IRS Tax returns with certified CPA letter (merged)

[nastra30 2,370]

36 minutes ago, Chane S Steele said:

How do you go about filing with a non resident spouse then? electronically 

• If filing tax return jointly, your only option will be to paper file to get an ITIN for non-resident spouse (if they don't have one already), along with your tax returns. Since it's paper filing you will not get tax transcripts quickly as compared to online filing. If non-resident spouse already has ITIN, then you can simply file online (I'm assuming this is not the case here).
• Another option is for the resident/citizen spouse to file as 'married filing separate' online. Wait for the tax return to be processed. Get your transcript online. Then amend your tax return to paper file as 'married filing jointly' along with ITIN request for non resident spouse.

Edited June 24, 2021 by nastra30

[Chane S Steele 1]

Lucky Cat just said you must have a SSN or tax id number to file online ?

I want to file married but separately 

[nastra30 2,370]

3 minutes ago, Chane S Steele said:

Lucky Cat just said you must have a SSN or tax id number to file online ?

I want to file married but separately 

Married filing separate does not require the non-resident foreign spouse to have ITIN/SSN to be filed. So the US resident/citizen can file online as Married Filing Separate with just their SSN. 

[SalishSea 18,165]

2 hours ago, Chane S Steele said:

Yes unfortunately we had to find that out the hard way now a year later, we at the time , a year ago, asked a family member in the US if he had to and she a registered CPA said he was exempted

 

yeah it makes sense right  , giving them what we have now , hoping they would accept rather than waiting another 4 months 

Why are you still using that CPA?  The requirement for USC ex-pats to file taxes is even printed inside US passports.

[SalishSea 18,165]

2 hours ago, Chane S Steele said:

Does the time frame depend on the state maybe ? we filing in California 

No.  Federal taxes are federal.

[Crazy Cat 42,413]

26 minutes ago, nastra30 said:

Married filing separate does not require the non-resident foreign spouse to have ITIN/SSN to be filed. So the US resident/citizen can file online as Married Filing Separate with just their SSN. 

No.  For the US citizen to file as "Married Filing Separately" when the foreign spouse has no SSN or ITIN, it will require a paper tax return to be mailed in.....

Edited June 24, 2021 by Lucky Cat

[Crazy Cat 42,413]

31 minutes ago, Chane S Steele said:

Lucky Cat just said you must have a SSN or tax id number to file online ?

I want to file married but separately 

For the US citizen to File as "Married Filing Separately" when the foreign spouse has no SSN or ITIN will require a paper tax return to be mailed in.....

Edited June 24, 2021 by Lucky Cat

[nastra30 2,370]

24 minutes ago, Lucky Cat said:

No.  For the US citizen to file as "Married Filing Separately" when the foreign spouse has no SSN or ITIN, it will require a paper tax return to be mailed in.....

I stand corrected. @Chane S Steele, sorry for the wrong info. Indeed, your only option right now is to paper file whether or not you are filing Jointly or separately since you don't have ITIN.

[Almostthere08 16]

11 hours ago, Chane S Steele said:

Did the (change of) marriage status not restrict you to filing online ?

It’s probably because you have to enter the prior year agi to verify identity when you refile and and there isn’t a prior AGI on file  because they didn’t file taxes. This happened to me before. I had to file paper returns and then the next year no problem efiling 

[Chancy 6,243]

On 6/25/2021 at 2:37 AM, JKLSemicolon said:

I believe this can be done using TaxAct, which is the only software I know of that includes a box to check saying that the spouse is a nonresident alien. You would have to choose Married Filing Separately in order to be able to file online.

 

My USC spouse used TaxAct, and while it did allow him to enter "NRA" for spouse tax number, it still did not allow him to e-file as MFS   He printed out the forms generated by TaxAct and mailed them in.

 

[JKLSemicolon 425]

6 minutes ago, Chancy said:

 

My USC spouse used TaxAct, and while it did allow him to enter "NRA" for spouse tax number, it still did not allow him to e-file as MFS   He printed out the forms generated by TaxAct and mailed them in.

 

Good to know.

[Wuozopo 4,293]

On 6/24/2021 at 2:36 PM, Chane S Steele said:

Lucky Cat just said you must have a SSN or tax id number to file online ?

I want to file married but separately 

You have a big confusing mix of answers. See if this helps—

On a Married Filing Separately return, your spouse’s name and SSN (or ITIN) are requested on your return for informational purposes. The IRS instructions say if your spouse has no SSN/ITIN, then put “NRA” for nonresident alien in the SSN field.

 

Well…the major tax software companies like TurboTax and HR Block have programmed that field to accept only numeric entries so you can’t enter NRA (letters) in that field. So there is no way that software will efile your return. A work around is do all the return using the software leaving SSN field blank, print return out, write in  NRA with a pen, sign your return and mail it. That’s why people are telling you that you can’t efile if your spouse has no SSN. It isn’t an IRS rule. It’s all about how the tax software is programmed that prevents efile with their software. 

 

The solution for you—

There is one software that is programmed to allow for NRA to be in the SSN field. It has been mentioned twice in this thread, but maybe you missed it. TaxAct online software asks about your spouse and allows you to choose that your spouse is a nonresident alien with no SSN. It fills in the SSN field with NRA and is programmed to efile that way. 
You can efile your return if you use TaxAct software, even if your spouse has no SSN. 

[Chancy 6,243]

12 hours ago, Wuozopo said:

You can efile your return if you use TaxAct software, even if your spouse has no SSN. 

 

Unfortunately, TaxAct did not work for us (see my post above).  And my USC spouse even paid the highest tier package to make sure he would have full access to all of TaxAct's available services.  Still no dice.  TaxAct still did not let him e-file.

 

[Wuozopo 4,293]

44 minutes ago, Chancy said:

 

Unfortunately, TaxAct did not work for us (see my post above).  And my USC spouse even paid the highest tier package to make sure he would have full access to all of TaxAct's available services.  Still no dice.  TaxAct still did not let him e-file.

 

 Oh bummer. Good to know.  I missed that. I tried a fake return online to see how it worked and how it did foreign earned income exclusion, but did not of course efile a made up return. 

[Chancy 6,243]

9 minutes ago, Wuozopo said:

 Oh bummer. Good to know.  I missed that. I tried a fake return online to see how it worked and how it did foreign earned income exclusion, but did not of course efile a made up return. 

 

Everything worked fine until actual filing.  The tax form even had "NRA" for spouse SSN as we had hoped.  Then TaxAct said cannot e-file.  Turns out we paid around 4x more than the usual tax filing service, just so my spouse didn't have to hand-write "NRA" on the form 😔

 

One thing to note, though -- my spouse had to file state taxes as well.  It's possible that those who only need to file federal taxes could e-file as MFS with NRA spouse using TaxAct.  But we never did find any guarantee about that on their site.