Tax filing

[Wyatt Cox 16]

Hope this is in the proper forum, sorry if not.

My Philippine wife and I married in September in Marikina City. In preparation for tax filing and starting the Visa, she will be sending in the next few days a certified copy of both our Marriage Contract and her Passport in her married name along with a completed W-7 form at the suggestion of a friend who is a tax preparer out of my local town. I contacted a local tax preparer connected with a major tax preparation company who tells me that:

"the W-7 won't do any good because the United States does not have a treaty with the Philippines. In order for her to qualify for the ITIN # she will have had to reside in the United States for more than 180 days. You will have to file married filing separately. As soon as she gets her green card and a social then we can amend your taxes and possibly get you more of a refund."

This is the first that I've seen of this. Can anyone here confirm or deny that this is accurate?

[srloring13 12]

You will need to include a statement that your spouse elects to be treated as a resident for tax purposes executed by both of you. This is what I did when I filed with my return with a W7 for my husband who resides in Nigeria.

[dwheels76 5,468]

Hope this is in the proper forum, sorry if not.

My Philippine wife and I married in September in Marikina City. In preparation for tax filing and starting the Visa, she will be sending in the next few days a certified copy of both our Marriage Contract and her Passport in her married name along with a completed W-7 form at the suggestion of a friend who is a tax preparer out of my local town. I contacted a local tax preparer connected with a major tax preparation company who tells me that:

This is the first that I've seen of this. Can anyone here confirm or deny that this is accurate?

I have called upon our VJ expert Darnell to give you the how to get a ITIN. I know you need passport pages notarized (I know some folk even sent in the actual passport) of immigrant signed and no they never have had to live here ever. Than you can file MFJ. So hang on he will come by soon.

But it can be done.

[Wyatt Cox 16]

Thanks dwheels. All the help we can get in this question is appreciated.

[NikLR 13,228]

Actually it requires either the original or a certified copy, not a notarized copy. You can send a variety of documents, it doesn't have to be the passport.

http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Individual-Taxpayer-Identification-Number-(ITIN)

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/iw7.pdf

And your wife can get an ITIN.... Not sure why they think she can't.

[Darnell 8,478]

first, when chasing an ITIN, know that an ITIN can only be gotten for foreign spouses

when

filing a tax return.

stuff to prepare:

1. certified copy of the passport, certified by the issuing authority or the actual passport

2. w-7 application, signed by the foreign spouse.

3. income tax return. she needs to sign it, so prep one in pdf format, email to her, have her print it and sign it and send back to you with #2.

4. a letter to the IRS, stating that the two of you elect for her to be treated as a resident alien for tax purposes.

5. [optional] IRS Form F2555 on your spouse, if she has income in the PI. This gives her a waiver on tax on income, up to 97,000 USD.

all this stuff is 'paper', so if you were expecting to file electronically for the upcoming tax year, yer in for a shock, reverting to paper filing and only filing to the special ITIN address in Austin, Texas.

Things changed up with chasing an ITIN about 2 years ago, the ID requirement was tightened . When me and my wife did it in late 2010, the ID requirements were a bit lax, and a notarized copy of her bio page of her passport was sufficient. We got the notary work done by a Vice Consul at the US Consulate in Chengdu. If a notarized copy was sufficient now, she could certainly get the notary work done during an American Citizen Services appointment at the US Embassy in Manila. You don't need to be there for that, but, even then, that notary version of the copy isn't accepted anymore by the IRS. I don't know what to tell you, on getting a certified copy of her bio page made in the PI, sorry, but it would have to be certified by the issuing authority. Since she's not coming soon, you should think about including the original passport on her. You'll get it back from the IRS, eventually, and certainly before she has to have her interview in Manila.

Since you married in 2013, you would have to file the 2013 ITR in 2014 with the pile o stuff mentioned. It smells like you've not filed the I-130 yet, so I would not stop and wait on the ITIN or tax stuff, at this juncture, instead sending on the tax stuff in 2014 to NVC when the Affadavit of Support, form I-864, is needed (that's usually 6 months to 9 months after filing the I-130, fwiw)

Seriously, file the I-130 this week, don't wait on getting tax documents showing 'married filing jointly' prior to filing the I-130 - you'll just be wasting time. File the I-130, get that petition into the queue, and prep the tax stuff during tax season, then submit the tax stuff given from the IRS into NVC when it's time to do so.

Whatever is submitted into NVC with the civil docs , showing more proof of a bonafide marriage and financial co-mingling, is actually added to the casefile. Manila IV understands that folk who marry and file soon after marriage, won't have much evidence of this financial co-mingling, but still, a tax return showing 'married filing jointly' tax status is a great bit o evidence for this financial co-mingling.

HTH !

Edited December 9, 2013 by Darnell

[PaddyOTG 4]

Hope this is in the proper forum, sorry if not.

My Philippine wife and I married in September in Marikina City. In preparation for tax filing and starting the Visa, she will be sending in the next few days a certified copy of both our Marriage Contract and her Passport in her married name along with a completed W-7 form at the suggestion of a friend who is a tax preparer out of my local town. I contacted a local tax preparer connected with a major tax preparation company who tells me that:

This is the first that I've seen of this. Can anyone here confirm or deny that this is accurate?

I think it depends on which state you live in my wife is a nevada resident so she had to file jointly although Ireland has a tax treaty with the US so that could be null and void

Edited December 9, 2013 by PaddyOTG

[Wyatt Cox 16]

I think it depends on which state you live in my wife is a nevada resident so she had to file jointly although Ireland has a tax treaty with the US so that could be null and void

I'm interested to see that. BTW I am 240 miles north of you in Ely where it hit -18 tonight. Yes it gets below zero in Nevada.

[PaddyOTG 4]

I'm interested to see that. BTW I am 240 miles north of you in Ely where it hit -18 tonight. Yes it gets below zero in Nevada.

haha i know! its been pretty cold lately (I just got back from NV on thursday) been below freezing a few times ive been over everyone expects it to be hot all year! I've managed to avoid the real hot weather in the summer. The cold doesn't bother me at all and the fact there isn't much wind or rain with the cold makes it feel kind of mild to me!

as regards the ITIN include it with your posted in tax return and they should give your wife an itin!

a cover letter may be helpful!

Edited December 9, 2013 by PaddyOTG

[NikLR 13,228]

the USA doesn't need to have a tax treaty for a spouse to get an ITIN. Follow Darnell's instructions please.

[Wyatt Cox 16]

Darnell, thanks for your assistance.

first, when chasing an ITIN, know that an ITIN can only be gotten for foreign spouses
when
filing a tax return.

stuff to prepare:
1. certified copy of the passport, certified by the issuing authority or the actual passport
2. w-7 application, signed by the foreign spouse.
3. income tax return. she needs to sign it, so prep one in pdf format, email to her, have her print it and sign it and send back to you with #2.
4. a letter to the IRS, stating that the two of you elect for her to be treated as a resident alien for tax purposes.
5. [optional] IRS Form F2555 on your spouse, if she has income in the PI. This gives her a waiver on tax on income, up to 97,000 USD.

all this stuff is 'paper', so if you were expecting to file electronically for the upcoming tax year, yer in for a shock, reverting to paper filing and only filing to the special ITIN address in Austin, Texas.

Things changed up with chasing an ITIN about 2 years ago, the ID requirement was tightened . When me and my wife did it in late 2010, the ID requirements were a bit lax, and a notarized copy of her bio page of her passport was sufficient. We got the notary work done by a Vice Consul at the US Consulate in Chengdu. If a notarized copy was sufficient now, she could certainly get the notary work done during an American Citizen Services appointment at the US Embassy in Manila. You don't need to be there for that, but, even then, that notary version of the copy isn't accepted anymore by the IRS. I don't know what to tell you, on getting a certified copy of her bio page made in the PI, sorry, but it would have to be certified by the issuing authority. Since she's not coming soon, you should think about including the original passport on her. You'll get it back from the IRS, eventually, and certainly before she has to have her interview in Manila.

Since you married in 2013, you would have to file the 2013 ITR in 2014 with the pile o stuff mentioned. It smells like you've not filed the I-130 yet, so I would not stop and wait on the ITIN or tax stuff, at this juncture, instead sending on the tax stuff in 2014 to NVC when the Affadavit of Support, form I-864, is needed (that's usually 6 months to 9 months after filing the I-130, fwiw)

Seriously, file the I-130 this week, don't wait on getting tax documents showing 'married filing jointly' prior to filing the I-130 - you'll just be wasting time. File the I-130, get that petition into the queue, and prep the tax stuff during tax season, then submit the tax stuff given from the IRS into NVC when it's time to do so.

Whatever is submitted into NVC with the civil docs , showing more proof of a bonafide marriage and financial co-mingling, is actually added to the casefile. Manila IV understands that folk who marry and file soon after marriage, won't have much evidence of this financial co-mingling, but still, a tax return showing 'married filing jointly' tax status is a great bit o evidence for this financial co-mingling.

HTH !

Right now I am waiting on a Pile o' documents to arrive via FedEx from her this week to get started on the i-130. We have certified true copies from DFA Manila of her passport and a certified copy of our marriage contract along with a signed W7. So #1 and 2 are done. I was trying to avoid yet another FedEx but it appears that won't happen. I was attempting to plan on getting things done in advance while waiting on her getting the certified documents when this question arose.

One last question: There's a walk in IRS office in Las Vegas. Would it be worth it to take a trip there to file in person rather than mail?

A million thanks, Darnell, for correcting this misconception.

[Darnell 8,478]

I do like walk-in for one reason, well, maybe two:

1. a supervisor can review the w-7 set and tell you if any problems with the ID .

2. they will take all and forward to the Austin office.

---

If I were in your exact shoes, I would not wait on tax docs for TY2013 (filed in 2014) for submitting the I-130. Why? a. you have to file the tax stuff during tax season and b. it's going to take 8 to 14 weeks to process the tax return with the W-7 and then maybe another 2 to 3 weeks to get the ITIN-issued paperwork from the IRS in your hands.

Edited December 10, 2013 by Darnell

[Wyatt Cox 16]

We're working on completing the forms now....

[Wyatt Cox 16]

I do like walk-in for one reason, well, maybe two:

1. a supervisor can review the w-7 set and tell you if any problems with the ID .

2. they will take all and forward to the Austin office.

---

If I were in your exact shoes, I would not wait on tax docs for TY2013 (filed in 2014) for submitting the I-130. Why? a. you have to file the tax stuff during tax season and b. it's going to take 8 to 14 weeks to process the tax return with the W-7 and then maybe another 2 to 3 weeks to get the ITIN-issued paperwork from the IRS in your hands.

Tried to PM this to Darnell, hope this gets his attention.

Our I-130 is sitting in the Texas Service Center right now, and we're back to dealing with Taxes, having just gotten my last W-2.

Re the letter accompanying the W-7, could it be as simple as:

"This is to notify your office of our election to have my wife treated as a resident alien for tax purposes."

With our signatures at the bottom.

I plan to take the completed paperwork to the Las Vegas office as soon as my wife can FedEx the signed forms back to me.

[Darnell 8,478]

letter sounds perfect.