IRS W8 for opening a savings account

[ltkenbo 3]

My wife just arrived on the K1 visa a month ago (she was my fiancee then). We got married recently and she has obtained her SSN. We have not filed for AOS yet so she is she is not a permanent resident yet. She went with my grandma to our credit union today to open an account. At the credit union you have to both open a checking and savings and you can earn interest on the savings every year just like most banks. So because of the possible interest, the lady told them she had to fill out a W8 so that the IRS can tax 30% of any interest earned since she is not yet a resident. Really this doesn't matter to us since the interest is so low anyways that the tax would be almost nothing, but I just wanted to see what people thought and if anyone else experienced the same things.

Again she is not a resident yet. I'd seen similar posts on here but they were mostly for people that were told they needed to fill out that form when they were a permanent resident.

[TBoneTX 45,284]

*** Thread moved from the "Moving Here" forum to the "Tax & Finances" forum. ***

Edited March 18, 2014 by TBoneTX

[Owen_London 65]

A W8 is so she is listed as non-resident for US tax, so that she doesn't have to pay taxes on the bank interest. Once she is a resident, she will need to fill out a W9 form to supply them with her social security number. Permanent residents should not fill out W8 forms.

If you are working, it is likely that you'd do better to elect to file your 2014 tax return as married filing jointly, and elect to count your wife as resident for all of 2014 (which married couples are allowed to do).

As long as you decide that you will file married filing jointly, I'd just wait and supply the credit union with a W9 once your wife has filed for AOS.

[ltkenbo 3]

So her filing a W8 would made me ineligible to file jointly?

[Owen_London 65]

So her filing a W8 would made me ineligible to file jointly?

I don't think so.

Once she counts as a tax resident under the substantial presence test, or once you and she elect to file taxes as married filing joint, she can go back and file a W9 with her SSN.

If taxes are due on the bank interest, you'd include that when you file your 2014 return. Tax rates on bank accounts are incredibly low right now, so I don't imagine there will be much income to tax.