stating that she is married to you, a resident alien or USC, and she lives overseas, but wants to be considered as a resident alien for 2011

As for the actual return - you and your wife both need to sign, if you file married/joint

Out of curiosity - are you going to use the offline version of turbotax or the online?

Hope you get your ITIN and your 2011 taxes filed first time! I will let you know if i come across any wrinkles, as i will be filing as soon as i come back from my visit to see my wife at the end of march:)

so are you going to claim your overseas spouse as resident alien?

i always buy the turbo tax CD so i guess that's the "offline" version.

[lubnajavid 20]

@pd - yes i will be claiming my wife - married;/joint with the need for a W-7 and i will be putting something together to say that she wants to be considered as a resident alient for tax purposes for 2011.

Key point though - once you do have someone considered as a resident for tax purposes then you cant go back - they stay in that status,

i'll go the offline method if the online method wont allow me to enter "gaps" for the lack of ITIN or if it wont let me print.

[hindustani24 7]

I have a question. My brother who is permanent resident is filing for an itin number for his wife who lives in India. They had a child born in India last year and still lives with his mom in India. Can my brother apply for itin number for his child also so that he can claim his son as dependent.

[lubnajavid 20]

@hindustani24 - short answer is yes - you will need the relevant supporting documentatin - birth certificate and anything else you can get that pertains to your son