u.s tax filing

[goobear 0]

hello all,i recently noticed my wife needs to file her u.s taxes even though she's living here in the uk with me.

she tried to file last night but she read she must file as married but now she's running into problems as i am british living in england and have no ss number.

any advice or information from people that are or was in the same situation?.

[mkenyanusu 0]

She can file married filing separate. If she uses taxactonline.com it gives an option to select a foreign spouse without ss or ITN. Thats what I just did today and all am left to do is just print my taxes and mail it out. Its more expensive since you dont get the benefit of filing jointly but its convenient. If you are not in a rush though i think there is an option to consider a foreign spouse filing joint but the foreign spouse has to sign an affidavit......

[jkelly07 120]

amend your tax return for a six month extension. in the mean time down load from the IRS.gov form w-7 form the foreign spouse fills it out you both sign it send proof of marriage an copy of us passport.read the instructions carefully i must be mailed to austin tx only. and when you receive the itin number put it in your tax returns all that must be mailed to the address in austin tx thats the department that handles the itins and w-7 good luck.

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

hello all,i recently noticed my wife needs to file her u.s taxes even though she's living here in the uk with me.

she tried to file last night but she read she must file as married but now she's running into problems as i am british living in england and have no ss number.

any advice or information from people that are or was in the same situation?.

If she earned zero income, she doesn't have to file.

If she earned UK income, she will file and report it and can probably exclude it and owe no US taxes. If she files jointly with you, your UK income will be included also. To file jointly with you, you would have to get an itin number as suggested via filing to Austin. Your documentation will be more than merely photocopying your documents. It's pretty involved from abroad if you don't want to mail your actual passport in with the application.

So since she likely won't owe any US tax when she files or benefit by adding your income with a joint return, the easiest is for her to use the status Married Filing Separately.

[aaron2020 11,651]

hello all,i recently noticed my wife needs to file her u.s taxes even though she's living here in the uk with me.

she tried to file last night but she read she must file as married but now she's running into problems as i am british living in england and have no ss number.

any advice or information from people that are or was in the same situation?.

US citizens are required to file tax returns on their worldwide income.

Your wife can file as "married filing separately" and she states only her income. If her foreign income is below $90,000, then she is unlikely to own any US taxes.

Alternatively, your wife can file as "married filing jointly" with you. You would need to obtain a ITIN number and elect to be treated as a tax payer. Essentially, you are volunteering to be a US taxpayer and pay any US taxes on your income.

Generally, the best tax results for your wife is to file "married filing separately." There is no reason to subject yourself and your income to the IRS's tax jurisdiction. The only reason for you to volunteer to be treated as a US taxpayer is if you had very low income, your wife had a very high income, and filing jointly with you would lower the overall US tax bill.

Edited April 5, 2012 by aaron2020