Filing Tax return with a non-resident spouse

[JimWahers1993 3]

We uploaded my wifes (The US citizen) 2019 tax return and 2020 extension to the NVC website in application for my CR1 visa. 

I have learned through this forum that when my embassy interview comes around that they will not issues a visa unless we have completed a 2020 tax return. 

 

My question is. How does my wife, who is married to a non-resident alien, complete her tax return for 2020. Do I need to get a TIN number? Or is there any other options available. 

Edited June 7, 2021 by JimWahers1993

[arken 4,197]

Your wife can file as Married Filing Separately, no ITIN is required. Only if she wants to file Married Filing Jointly, yours ITIN will be required. The first approach is hasslefree.

[Crazy Cat 41,886]

****Moved to Tax and Finances During US Immigration******

 

Option 1- She can file as "Married-Filing Separately".  She enters "NRA" in the box for spouse SSN, then she mails the return to the IRS.

Option- 2  She can a joint return, but she must include the documents for your ITIN along with her tax return.  This is a little more complicated.

 

If you and she file a joint return (Option 2), then world-wide income from both spouses must be reported.

 

Edited June 7, 2021 by Lucky Cat

[JimWahers1993 3]

1 hour ago, Lucky Cat said:

****Moved to Tax and Finances During US Immigration******

 

Option 1- She can file as "Married-Filing Separately".  She enters "NRA" in the box for spouse SSN, then she mails the return to the IRS.

Option- 2  She can a joint return, but she must include the documents for your ITIN along with her tax return.  This is a little more complicated.

 

If you and she file a joint return (Option 2), then world-wide income from both spouses must be reported.

 

Thank you for moving this to the correct forum.

and also thanks for the response.

 

My next question would be why wouldn’t we go with option 1 it seems the most straightforward. 

Is there any other considerations we should consider when picking either option

[Crazy Cat 41,886]

13 minutes ago, JimWahers1993 said:

Thank you for moving this to the correct forum.

and also thanks for the response.

 

My next question would be why wouldn’t we go with option 1 it seems the most straightforward. 

Is there any other considerations we should consider when picking either option

If the foreign spouse has significant income, option #2 could create a larger tax liability since world-wide income must be reported for both spouses.  However, option #2 could be advantageous if the foreign spouse had little or no foreign income since the spouse deduction would apply.  Option #1 requires only the income from the US citizen to be reported.

In my personal case, I chose Option #1 for tax years 2015 and 2016 since my wife has significant foreign income and there is no tax treaty between the US and Taiwan.  I simply hand-wrote "NRA" in box for spouse SSN, then I mailed the return to the IRS......reporting ONLY my personal income (filing separately).   

 

Yeah, it can get complicated.

Edited June 7, 2021 by Lucky Cat

[top_secret 2,421]

2 hours ago, Lucky Cat said:

If the foreign spouse has significant income, option #2 could create a larger tax liability since world-wide income must be reported for both spouses.  However, option #2 could be advantageous if the foreign spouse had little or no foreign income since the spouse deduction would apply.  Option #1 requires only the income from the US citizen to be reported.

 

We went with option #2 and in our particular circumstances married filing jointly quite literally makes our tax return $10,100 greater than if I filed married filing separately.  like if I go in TurboTax and check off the MFJ check box, the refund score ticker goes up $10,100 but if I check off the MFS check box the refund score ticker goes down $10,100.  I think realistically my wife and stepdaughter will not be able to immigrate until at least some time in 2022😔 so it is quite probable this same scenario will play out again for the 2021 tax year.  Meaning by the time they ever get a visa it would make over $20,000 difference in our returns whether I file jointly or separately.     As noted, other couple's situations may not have nearly the same impact or even have a a very adverse impact depending on their specific circumstances.  But when the differences can potentially be that substantial, it seems very prudent to actually sit down and take the extra time to run the numbers both ways and find out what works best and how much difference it actually makes.  

 

In our case, filing for the ITIN to get the $10,100 larger return required about 10 minutes extra paperwork and my wife had to stop by the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs office in her neighborhood and obtain a certified passport copy at the cost of about $3 so that we did not have to send in her actual passport. 

 

Edited June 7, 2021 by top_secret

[arken 4,197]

3 hours ago, top_secret said:

 

In our case, filing for the ITIN to get the $10,100 larger return required about 10 minutes extra paperwork and my wife had to stop by the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs office in her neighborhood and obtain a certified passport copy at the cost of about $3 so that we did not have to send in her actual passport. 

 

Just so OP know about options, if you feel it is a hassle to go through ITIN process, you can go with MFS for now. Once your spouse immigrates you can amend your prior year (up to 3 years) tax returns from MFS to MFJ and get all owed returns back. So you won't be losing your potential returns, just will be getting back a bit late. Did I mention IRS pays the interest as well on those returns. I did that for 2 prior years when my wife immigrated.

Edited June 7, 2021 by arken

[carmel34 3,633]

if you decide to file as married jointly, check out the W-7:

 

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw7.pdf