Filing of taxes- Joint

[Sheeru Sharma 1]

Hi 

My husband is a citizen of USA. I am a citizen of India, waiting for my visa.

My husband wants to file a joint income tax in USA. Currently I am not employed. I don't have a Social Security number and ITIN. 

Can anyone please guide what is the procedure?

Thanks

 

 

 

[Duke & Marie 1,389]

You need a ITIN which can be filed for at the same time with his paper formatted tax return... but it would be far easier for him to file married filing seperate 

Edited May 16, 2021 by Duke & Marie

[payxibka 10,047]

1 hour ago, Sheeru Sharma said:

Hi 

My husband is a citizen of USA. I am a citizen of India, waiting for my visa.

My husband wants to file a joint income tax in USA. Currently I am not employed. I don't have a Social Security number and ITIN. 

Can anyone please guide what is the procedure?

Thanks

 

 

 

In order to file jointly you must have one or the other ( SSN or ITIN)

 

Read the instructions for form W7 for the ITIN process 

[Sheeru Sharma 1]

3 minutes ago, Duke & Marie said:

You need a ITIN which can be filed for at the same time with his paper formatted tax return... but it would be far easier for him to file married filing seperate 

Thanks! If he will  file tax return with ITIN application, how much time it will take to get processed? Does he get the deduction?

2 minutes ago, payxibka said:

In order to file jointly you must have one or the other ( SSN or ITIN)

 

Read the instructions for form W7 for the ITIN process 

Thanks!

[payxibka 10,047]

2 minutes ago, Sheeru Sharma said:

Thanks! If he will  file tax return with ITIN application, how much time it will take to get processed? Does he get the deduction?

Thanks!

There is an entire tax forum where your situation has been discussed exhaustively. 

 

Go there and read the relevant threads

[Duke & Marie 1,389]

I’m not a tax expert and he should get advise about world wide incomes etc since your income etc needs to be included, many countries also have treaties in place and share information to ensure you’re not double taxed or claim deductibles across both countries and it doesn’t remove your obligation for filing within your home country... it gets pretty complicated from what I saw when in the same situation.. hence mfs being easier 

 

the filing of itin with his return would increase processing times.. maybe by a couple of weeks or more it will depend on how busy they are..  

[Crazy Cat 41,985]

**** I have moved this discussion to Tax and Finances During US Immigration****

Edited May 16, 2021 by Lucky Cat

[seekingthetruth 1,248]

16 minutes ago, Duke & Marie said:

hence mfs being easier 

 

Married Filing Jointly saves most thousands of dollars vs. Married Filing Single.  Well worth the effort.

 

18 minutes ago, Duke & Marie said:

the filing of itin with his return would increase processing times.. maybe by a couple of weeks or more it will depend on how busy they are..  

And if true, why would this matter?  I filed an extension in 2015 in order to allow time to get the ITIN and it saved me a bundle.

 

We live in the Philippines and got my wife an ITIN in 2015.  She does not work so no income here other than bank interest.  Getting an ITIN for her has probably saved me 5-10 k every year since.

[Duke & Marie 1,389]

30 minutes ago, seekingthetruth said:

Married Filing Jointly saves most thousands of dollars vs. Married Filing Single.  Well worth the effort.

 

And if true, why would this matter?  I filed an extension in 2015 in order to allow time to get the ITIN and it saved me a bundle.

 

We live in the Philippines and got my wife an ITIN in 2015.  She does not work so no income here other than bank interest.  Getting an ITIN for her has probably saved me 5-10 k every year since.

A. I said easier and gave no opinion of if it would be financially better or not.. 

B. I gave a timeframe and no comment of if it mattered or not... 

C. Your spouse doesn’t work and therefore gives you a financial incentive and far less complications when filing jointly.. 

D. A working spouse overseas complicates it, they pay taxes in home country (not all of which have treaties with the US) conversion rates to USD take effect, retirement funds that may or may not be recognised by the IRS, interest on savings and investments etc.. this may or may not save you money with the IRS hence my advising he get professional advise... just because you found it easy and saved money doesn’t mean he will have the same outcome, especially since we have no idea about how much each of them earn in determining tax brackets etc

E... again I said easier, which it was in my case, secondly it was financially better for us to file separate also, since the tax system in my home country is far less complicated and provides for more deductibles. it’s purely based on individual circumstances  

Edited May 16, 2021 by Duke & Marie