filed single (split topic)

[piersonc 0]

Okay, wish I had seen this particular thread earlier this year... I just filed my 2014 taxes as Single under the instruction of a Tax accountant and timeline pressure of buying a house. After reading this thread, I believe I should have just filed Married Separately or Jointly. Can someone please confirm how I should have filed? Here is a breakdown of my situation:

1. My Bolivian wife and I married on Nov. 22, 2014
2. We applied for I130, I485, etc... all paperwork in March 2015 and she finally got her Green Card & SSN in June 2015.
3. I began the home buying process in Aug 2015, which required I show 2014 tax returns. Tax accountant advised me to file single to get the fastest return for the home underwriting process. His reasoning was he was not sure she met the substantial presence test and this being the first filing using her SSN might delay the return. Later is should file Married Separate/Jointly depending on substantial presence.
4. My wife did not work in either USA or her home country in 2014.

So, that being said... when filing an amended return, can I file the Married filing Jointly or must I file Married Separately?

• It does not appear she passes the substantial presence test
• She has no income for 2014 to report

I believe I can amend my filing as Married jointly. Can someone please advise?

Thanks so much in advance!

[Thozelle 16]

Okay, wish I had seen this particular thread earlier this year... I just filed my 2014 taxes as Single under the instruction of a Tax accountant and timeline pressure of buying a house. After reading this thread, I believe I should have just filed Married Separately or Jointly. Can someone please confirm how I should have filed? Here is a breakdown of my situation:

• My Bolivian wife and I married on Nov. 22, 2014
• We applied for I130, I485, etc... all paperwork in March 2015 and she finally got her Green Card & SSN in June 2015.
• I began the home buying process in Aug 2015, which required I show 2014 tax returns. Tax accountant advised me to file single to get the fastest return for the home underwriting process. His reasoning was he was not sure she met the substantial presence test and this being the first filing using her SSN might delay the return. Later is should file Married Separate/Jointly depending on substantial presence.
• My wife did not work in either USA or her home country in 2014.

So, that being said... when filing an amended return, can I file the Married filing Jointly or must I file Married Separately?

• It does not appear she passes the substantial presence test
• She has no income for 2014 to report

I believe I can amend my filing as Married jointly. Can someone please advise?

Thanks so much in advance!

Read IRS Pub 519, section titled Nonresident Spouse Treated As Resident

- attach a letter to the 2014 ammended tax return (married filing jointly) requesting your wife be treated as a resident for 2014.

[Ryan H 3,812]

Posts split from old thread.

[MariaR323 199]

Okay, wish I had seen this particular thread earlier this year... I just filed my 2014 taxes as Single under the instruction of a Tax accountant and timeline pressure of buying a house. After reading this thread, I believe I should have just filed Married Separately or Jointly. Can someone please confirm how I should have filed? Here is a breakdown of my situation:

1. My Bolivian wife and I married on Nov. 22, 2014
2. We applied for I130, I485, etc... all paperwork in March 2015 and she finally got her Green Card & SSN in June 2015.
3. I began the home buying process in Aug 2015, which required I show 2014 tax returns. Tax accountant advised me to file single to get the fastest return for the home underwriting process. His reasoning was he was not sure she met the substantial presence test and this being the first filing using her SSN might delay the return. Later is should file Married Separate/Jointly depending on substantial presence.
4. My wife did not work in either USA or her home country in 2014.

So, that being said... when filing an amended return, can I file the Married filing Jointly or must I file Married Separately?

• It does not appear she passes the substantial presence test
• She has no income for 2014 to report

I believe I can amend my filing as Married jointly. Can someone please advise?

Thanks so much in advance!

I *highly* suggest you look for another tax accountant because "substantial presence" shouldn't even need to be taken into account here since you have the option to treat a nonresident spouse as a resident spouse if you so choose to.

If she has no income for 2014 then your most beneficial filing status will be Married Filing Jointly (MFJ).

~Maria

[Joshua@Tinz 52]

I *highly* suggest you look for another tax accountant because "substantial presence" shouldn't even need to be taken into account here since you have the option to treat a nonresident spouse as a resident spouse if you so choose to.

If she has no income for 2014 then your most beneficial filing status will be Married Filing Jointly (MFJ).

~Maria

Its not possible to file jointly if she is a non resident alien, she has no tax id #, been told you could file seperate, Im yet to find a CPA or accountant that can and will

[MariaR323 199]

Its not possible to file jointly if she is a non resident alien, she has no tax id #, been told you could file seperate, Im yet to find a CPA or accountant that can and will

Joshua,

It *is* possible to file jointly because you have the option to treat a nonresident spouse as a resident spouse for tax purposes. In choosing to treat the spouse as a resident spouse, you do need either a SSN or ITIN. In this case, OP indicates spouse has a SSN now. They can amend their 2014 tax return and use the MFJ filing status.

Back at the time the tax return was prepared, no SSN was available - which I understand. However, a Form W-7 to apply for the ITIN could have been prepared and attached to the initial tax return to claim MFJ at that time. Technically you are considered married and are not allowed to file using Single status. Based on the facts provided (spouse had no income), this is the most beneficial since the Single filing status is typically double the rate to that of MFJ.

In short, if you have a nonresident spouse and the MFJ status is most beneficial to you, why would you NOT want to apply for the ITIN for your nonresident spouse to be able to choose to treat them as a resident spouse and have a lower tax rate and more money in your pocket.

*Side note. Joshua, you probably want to look for a CPA or accountant who also has a tax preparation/tax law background. This is something fairly easy to do and it could possibly save you a lot of money in taxes.

~Maria

Edited October 9, 2015 by MariaR323

[Joshua@Tinz 52]

If someone could please direct me to this mythical cpa who does this i could save about 20,000$, heres another one, how can you file foreign earned income, claim the exemption and still show income on line 37 for the nvc to see ?

[Thozelle 16]

Joshua,

It *is* possible to file jointly because you have the option to treat a nonresident spouse as a resident spouse for tax purposes. In choosing to treat the spouse as a resident spouse, you do need either a SSN or ITIN. In this case, OP indicates spouse has a SSN now. They can amend their 2014 tax return and use the MFJ filing status.

Back at the time the tax return was prepared, no SSN was available - which I understand. However, a Form W-7 to apply for the ITIN could have been prepared and attached to the initial tax return to claim MFJ at that time. Technically you are considered married and are not allowed to file using Single status. Based on the facts provided (spouse had no income), this is the most beneficial since the Single filing status is typically double the rate to that of MFJ.

In short, if you have a nonresident spouse and the MFJ status is most beneficial to you, why would you NOT want to apply for the ITIN for your nonresident spouse to be able to choose to treat them as a resident spouse and have a lower tax rate and more money in your pocket.

~Maria

Exactly what we did this year. Applied ITIN (W7) with ammended 2013 return. Then filed 2014 with her ITIN. Significant financial benefit, plus additional evidence of relationship (but not sure how strongly that is looked at)

[MariaR323 199]

If someone could please direct me to this mythical cpa who does this i could save about 20,000$, heres another one, how can you file foreign earned income, claim the exemption and still show income on line 37 for the nvc to see ?

If you could save about 20k, then if I were you I'd probably be doing a google search like NOW for a CPA with (good) tax preparation and tax law background lol

In regards to your quest referring to line 37, AGI on form 1040, it's based on each taxpayer's individual situation. So, unless I know your specific situation and I'm preparing your tax return, I can't tell you if you should or shouldn't be reflecting a number on that line.

~Maria

Edited October 9, 2015 by MariaR323

[Joshua@Tinz 52]

If you could save about 20k, then if I were you I'd probably be doing a google search like NOW for a CPA with (good) tax preparation and tax law background lol

In regards to your quest referring to line 37, AGI on form 1040, it's based on each taxpayer's individual situation. So, unless I know your specific situation and I'm preparing your tax return, I can't tell you if you should or shouldn't be reflecting a number on that line.

~Maria

It is way too late for me, and the OP may have been referring to my post from some time back about filing single....All my income from january 2011-march 2015 was foreign earned income,

I ran into 2 major issues and had to amend 3 years

1) while making more then 6xs the income requirment, I was claiming the foreign earned income exclusion, which shows almost a 0 in line 37, which is what uscis and nvc will look for on your tax returns, tried to use 4 different cpas, a couple of accounting firms, no one could navigate this, basically there was no way to show my income on the correct place, while keeping my FEI exemption

2) All of these people where also 100% against me filing married with my spouse living abroad, basically I ran out of options, I must have talked to every tax professional within 100 mile radius of me,

So now I have already amended 3 years, dropped the FEI exemption, and filed single. Cannot just jump in and amend again this late in the game......All told I owe for 3 years about 43,000. When this is over and she is here, I plan on requesting an audit, I will probably be the only person in history to do so, but I am kinda out of options at this point and my back is against the wall

[MariaR323 199]

It is way too late for me, and the OP may have been referring to my post from some time back about filing single....All my income from january 2011-march 2015 was foreign earned income,

I ran into 2 major issues and had to amend 3 years

1) while making more then 6xs the income requirment, I was claiming the foreign earned income exclusion, which shows almost a 0 in line 37, which is what uscis and nvc will look for on your tax returns, tried to use 4 different cpas, a couple of accounting firms, no one could navigate this, basically there was no way to show my income on the correct place, while keeping my FEI exemption

2) All of these people where also 100% against me filing married with my spouse living abroad, basically I ran out of options, I must have talked to every tax professional within 100 mile radius of me,

So now I have already amended 3 years, dropped the FEI exemption, and filed single. Cannot just jump in and amend again this late in the game......All told I owe for 3 years about 43,000. When this is over and she is here, I plan on requesting an audit, I will probably be the only person in history to do so, but I am kinda out of options at this point and my back is against the wall

Now I understand why the question referring to the AGI on line 37.

So while I am a registered (seasoned) tax preparer, I'm not a seasoned VJ'er regarding the immigration process... so maybe somebody can chime in on this one.

Thinking out loud here...

If due to the circumstances, your tax return will show a minimal amount, or 0, for AGI because you are claiming the foreign earned income exemption, that is just a technicality of the return preparation. That does not mean you do not have earned wages/income. I would think that for the immigration process they are looking to see what your yearly income is not solely based on a tax return but rather moreso based on what the employer confirms in an employer verification letter as to your annual salary. So if you were married and started the immigration process, I also think it would be to your advantage to show a tax return filed jointly with your spouse. This I believe is also used as strong evidence of a bona fide marriage (the joining of finances).

But with all that said and done, if you choose to wait until your process is over, you can always submit another amendment. There is no rule against how many times you can amend your tax return. Granted it will probably flag it for a "more detailed review" before it is approved but if you have your records in order then I don't foresee that being a problem for you at all.

Hope this helps

[Joshua@Tinz 52]

Now I understand why the question referring to the AGI on line 37.

So while I am a registered (seasoned) tax preparer, I'm not a seasoned VJ'er regarding the immigration process... so maybe somebody can chime in on this one.

Thinking out loud here...

If due to the circumstances, your tax return will show a minimal amount, or 0, for AGI because you are claiming the foreign earned income exemption, that is just a technicality of the return preparation. That does not mean you do not have earned wages/income. I would think that for the immigration process they are looking to see what your yearly income is not solely based on a tax return but rather moreso based on what the employer confirms in an employer verification letter as to your annual salary. So if you were married and started the immigration process, I also think it would be to your advantage to show a tax return filed jointly with your spouse. This I believe is also used as strong evidence of a bona fide marriage (the joining of finances).

But with all that said and done, if you choose to wait until your process is over, you can always submit another amendment. There is no rule against how many times you can amend your tax return. Granted it will probably flag it for a "more detailed review" before it is approved but if you have your records in order then I don't foresee that being a problem for you at all.

Hope this helps

Yea it has been a mess, ended up Hiring a lawyer, she advised me that they wont look anywhere else only at line 37 and if its not showing there then its not gonna pass for income, its been a very very costly headache, Im just gonna get through this and get her here and then push on from there whatever direction that may be, amending again will be the first step of course, thanks for the advice

[MariaR323 199]

Beautiful pics!

I'm sure it will all be worth it in the end. There's a light at the end of the tunnel here so no worries