Questions on Filing Taxes

[WalterW40 0]

Hello,

I need help. I married in Dominican Republic on June 2014 to my non-resident wife. I want to file jointly.

She does not have a real job with a steady income. She helps her mother in a boutique store and her mother supports her with whatever she can. There is really no way to gauge her income. My questions below:

1. As for the I-130, should we even mention that she is "working"? My thinking is NVC would want to know how she supports herself.

2. If we do mention she is working - how do we claim her income when filing jointly? Make up a number? Do I need to use form 2555EZ?

3. If we do not mention any type of work or income - can I still file jointly?

She is in the process of getting her passport which is needed to get her the ITIN.

I'm so confused and overwhelmed. I definately want to ensure that my TAX filing helps with the Visa interview.

[indhiraastacio 38]

*Lets get these replies rolling*

Hi.

When i went to file this years taxes I asked about including my husband in my taxes but since he doesnt have a social they informed me not to, but i opted to file as head of household. In my humble opinion, I would do just that, what i wouldnt do is file under single status.

*hopefully my reply will get the ball rolling and others will chime in agreeing or disagreeing*

[Zedayn 485]

Hello,

I need help. I married in Dominican Republic on June 2014 to my non-resident wife. I want to file jointly.

She does not have a real job with a steady income. She helps her mother in a boutique store and her mother supports her with whatever she can. There is really no way to gauge her income. My questions below:

1. As for the I-130, should we even mention that she is "working"? My thinking is NVC would want to know how she supports herself.

2. If we do mention she is working - how do we claim her income when filing jointly? Make up a number? Do I need to use form 2555EZ?

3. If we do not mention any type of work or income - can I still file jointly?

She is in the process of getting her passport which is needed to get her the ITIN.

I'm so confused and overwhelmed. I definately want to ensure that my TAX filing helps with the Visa interview.

If you file married filing jointly, then:

1. Yes, you are required to disclose all of her income.
2. You will add the US dollar equivalence of her income to your income on line 7 of the 1040. Yes you will use the 2555EZ to exclude her foreign income.
3. If you do not want to mention her work, then you can file married filing separately.

Your TAX filings for the visa interview are only going to show your income, since her income will be excluded even if you file joint.

*Lets get these replies rolling*

Hi.

When i went to file this years taxes I asked about including my husband in my taxes but since he doesnt have a social they informed me not to, but i opted to file as head of household. In my humble opinion, I would do just that, what i wouldnt do is file under single status.

*hopefully my reply will get the ball rolling and others will chime in agreeing or disagreeing*

You cannot file head of household unless you have a qualifying dependent. A spouse is not a dependent. Read pages 13 - 14 of the 1040 instructions: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040gi.pdf

To qualify as filing head of household, under the section of Married Persons Living Apart, you need to fulfill ALL of these basic requirements:

• You lived apart from your spouse
• You filed a separate return from your spouse
• You paid over half the costs for upkeep of your home
• Your home was the main home of your CHILD (or other dependent)
• You can claim your CHILD (or other dependent) on your taxes

You are correct, you cannot file as single. But you also cannot file for head of household unless you qualify. If you have no dependents, then your only options are Married filing Joint, or Married filing Separate.

[indhiraastacio 38]

If you file married filing jointly, then:

• Yes, you are required to disclose all of her income.
• You will add the US dollar equivalence of her income to your income on line 7 of the 1040. Yes you will use the 2555EZ to exclude her foreign income.
• If you do not want to mention her work, then you can file married filing separately.

Your TAX filings for the visa interview are only going to show your income, since her income will be excluded even if you file joint.

You cannot file head of household unless you have a qualifying dependent. A spouse is not a dependent. Read pages 13 - 14 of the 1040 instructions: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040gi.pdf

To qualify as filing head of household, under the section of Married Persons Living Apart, you need to fulfill ALL of these basic requirements:

• You lived apart from your spouse
• You filed a separate return from your spouse
• You paid over half the costs for upkeep of your home
• Your home was the main home of your CHILD (or other dependent)
• You can claim your CHILD (or other dependent) on your taxes

You are correct, you cannot file as single. But you also cannot file for head of household unless you qualify. If you have no dependents, then your only options are Married filing Joint, or Married filing Separate.

You are absolutely right. In my situation we do have children therefore i filed HOH.

[WalterW40 0]

These are my 3 options: MFJ, HOH or MFS

1. MFJ - I think it would be the most benificial to file MFJ. Firstly it would get us the biggest refund and secondly help in the VISA process.

She is really not employed. I actually support her. She helps her mom's every once in awhile and her mother buys her food and gives her shelter. She doesn't actually receive pay so we may just exclude that.

Can I still file MFJ? Now if we do file jointly, her income would be zero. Do I still need to fill out the 2555EZ? From my understanding, this will need to be filled if she is actually employed (which she is not). Do I just put zero on line 7 of the 1040?

2. HOH - I may or may not be able to file HOH. I do have a daughter (from a previous marriage) which I support. However, I am the non-custodial parent and including her in my return for 2014. Her mother filled out the form for me to claim her. The only obstacle is that my daughter's main residence is with her mom. Would that exclude me to file HOH?

3. MFS would have me owing a significant amount - something I can't afford now. And I think she still need to get an ITIN for this. Might as well do MFJ if this is the case.

[Zedayn 485]

These are my 3 options: MFJ, HOH or MFS

1. MFJ - I think it would be the most benificial to file MFJ. Firstly it would get us the biggest refund and secondly help in the VISA process.

She is really not employed. I actually support her. She helps her mom's every once in awhile and her mother buys her food and gives her shelter. She doesn't actually receive pay so we may just exclude that.

Can I still file MFJ? Now if we do file jointly, her income would be zero. Do I still need to fill out the 2555EZ? From my understanding, this will need to be filled if she is actually employed (which she is not). Do I just put zero on line 7 of the 1040?

2. HOH - I may or may not be able to file HOH. I do have a daughter (from a previous marriage) which I support. However, I am the non-custodial parent and including her in my return for 2014. Her mother filled out the form for me to claim her. The only obstacle is that my daughter's main residence is with her mom. Would that exclude me to file HOH?

3. MFS would have me owing a significant amount - something I can't afford now. And I think she still need to get an ITIN for this. Might as well do MFJ if this is the case.

1. If your spouse has no income, then no need for form 2555EZ as there is no income to exclude. Yes you can still file joint. Line 7 of the 1040 is a combination of YOUR and your spouse's income. So on line 7, you do not need to list your wife's income, but you do need to list your income.
2. You cannot claim head of household since the main residence of your daughter was with her mom. In order to qualify, your daughter needs to be claimed on your taxes AND lived with you for more than half of the year.
3. If MFS results in you having to owe money, then it seems like MFJ would be your better option.

[WalterW40 0]

Thank you all for your responses. Much apreciated

[WalterW40 0]

What about state taxes? I live in NY.

Would it be the same as the 1040 - file paper instead of efile? We first need to get the ITIN.

Do I file 1040 first and wait for the ITIN to be assigned then file state?

[Oksana & Max 94]

What about state taxes? I live in NY.

Would it be the same as the 1040 - file paper instead of efile? We first need to get the ITIN.

Do I file 1040 first and wait for the ITIN to be assigned then file state?

You will need to file form W7 to request an ITIN.

In a meantime you can file taxes and putting NRA for your wife in place of SSN. But you will not be able to e-file, it would require paper filing.

[WalterW40 0]

Ok....So I will do paper file for both 1040. I will send the necessary documents for my wife to sign and have them returned back to me.

My concern is for the NYS tax. My preparer informed me that it will need to be efiled as there is a penalty imposed on both the tax preparer and the client.

Will not be able to do paper return.

So I guess my option will be to wait for the ITIN to be processed and ask for an extension on the NYS in order to efile if necessary.

Any advise?

http://www.tax.ny.gov/tp/efile/mandate_penalties.htm

Below is an excerpt of the NYS Department of Taxation and Finance.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Penalties for failure to comply with the e-file mandate

• If you don't file and pay electronically when required to do so, the department may impose penalties on both you and your clients.
• If you file a paper document that you were required to file electronically, your client may be subject to the failure to file a return or report penalty for that tax type.
• Any overpayment claimed on a paper tax document that was required to be filed electronically won't be eligible to receive interest until it's filed electronically.
• These penalties can’t be imposed upon individual income tax clients or individual income tax self-filers.

[WalterW40 0]

My tax preparer is mandated to do eFile for the State and Local taxes or face monetary penalties. I kept telling him that I will not be able to eFile and only allowed to do paper file.

1. Wouldn't there be an exeption as we will need to get an ITIN and will not be able to eFile? Should I include a letter stating this?

2. My wife tried to send me her passport via DHL and UPS from the Dominican Republic. They denied shipping it and said it was not possible. Can I just use her goverment ID (with photo) and her legalized Birth Certificate instead of the Passport?

[rin and john 71]

My tax preparer is mandated to do eFile for the State and Local taxes or face monetary penalties. I kept telling him that I will not be able to eFile and only allowed to do paper file.

1. Wouldn't there be an exeption as we will need to get an ITIN and will not be able to eFile? Should I include a letter stating this?

2. My wife tried to send me her passport via DHL and UPS from the Dominican Republic. They denied shipping it and said it was not possible. Can I just use her goverment ID (with photo) and her legalized Birth Certificate instead of the Passport?

From their website:

http://www.tax.ny.gov/tp/efile/cause.htm

"Our department will make "reasonable cause" determinations on a case-by-case basis, using our current "Reasonable Cause" standards (included in 20 NYCRR Sections 2392.1, 2396.11 & 2397.7).

We'll also take the following circumstances into account in determining whether reasonable cause exists:

• Whether the preparer's New York State approved e-file software supports e-filing of a return
• Whether the return was e-filed, but rejected for a condition that can't be identified or resolved
• Whether there existed an extended internet outage at the preparer's place of business
• Any other cause which appears to a person of ordinary prudence and intelligence as a reasonable cause for the failure to e-file and that clearly indicates an absence of willful intent to disobey the e-file mandate
• A preparer's overall compliance with the New York State e-file mandate

While we'll make reasonable cause determinations on a case-by-case basis, the following facts and circumstances will never be considered reasonable cause:

• A client's desire to opt out of e-filing
• A preparer's failure to obtain an EFIN
• Ignorance of the law
• Reluctance to provide bank account information electronically"

If your preparer filed without the SSN or ITIN, then it would be rejected.

Your other option would be to file federal and then wait as you said. Once you have the ITIN (took about 10 weeks when I did it back in 2007) you would then file state electronically using the ITIN.

Regarding the passport, you may want to contact the embassy to see if this page is still valid (it may be out of date):

http://santodomingo.usembassy.gov/us_income_tax-e.html

"Instructions for Certification on Form W-7

Persons who are not U.S. citizens but who are required to file U.S. taxes may obtain a W-7 application to request Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN) from the IRS website at www.irs.gov.

The American Citizens Services (ACS) Unit of the U.S. Embassy in Santo Domingo is part of the U.S. Department of State, not the IRS, and therefore does not issue ITIN numbers. However, the ACS Unit can and does certify the supporting documents to be forwarded to the IRS along with the W-7 application. To certify the supporting documents, you must make an appointment for a notarial service through our online booking system. The Consular Section requires the following documents to perform the notarization:

• Form W-7
• Proof of identity (e.g., a driver's license or passport)
• Proof of foreign nationality (e.g., an original birth certificate or passport)
• Fee: The cost is US$ 50.00 for each notarial signature/seal (for updated fee information please visit our website http://santodomingo.usembassy.gov/fees.html)
• The reason why the ITIN number is being requested

Mail the completed Form W-7 application together with the certified documents to:

Internal Revenue Service

Philadelphia Service Center

ITIN Unit

P.O. Box 447

Bensalem, PA 19020"

[rin and john 71]

OP - Please fill in your timeline. If your wife is fairly far along in the visa process you have two other options besides the ITIN:

1) File MFS and then amend your return to MFJ when she arrives and gets a SSN

2) File an extension (gives you until October 15th for Federal, not sure about NYS). Only do this if you think your wife will be here before then.

[WalterW40 0]

OP - Please fill in your timeline. If your wife is fairly far along in the visa process you have two other options besides the ITIN:

1) File MFS and then amend your return to MFJ when she arrives and gets a SSN

2) File an extension (gives you until October 15th for Federal, not sure about NYS). Only do this if you think your wife will be here before then.

Thank you so much for your detailed response. Very much appreciated.

I have yet submitted anything for the VISA process. Will actually submit the I-130 first week of March.

It is actually more beneficial for us to file MFJ as we get more funds. MFS will actually have me owing a significant amount which I can't affort now.

I will need to file an extension and go the ITIN route. It's a hassle for sure.

Thanks again.