K1, Taxes, Etc.

[arae 81]

Hi all,

I've read through many of these threads and they've been pretty helpful! I figured I'd pitch my own situation to see if anyone has input.

• My husband entered on a K1 visa on December 12, 2020
• We were married on December 20, 2020
• Therefore, we was only in the US for 20 days in the year 2020
• He has made $0 in the US and will not make any money until he receives his employment authorization
• We applied for his SSN on December 23, 2020 and received a confirmation letter on January 2, 2021. Called for an update yesterday and they said they still have not received confirmation of his documents from Homeland Security so the wait for an SSN continues.

 

So my questions:

• I know I will file as married. Is jointly or separately advised?
• Do I need to get him an ITIN since we still do not have an SSN?
• Any consideration for the income he made in Canada during 2020?
• Can I successfully do taxes with a service like TurboTax, or am I better off hiring someone who specializes in both US and Canadian taxes?
• Any advice on him filing his Canadian taxes?

 

Many thanks for everyone's help!

[Wuozopo 4,293]

26 minutes ago, arae said:

So my questions:

• I know I will file as married. Is jointly or separately advised?
• Do I need to get him an ITIN since we still do not have an SSN?
• Any consideration for the income he made in Canada during 2020?
• Can I successfully do taxes with a service like TurboTax, or am I better off hiring someone who specializes in both US and Canadian taxes?
• Any advice on him filing his Canadian taxes?

 Filing jointly will lower your taxes.

 

You can wait until closer to April 15 to file, hoping the SSN will be issued. You can also get him an ITIN which is more hassle.

 

His Canadian income has to be reported on a joint return, but the taxes it generates can be excluded when you complete Form 2555 in your return.

 

I used TurboTax Deluxe the year immigrated. It can handle everything. I prefer the desktop version you install. The “free” version online will not be free with the extra forms you need. They will charge.

 

No clue on Canadian taxes

 

Because he arrived so late in the year, he wasn’t present long enough to be considered a resident alien (greencard or present 183 days). You have to both elect for him to be considered a resident alien for tax purposes. It is a statement you both sign. That is a perk because he married a US citizen. Because there is no way to efile that statement, you do your taxes with Turbo, then print them out on paper and both sign the 1040, add your signed statement, and mail your paper return. TurboTax will tell you the correct address to mail to. 

Edited February 11, 2021 by Wuozopo

[Wuozopo 4,293]

@arae

 

From the IRS instructions about your statement choosing for your husband to be treated as a resident alien for tax purposes—

 

Attach a statement, signed by both spouses, to your joint return for the first tax year for which the choice applies. It should contain the following information.

• A declaration that one spouse was a non- resident alien and the other spouse a U.S. citizen or resident alien on the last day of your tax year, and that you choose to be treated as U.S. residents for the entire tax year.
• The name, address, and identification number of each spouse.

[H and G 2]

23 hours ago, Wuozopo said:

His Canadian income has to be reported on a joint return, but the taxes it generates can be excluded when you complete Form 2555 in your return.

I’m assuming Canada has a tax treaty with the US hence the tax exemption.... What if your spouse is originally from a country that doesn’t have a tax treaty?  We’re in the same boat (came over on K1 and married in December), spouse is from a country with no tax treaty and before moving here had some income there... can we exempt taxes from his income?

[arae 81]

On 2/11/2021 at 11:17 AM, Wuozopo said:

 Filing jointly will lower your taxes.

 

You can wait until closer to April 15 to file, hoping the SSN will be issued. You can also get him an ITIN which is more hassle.

 

His Canadian income has to be reported on a joint return, but the taxes it generates can be excluded when you complete Form 2555 in your return.

 

I used TurboTax Deluxe the year immigrated. It can handle everything. I prefer the desktop version you install. The “free” version online will not be free with the extra forms you need. They will charge.

 

No clue on Canadian taxes

 

Because he arrived so late in the year, he wasn’t present long enough to be considered a resident alien (greencard or present 183 days). You have to both elect for him to be considered a resident alien for tax purposes. It is a statement you both sign. That is a perk because he married a US citizen. Because there is no way to efile that statement, you do your taxes with Turbo, then print them out on paper and both sign the 1040, add your signed statement, and mail your paper return. TurboTax will tell you the correct address to mail to. 

This is so, so helpful @Wuozopo! Thank you for your insight! 
 

im becoming pretty worried about the SSN. We called this week and they said Homeland Security still hasn’t verified the documents we gave at the social security spot. It’s been about 7 weeks when the confirmation paper they sent said at most 4 weeks. 

[Wuozopo 4,293]

36 minutes ago, arae said:

im becoming pretty worried about the SSN. We called this week and they said Homeland Security still hasn’t verified the documents we gave at the social security spot. It’s been about 7 weeks when the confirmation paper they sent said at most 4 weeks. 

They are usually looking for a name match verification  because they couldn’t find it in the SAVE database. Did he apply in the exact name on his I94? You might ask them to confirm the date that they sent off the manual verification. Sometimes it gets placed aside and they forget to send it to DHS. 

[arae 81]

5 minutes ago, Wuozopo said:

They are usually looking for a name match verification  because they couldn’t find it in the SAVE database. Did he apply in the exact name on his I94? You might ask them to confirm the date that they sent off the manual verification. Sometimes it gets placed aside and they forget to send it to DHS. 

Yes! Exact same name. He has a very easy, common spelling name too. 
 

I just checked SAVE and it says case returned to Maryland SSA 

[Wuozopo 4,293]

42 minutes ago, arae said:

Yes! Exact same name. He has a very easy, common spelling name too. 
 

I just checked SAVE and it says case returned to Maryland SSA 

Is Maryland where you applied? Maybe they will issue the SSN. I haven’t really studied how Social Security offices have been operating during the pandemic so I’m no help.🤷

There is a Socia Security forum.

[arae 81]

4 minutes ago, Wuozopo said:

Is Maryland where you applied? Maybe they will issue the SSN. I haven’t really studied how Social Security offices have been operating during the pandemic so I’m no help.🤷

There is a Socia Security forum.

No, Chicago! Seems Maryland is the main office. I’ve just found the SSN forum so I’ll be taking my problems there 🤣