Tax return

[Imigrant1974 3]

Does the form gets mailed in?

[Crazy Cat 41,853]

2 minutes ago, Imigrant1974 said:

Does the form gets mailed in?

You might want to use the "quote" function.  Otherwise, it is difficult to know to which post you are replying.....Thanks.

[Jeanne Adil 1,651]

12 hours ago, LilyJohansen said:

OP is not required to do the W7 and get an ITIN for her husband, that is only if she wants to do Married Filing Jointly with him. She can do so if she likes, but she DOES also have the option to do Married Filing Separately, where she does not need an ITIN for her husband. But right now, it doesn't really matter whether she files jointly or separately, what matters NOW is that she amends her taxes to show she is married as it is not legal to file single while married.

doesn't have to but why miss that feature and the higher refund?

[suss6052 32]

20 minutes ago, adil-rafa said:

doesn't have to but why miss that feature and the higher refund?

For one there's the risk of their foreign spouse's passport being lost or mutilated in transit with out sufficient time to replace it before the interview should they choose to send the passport as part of the W7 filing for an ITIN along with their federal return.

 

You can always amend the return later and receive the remainder of any additional refund if due after they arrive in the USA and have an SSN. 

 

Using the free fillable forms for the IRS online you no longer have to mail in your federal tax return even if filing married filing separately, though you would have to work out how to paper file or e-file your state taxes, where as you would have to mail in your federal taxes along with the W7 form for the married filing jointly status, you also have to include their income in your return filing as you're treating the non resident alien as a resident for tax purposes.

 

The timing doesn't always work to allow for applying for a temporary ITIN depending on how far along into the process the couple is, especially if they are anywhere near ready to interview by tax time. 

 

We were already heading into the NVC phase when taxes are coming due, and at least in the Philippines it wasn't so easy to get a passport appointment for my wife so I decided it was best to file MFS then consider amending later once she gets here and has an SSN. 

 

But as always it's up to each couple to decide how they best want to proceed on that, however once married they have to use one of the married statuses to file unless they also qualify as head of household. 

 

[LilyJ 1,258]

3 hours ago, adil-rafa said:

doesn't have to but why miss that feature and the higher refund?

Some people do not want to or cannot wait or go through the process of trying to receive an ITIN to file jointly whereas they can do their taxes immediately filing separately.

[Imigrant1974 3]

Well ill.just amend for now.married separately 

[LilyJ 1,258]

2 hours ago, Imigrant1974 said:

Well ill.just amend for now.married separately 

If you have TurboTax plus, you can amend on there, and have it filled out as Married filing Separately, print it once it's filled out, and write NRA where your spouse's SSN would usually go, then file it by mail.

[Jeanne Adil 1,651]

8 hours ago, suss6052 said:

For one there's the risk of their foreign spouse's passport being lost or mutilated in transit with out sufficient time to replace it before the interview should they choose to send the passport as part of the W7 filing for an ITIN along with their federal return.

 

You can always amend the return later and receive the remainder of any additional refund if due after they arrive in the USA and have an SSN. 

 

Using the free fillable forms for the IRS online you no longer have to mail in your federal tax return even if filing married filing separately, though you would have to work out how to paper file or e-file your state taxes, where as you would have to mail in your federal taxes along with the W7 form for the married filing jointly status, you also have to include their income in your return filing as you're treating the non resident alien as a resident for tax purposes.

 

The timing doesn't always work to allow for applying for a temporary ITIN depending on how far along into the process the couple is, especially if they are anywhere near ready to interview by tax time. 

 

We were already heading into the NVC phase when taxes are coming due, and at least in the Philippines it wasn't so easy to get a passport appointment for my wife so I decided it was best to file MFS then consider amending later once she gets here and has an SSN. 

 

But as always it's up to each couple to decide how they best want to proceed on that, however once married they have to use one of the married statuses to file unless they also qualify as head of household. 

 

I sent only a copy of the ID"s / used national ID 

[Imigrant1974 3]

So I went to see a tax person just to get an idea.he was like u cant file NRA anymore u need to get itin number.and that can take up to 12 weeks.im not sure I feel like he was trying to charge me more money

[geowrian 22,337]

1040 instructions for 2018 still say you can write in “NRA” and file MFS.

[Imigrant1974 3]

What's mfs?

[geowrian 22,337]

1 minute ago, Imigrant1974 said:

What's mfs?

Married Filing Separately

[Imigrant1974 3]

Ok thank you.i have one more question 2017 I dis my self on turbo tax so I can go ahead and amend them.but how about 2014.2015.2016? I had them done by a tax person?

[Crazy Cat 41,853]

17 minutes ago, Imigrant1974 said:

So I went to see a tax person just to get an idea.he was like u cant file NRA anymore u need to get itin number.and that can take up to 12 weeks.im not sure I feel like he was trying to charge me more money

According to IRS, you can.

https://www.irs.gov/publications/p17

 

 

 

[LilyJ 1,258]

1 hour ago, Imigrant1974 said:

Ok thank you.i have one more question 2017 I dis my self on turbo tax so I can go ahead and amend them.but how about 2014.2015.2016? I had them done by a tax person?

Unless you were married for 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017, you don't need to amend them. If you were married in 2018 but filed as single, then you are amending 2018 taxes. Also, the tax person you saw is wrong. You can absolutely file with "NRA" in the SSN space for your spouse. You just will have to file by mail.