marraige and tax/dependent ?'s

[jazzy 0]

Hi all,

Not sure where to post this question so i'll try here.....my wife and I are married but se is still in philippines awaiting her interview. She andher daughter of course do not have social security numbers yet. How should US income taxes be prepared? Can my wife and daughter be claimed? I do support them. Do i claim married? or head of house hold?....not sure how this works being married to a foriegn national....anyone have som thoughts, been through this already?

Jazzy

[Married_my_love 0]

Hi all,

Not sure where to post this question so i'll try here.....my wife and I are married but se is still in philippines awaiting her interview. She andher daughter of course do not have social security numbers yet. How should US income taxes be prepared? Can my wife and daughter be claimed? I do support them. Do i claim married? or head of house hold?....not sure how this works being married to a foriegn national....anyone have som thoughts, been through this already?

Jazzy

I filed married-filing-joint when my husband was still in Canada. You have to apply for an ITIN number ITIN faq

it is a number assigned for the sole purpose of filing taxes if you don't have a Social.

You mail it in with your taxes, it does add a little time to your refund mailing, but for us it made for a much nicer tax return so it was worth the hassle. I'm not sure on the daughter, you'll have to wait for someone else to help with that.

[riblet 0]

You need to file form W7 to get an ITIN.

I'm almost certain that you will not be able to claim the daughter, from what I recall of tax law, dependents must reside with and receive more than half of their support from you.

[Michael and Milahjean 0]

Jazzy,

Go to the IRS website and download the W-7 form and instructions. Fill up the blanks on the form and send it to your spouse for her signature. Don't date it just yet.

Next, she will need a CERTFIED copy of the biographic pages from her passport. It's the simplest way to satisfy the documentation requirements. Read the W-7 instructions. To get the certfication she will need to go to the Dept of Foreign Affairs Regional Consular Office in Cebu and request the certficate. The fee is P100. This is actually a legal size sheet that declares that her passport is legit and it includes essential bio info. This letter will have a raised seal on it and will be signed by an officer.

Have her send the signed W-7 and the DFA letter to you. Next year file married joint and include the signed and dated W-7 form, the DFA letter and a copy of her passport bio pages. She will be assigned the ITIN then. Use your US mailing address. The ITIN information will be mailed to her there. There are special requirements for mailing to follow. Expect a big delay if you are expecting a refund.

Hope this helps.

[jazzy 0]

You need to file form W7 to get an ITIN.

I'm almost certain that you will not be able to claim the daughter, from what I recall of tax law, dependents must reside with and receive more than half of their support from you.

Hi,

The daughter does get more than half of her support from me, she lives with my wife, but i support both.

Jazzy

[riblet 0]

I found this on bankrate.com - but maybe an accountant would be able to confirm this for you:

"Child dependent tests

In order to claim a child as your dependent so that you can use the $3,200 exemption, as well as gain other potential child-related tax breaks, the youngster must now meet four tests:

Relationship test: The child must be your child, either by birth, adoption or by being placed in your home as a foster child. A dependent child also can be your brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister or a descendent of one of these relatives.

Residency test: The child must live with you for more than half of the year. If the youth is away temporarily for special circumstances, such as for school, vacation, medical treatment, military service or detention in a juvenile facility, these particular absences still count as time lived at home. A child who was born or died during the year is considered to have lived with you for the entire year if your home was the child's home for the entire time he or she was alive during the year.

Age test: A child must be under a certain age, depending on the particular tax benefit. For the dependency exemption, the child must be younger than 19 at the end of the year. However, a youth who was a student at the end of the year can be claimed as long as he or she is under age 24. There is no age limit where the individual is permanently and totally disabled.

Support test: This refers to the youngster's contributions, not those of adults in the family. To qualify as a dependent, the child cannot provide more than half of his or her own support during the year."

You need to file form W7 to get an ITIN.

I'm almost certain that you will not be able to claim the daughter, from what I recall of tax law, dependents must reside with and receive more than half of their support from you.

Hi,

The daughter does get more than half of her support from me, she lives with my wife, but i support both.

Jazzy

[lucyrich 20]

This really is one for a tax accountant and/or tax attorney.

Clearly, if you're filing separately, the child doesn't meet the residency test for your individual return, since she didn't live with you.

But if the two of you are filing a joint return (which is most likely the most advantageous way to file, regardless of whether the child can be claimed), then one might argue that the child meets the residency requirement to be considered her mother's dependent because she lived with her mother. And when you're filing a joint return, both taxpayers have equal status on that tax return, so perhaps someone who qualifies as a dependent for the mother qualifies as a dependent to be listed on the joint return.

I do not know the answer. But this is the line of reasoning I'd pursue with a tax accountant if it were me.

[payxibka 10,045]

You need to file form W7 to get an ITIN.

I'm almost certain that you will not be able to claim the daughter, from what I recall of tax law, dependents must reside with and receive more than half of their support from you.

Hi,

The daughter does get more than half of her support from me, she lives with my wife, but i support both.

Jazzy

You need to meet the four prongs of the qualifying exemption test. Failing one prong fails the test. I suspect you will fail the residence test.

Edited December 22, 2006 by fwaguy

[Yodrak 7]

jazzy,

No, your wife and daughter cannot be "claimed". However, as the spouse of a US citizen, you and your wife can request that your wife be considered a resident alien for tax purposes. Submit this request along with Form W-7 application for an ITIN with your tax return. This makes your wife a US taxpayer and gives her a personal tax exemption.

File the tax return as married-joint. Include your wife's 2006 income along with yours on the appropriate lines 7-20 of the Form 1040. Fill out a Form 2555 or 2555-EZ for your wife, and show the result on line 21 of Form 1040, effectively negating all of her income that you included on the preceding lines.

This gives you the lower tax rate available to married couples and you collect both personal exemptions on your joint income. The bonus is that your joint income is equal to your income alone since her all of her income below $80,000 (the figure a few yeats back) is excludable since it was earned overseas.

Yodrak

Hi all,

Not sure where to post this question so i'll try here.....my wife and I are married but se is still in philippines awaiting her interview. She andher daughter of course do not have social security numbers yet. How should US income taxes be prepared? Can my wife and daughter be claimed? I do support them. Do i claim married? or head of house hold?....not sure how this works being married to a foriegn national....anyone have som thoughts, been through this already?

Jazzy

[jazzy 0]

Yes, my wife and daughter can be claimed..."claimed" simply meaning they will appear for tax purposes on my taxes. After talking with IRS (someone in advanced tax law) you are correct about ITIN/W-7; however my step daughter also needs an ITIN....she can be "claimed" as a dependant...even though she doesn't live with me, which is one of the requirements...she lives with my wife and if my wife is "claimed" on my taxes then my step daughter is concidered "living with us" for tax purposes...which is nice because then we get another child deduction and credit...it took almost 2 hours on the phone with the IRS but it was worth it for the info.

Jazzy

jazzy,

No, your wife and daughter cannot be "claimed". However, as the spouse of a US citizen, you and your wife can request that your wife be considered a resident alien for tax purposes. Submit this request along with Form W-7 application for an ITIN with your tax return. This makes your wife a US taxpayer and gives her a personal tax exemption.

File the tax return as married-joint. Include your wife's 2006 income along with yours on the appropriate lines 7-20 of the Form 1040. Fill out a Form 2555 or 2555-EZ for your wife, and show the result on line 21 of Form 1040, effectively negating all of her income that you included on the preceding lines.

This gives you the lower tax rate available to married couples and you collect both personal exemptions on your joint income. The bonus is that your joint income is equal to your income alone since her all of her income below $80,000 (the figure a few yeats back) is excludable since it was earned overseas.

Yodrak

Hi all,

Not sure where to post this question so i'll try here.....my wife and I are married but se is still in philippines awaiting her interview. She andher daughter of course do not have social security numbers yet. How should US income taxes be prepared? Can my wife and daughter be claimed? I do support them. Do i claim married? or head of house hold?....not sure how this works being married to a foriegn national....anyone have som thoughts, been through this already?

Jazzy

[Yodrak 7]

jazzy,

That's a good bit of info, thanks for bringing it back to us.

Now, let's just hope that the IRS info line is more reliable than the USCIS info line. I expect that, overall, it is. (I wonder if it's too late to file an amended 2003 tax return .....)

Yodrak

..... After talking with IRS (someone in advanced tax law) you are correct about ITIN/W-7; however my step daughter also needs an ITIN....she can be "claimed" as a dependant...even though she doesn't live with me, which is one of the requirements...she lives with my wife and if my wife is "claimed" on my taxes then my step daughter is concidered "living with us" for tax purposes...which is nice because then we get another child deduction and credit...it took almost 2 hours on the phone with the IRS but it was worth it for the info.

Jazzy

[payxibka 10,045]

Conceptually I would have to agree with what they told you. However, I read somewhere (and I will find the cite) when you have a non-resident alien spouse, you do not get the marriage bridge to her foreign residence in order to fullfill the dependant residence requirement for non-resident alien child.

[payxibka 10,045]

You cannot claim a person as a dependent unless that person is a U.S. citizen, U.S. resident alien, U.S. national, or a resident of Canada or Mexico, for some part of the year. 1

http://www.irs.gov/publications/p501/ar02.html#d0e3270

[jazzy 0]

fwaguy,

I read this on the IRS web site also. This prompted me to call the IRS and spend alot of time inquiring. Normally you can not claim a child as a dependant if they are not a US citizen, resident alien..etc.....however if the US citizen spouse is providing the support for the step child and the wife is filing jointly and the child lives with the wife over seas this does not apply..and you CAN claim the child as a dependant. I reviewed this with the IRS people....and yes ...LOL ..yodrak i hope also its not the same kind of misinformaton as the uscis. In any case this is not a usual situation but I can claim my step daughter as a dependant.

Jazzy

You cannot claim a person as a dependent unless that person is a U.S. citizen, U.S. resident alien, U.S. national, or a resident of Canada or Mexico, for some part of the year. 1

http://www.irs.gov/publications/p501/ar02.html#d0e3270

[payxibka 10,045]

fwaguy,

I read this on the IRS web site also. This prompted me to call the IRS and spend alot of time inquiring. Normally you can not claim a child as a dependant if they are not a US citizen, resident alien..etc.....however if the US citizen spouse is providing the support for the step child and the wife is filing jointly and the child lives with the wife over seas this does not apply..and you CAN claim the child as a dependant. I reviewed this with the IRS people....and yes ...LOL ..yodrak i hope also its not the same kind of misinformaton as the uscis. In any case this is not a usual situation but I can claim my step daughter as a dependant.

Jazzy

You do realize that information given out over the phone is not a plausible defense in the event of an IRS audit or denial. You need chapter and verse out of an IRS publication or from the IRS code. What basis did they provide you as the source?