Filing Tax as Single or Married?

[novedsac 355]

Wow can you explain the crime thing to me? If your spouse has never set foot in the United States and has no social security number or legal status and no income and is not a dependent how is it a crime to file as single?? I've filed single up till now and never had any issues.

Because you provided a false statement on a federal tax return. Same as falsifying income, SSN, deductions, etc.

Residency in the US is not a requirement to filing married jointly/separately, though being able to claim a nonresident spouse as a dependent has different rules.

The instructions clearly list who is eligible in each of the filing categories; not very difficult to interpret.

Hardly think IRS would ever notice or make an issue of it though, unless during the course of an audit.

Not really sure if immigration would notice it at all when reviewing paperwork, or even if it would matter.

That doesn't change the fact that it's a false statement on a federal document that you sign attesting to its truthfulness.

[NikLR 13,227]

married is married is married.

If you are married you must file you taxes as married!

[BruceHill64925 8]

If you are married at the end of the tax year you are married. You do not have a choice (at least a legal choice) to file as single. You file either as married filing separately or married filing jointly. It is immaterial whether or not your spouse has ever set foot in the US, you are married. As a rule, it is usually much better off filing married jointly (you can attach the paper work with your return.You just cannot file electronically. You use form W-7 to request a Tax Id Number for your spouse which requires some identity documents from her.) Even if you file married separately you can still get the marital exemption in certain cases although you cannot get the additional standard deduction. The ONLY reason I will be filing married separately for 2013 is I will have some unpaid taxes. If I filed married jointly my wife would become legally liable for the amount of unpaid tax. I have a valid payment plan with the IRS so it is not a problem, but if for some reason I did not make the payments she would be liable. I don't want to do that to her even though filing separately will cost me several thousand more dollars. Not only is it not legal to file as a single if you are married, if last year's tax returns are submitted during the interview process, the interviewer would definitely ask why you filed as single when you were married.

[CarlosAndSveta 808]

The IRS has an interactive tax assistant that will help you determine your correct filing status. Unfortunately it still hasn't been updated for 2013 tax returns. The rules are still the same except that it doesn't show 2013 as an option. Here is the link to it:

http://www.irs.gov/uac/What-is-My-Filing-Status%3F

[BethAnn and Omar 42]

Well, you see there is this thing called a signature on the form. By signing the form you are stating "Under the penalty of perjury, I declare that I have examined this return and accompanying schedules and statements, and to the best of my knowledge and belief, they are true correct, and complete." So if you complete the form as single and know that you are married then you just committed perjury. You also just paid more taxes then you should have which is a bigger crime .

Dave

Rude and sarcastic gotta love it

Thanks for the advice but I'm pretty sure I'll be okay.

[mpwhitebird 0]

File single. Even though you are married your spouse does not have a SS# hence you cannot claim her as a dependent. I assure you this is correct as I've had my accountant do our taxes for over 10 years and 3 of those years I have been married and still filing single even though I wish I could file as married.

[Sandra_Barbaros 1]

I had to file married filing seperately after calling the IRS last year. You cannot file single and you have to do it as a mail in with the "NRA" handwritten in your spouses SS# field unless you obtain an itin number but I chose not to go that routs with the visa still in process and didnt want any problems before my spouse comes in obtaining an social security card. Unfortunately Married filing seperately gave me a lower standard tax deduction and caused me to owe more but ive been told the taxes can be amended. I dont know of any tax software that is foreign spouse friendly. Hence, the reason I had to mail my taxes in paper format.

[Sandra_Barbaros 1]

I spoke with the Tax Advocates office several times after I had identity theft of my ss# last year and Married status is just that....MARRIED. Either your married filing jointly if your spouse has resided here within that year for more than 6 momths or married filing seperately for less than 6 months. You would NOT file single just because a spouse is not in the USA if in fact you are indeed married. Filing "SINGLE" is incorrect and will cause problems in your visa process...MARRIED IS MARRIED...when in doubt...call your local tax advocate.

[NikLR 13,227]

Rude and sarcastic gotta love it

Thanks for the advice but I'm pretty sure I'll be okay.

you will want to amend your tax returns before the I-864 and certainly for the ROC.

[NikLR 13,227]

My husband called the IRS last year and specifically told him he needed to file as married despite some tax reps telling him to file as single.

File single. Even though you are married your spouse does not have a SS# hence you cannot claim her as a dependent. I assure you this is correct as I've had my accountant do our taxes for over 10 years and 3 of those years I have been married and still filing single even though I wish I could file as married.

You can. Married filing separately. You have been filing wrong.

[mpwhitebird 0]

How would she file separately if she doesn't live in the US or have a SS#? Seems like everyone has different answers from all kinds of sources. We could really use an expert opinion on this.

[NikLR 13,227]

You put NRA in the SSN box and mail it in. OR you can apply for a ITIN for the spouse using a W7. You could have been filing as married filing jointly this entire time.

[GreenMetro 5]

a good accountant will be able to file your taxes without a ssn or tin for your spouse...

[T&T&T 31]

MFJ if you want the best tax advantage. You will need a itin number so file a W-7 but that is not difficult. The W-7 will add 2 to 8 weeks to the processing time. You will need to send a statement along with your tax return signed by your wife saying she wants to be treated as a resident alien for tax purposes. You will need to send certified identification for your wife. If you file MFJ it will give you another $10,000 in deduction over filing single. If she has children you will need to wait until next year after they come to the U.S. before you can calim them.

[No name 88 48]

If you file single and you are currently married the IRS is not going to come after you and your not going to jail. You just overpaid. This won't affect your petition in either case as they only want to see that you have money to support your spouse and there are plenty of reasons you may have filed single. There are many ways to go about this and many more ways if your an expat working overseas and living abroad. It depends on your situation at the time of filing. You can file single this year and refile an amended return once your wife is in the US and has an SSN if it bothers you to put NRA in that box. I've refiled returns after overpaying with no issues.

In my case I'm just going to file married filing separately just because we've only been married 5 months and put NRA in the SSN box. In my situation I'm already getting a huge foreign tax credit and I'm extremely close to being in the 330 day rule for tax exemption but I'm not sure how that works over two tax years and working in India while living in Vietnam. I might get screwed on that one. Technically I should be living and working in India for that rule but we'll see. It ain't easy being an expat employee.

When it comes to filing taxes your more likely to over pay rather than under pay if you don't file correctly. The worst that can happen is your audited. I've been audited once. I got a letter from the IRS explaining that I'm being audited. Six months later I get a letter that my audit is complete and that I overpaid 22 cents; in the same stack of mail was a Treasury check for 22 cents. That was the entire audit and I didn't have to do anything. I still have no idea how they came up with that figure; the stamp cost more.

When signing the bottom of the return you are certifying that you didn't file a bunch of bull deductions to get out of paying tax. If your married and you filed single it doesn't matter other than you paid too much. If you file married and your single plus you put down a fake name/ssn for your spouse that is a different story; you better lawyer up.

Edited January 25, 2014 by Todd&Hanh