Advice on Filing Taxes?

[Ellxtdan 95]

I am in the process of filing my taxes for 2019. I got married to my foreign spouse in July in Sweden, and we have a I-130 pending. To my understanding, I am required to file as "married filing separately," correct? While talking to my tax guy, he said I should just file as "single" since my husband has no SSN and I can't e-file. I have looked at other sites, and it says I am not allowed to file as "single" since I am legally married. Plus, when the time comes to submit the I-864, it would be weird if I didn't file under married.

 

So my question is, what have other people done in the past? Should I just file as MFS by mail and omit the SSN? Or do I apply for a ITIN for my husband?

[Just Paul 4,595]

4 minutes ago, Ellxtdan said:

While talking to my tax guy, he said I should just file as "single" since my husband has no SSN and I can't e-file.

Tax guy is wrong.  You can file on paper with a W7 for the ITIN or file seperately and just right in NRA.

[Crazy Cat 41,880]

34 minutes ago, Ellxtdan said:

I am in the process of filing my taxes for 2019. I got married to my foreign spouse in July in Sweden, and we have a I-130 pending. To my understanding, I am required to file as "married filing separately," correct? While talking to my tax guy, he said I should just file as "single" since my husband has no SSN and I can't e-file. I have looked at other sites, and it says I am not allowed to file as "single" since I am legally married. Plus, when the time comes to submit the I-864, it would be weird if I didn't file under married.

 

So my question is, what have other people done in the past? Should I just file as MFS by mail and omit the SSN? Or do I apply for a ITIN for my husband?

You cannot legally file as single.  You might be surprised at how many posters here get bad information from their tax people.  You must file as "married filing separately", "Married-Filing jointly (spouse reuires a SSN or ITIN)", or "Head of Household" (if applicable.

 

You can file separately by entering spouse's name in the applicable box and by entering "NRA" in the SSN box.  The return would have to be mailed, rather than electronically filed....good luck.

[stech786 236]

@Ellxtdan I don’t think it would matter. It’s just a status thing. Single you pay more tax, Married/Jointly pay less tax, Married/Separately taxes are same as Single.

Some states require electronic filing. Adjusting prior year taxes may not be allowed after 2 or 3 years of filing

 

i know a lot of ppl file Single & went through i864. It’s hardly even a question at interview. 

keep it simple. My opinion

[Ryan H 3,812]

Moved from IR-1/CR-1 Process & Procedures to Tax & Finances During US Immigration forum.

[Wuozopo 4,293]

11 hours ago, stech786 said:

@Ellxtdan I don’t think it would matter. It’s just a status thing. Single you pay more tax, Married/Jointly pay less tax, Married/Separately taxes are same as Single.

Some states require electronic filing. Adjusting prior year taxes may not be allowed after 2 or 3 years of filing

 

i know a lot of ppl file Single & went through i864. It’s hardly even a question at interview. 

keep it simple. My opinion

I think it matters that that a tax filer follow tax law as laid out very clearly by the IRS. A married person should not file as single.

[DELETEME1234 208]

My advice is to file a W-7 with your tax returns through mail (married filed jointly). This will be the most beneficial since it will apply a higher standard deductible. It's a fairly simple process, I've described it here:

[Wuozopo 4,293]

1 hour ago, Poseidon1212 said:

My advice is to file a W-7 with your tax returns through mail (married filed jointly). This will be the most beneficial since it will apply a higher standard deductible. It's a fairly simple process, I've described it here:

The problem for the OP in this thread is the foreign passport used for documentation with the W7 application has to be the actual passport sent from Sweden and on to Austin with the tax return, or he has to get a copy certified by the issuing Swedish agency, or possibly a US embassy in Sweden, or a Certifying Acceptance Agent in Sweden. And the signed statement and  paper tax return have to be signed by the Swedish husband. So not quite as easy since he is not in the US yet. 

Edited February 10, 2020 by Wuozopo

[DELETEME1234 208]

4 minutes ago, Wuozopo said:

The problem for the OP in this thread is the foreign passport used for documentation with the W7 application has to be the actual passport sent from Sweden and on to Austin with the tax return, or he has to get a copy certified by the issuing agency, or possibly a US embassy in Sweden, or a Certifying Acceptance Agent in Sweden. And the signed statement and  paper tax return have to be signed by the Swedish husband. So not quite as easy since he is not in the US yet. 

Fair, it does require a bit of logistical planning in some cases. However it doesn't need to be overly complicated. When I was in a similar situation we did it as follows: she filed form 2848 (PoA) by fax granting me signing power, I then filed the 1040 with W-7 attached from The Netherlands. In The Netherlands the local municipality (technically) issues the passport or at least they are listed as issuing agency so that was a matter of walking into city hall and get a certified copy within a couple of minutes. In Sweden if I recall correctly it's the police that is the issuing agency so it might be simply a matter of walking into a local police station. 

 

So yes, it requires a bit more logistics, but certainly worth the trouble for a higher deductible. Even if income of Swedish spouse needs to be reported, because the 'worst case scenario' is that they have to apply foreign tax credits, the 'best case scenario' is that they manage to be taxed on their Swedish income according to the US income tax scheme and use the Swedish equivalent of foreign tax credits (if they manage to convince the Swedish tax agency that the US has a stronger claim) because I'm fairly sure that US income tax is considerably lower than Swedish income tax.