taxes

[Beauty for Ashes 257]

I am a single mom ( now married to a foreigner still in their country) How do I file my taxes as head of household when he has not social security number? How do I put him on my taxes for 2007 because he lives over there and doesnt have a social yet?

[Stabu 0]

As far as I know, you need to obtain an IRS number (not the same as an SSN) to your spouce. Then you file as separately married (instead of filing jointly married as you would likely do in the US). Your spouces income won't matter. This is what we did if I remember correctly. Be sure to check with someone else just in case .

[payxibka 10,047]

You will need an ITIN...

[RandyandRina 2]

We are in the same situation...Last year I filed for head of household rather than married since i do have dependents and my husband is in the Philippines. You claim head of household when majority of your salary (over 50%) goes to your basic household expenses, and also in your case, when your spouse is not in the country to support you, the family or each other.

[payxibka 10,047]

We are in the same situation...Last year I filed for head of household rather than married since i do have dependents and my husband is in the Philippines. You claim head of household when majority of your salary (over 50%) goes to your basic household expenses, and also in your case, when your spouse is not in the country to support you, the family or each other.

Typically you claim head of household if you are single and have a qualifying dependant. Income or expenses typically are irrelevant and not a part of the equation (so to speak).

There is a special exception for a married person if the spouse is an alien and is not present in the USA. However, you still need to have a qualifying dependant.

Edited September 20, 2007 by fwaguy

[Dakine 26]

I am a single mom ( now married to a foreigner still in their country) How do I file my taxes as head of household when he has not social security number? How do I put him on my taxes for 2007 because he lives over there and doesnt have a social yet?

File a IRS W-7 with your returns and he'll get a ITIN number.

[RandyandRina 2]

This is added information that you can read on.

Head of Household

We are in the same situation...Last year I filed for head of household rather than married since i do have dependents and my husband is in the Philippines. You claim head of household when majority of your salary (over 50%) goes to your basic household expenses, and also in your case, when your spouse is not in the country to support you, the family or each other.

[thermophile 0]

You'll get a larger refund by filing jointly. you'll include his income on line 7 then exclude the first $80,000 of his foreign income using form 2555. My husband already had a SSN, so I'm not sure how long it takes to get an ITTN but you might want to apply for that soon.

Edited September 20, 2007 by thermophile

[payxibka 10,047]

You'll get a larger refund by filing jointly. you'll include his income on line 7 then exclude the first $80,000 of his foreign income using form 2555. My husband already had a SSN, so I'm not sure how long it takes to get an ITTN but you might want to apply for that soon.

You cannot just apply for a SSN. A person must be in the USA AND be work authorized at the time they apply.

[pushbrk 13,108]

You'll get a larger refund by filing jointly. you'll include his income on line 7 then exclude the first $80,000 of his foreign income using form 2555. My husband already had a SSN, so I'm not sure how long it takes to get an ITTN but you might want to apply for that soon.

You cannot just apply for a SSN. A person must be in the USA AND be work authorized at the time they apply.

They also need to be here to apply for an ITIN. The ITIN is application accompanies the tax return. In our case, I filed as single and then sent the ITIN app in with an amended return. I've known of people applying for ITINs using passports mailed to them but my understanding from the IRS is that they need a US entry stamped in the passport to get an ITIN approved. ITIN and SSN are not the same thing. My wife has both.

[thermophile 0]

You'll get a larger refund by filing jointly. you'll include his income on line 7 then exclude the first $80,000 of his foreign income using form 2555. My husband already had a SSN, so I'm not sure how long it takes to get an ITTN but you might want to apply for that soon.

You cannot just apply for a SSN. A person must be in the USA AND be work authorized at the time they apply.

I didn't say to just apply for an SSN. I said that my husband already had an SSN, therefore I don't know how long it takes to receive an ITTN after you apply for it.

please read before commenting

[payxibka 10,047]

You'll get a larger refund by filing jointly. you'll include his income on line 7 then exclude the first $80,000 of his foreign income using form 2555. My husband already had a SSN, so I'm not sure how long it takes to get an ITTN but you might want to apply for that soon.

You cannot just apply for a SSN. A person must be in the USA AND be work authorized at the time they apply.

I didn't say to just apply for an SSN. I said that my husband already had an SSN, therefore I don't know how long it takes to receive an ITTN after you apply for it.

please read before commenting

NM

Edited September 20, 2007 by fwaguy

[Dakine 26]

You'll get a larger refund by filing jointly. you'll include his income on line 7 then exclude the first $80,000 of his foreign income using form 2555. My husband already had a SSN, so I'm not sure how long it takes to get an ITTN but you might want to apply for that soon.

You cannot just apply for a SSN. A person must be in the USA AND be work authorized at the time they apply.

They also need to be here to apply for an ITIN. The ITIN is application accompanies the tax return. In our case, I filed as single and then sent the ITIN app in with an amended return. I've known of people applying for ITINs using passports mailed to them but my understanding from the IRS is that they need a US entry stamped in the passport to get an ITIN approved. ITIN and SSN are not the same thing. My wife has both.

In our case that's not the way it went!

I filed the return Jointly and with the W7 IRS form while my wife was still in the Philippines . No problems with my wife getting the ITIN.

They wouldn't allow my daughters tho. Never did figure out why.

You can't file for a ITIN separate from the return.

Edited September 20, 2007 by beckypua

[pushbrk 13,108]

You'll get a larger refund by filing jointly. you'll include his income on line 7 then exclude the first $80,000 of his foreign income using form 2555. My husband already had a SSN, so I'm not sure how long it takes to get an ITTN but you might want to apply for that soon.

You cannot just apply for a SSN. A person must be in the USA AND be work authorized at the time they apply.

They also need to be here to apply for an ITIN. The ITIN is application accompanies the tax return. In our case, I filed as single and then sent the ITIN app in with an amended return. I've known of people applying for ITINs using passports mailed to them but my understanding from the IRS is that they need a US entry stamped in the passport to get an ITIN approved. ITIN and SSN are not the same thing. My wife has both.

In our case that's not the way it went!

I filed the return Jointly and with the W7 IRS form while my wife was still in the Philippines . No problems with my wife getting the ITIN.

They wouldn't allow my daughters tho. Never did figure out why.

You can't file for a ITIN separate from the return.

Yeah, I know of it being done both ways. I think it depends on which individual tax agent handles the return and application. When I called about why they didn't allow my daughter's exemption and issue an ITIN, they said it was because she wasn't in the US for half the tax year. When I said my wife wasn't either, they referred me to the p501 and said my wife shouldn't have been allowed either.

I think it's worth trying, if you're willing to mail a passport or have a way to get a notarized copy of one in your hands. I could have brought my wife and daughters' passports home with me, got them notarized and sent them back but I just didn't want to risk it. That's why I filed single and later amended. (I used the tax return to finance that second trip to China.)

[payxibka 10,047]

Yeah, I know of it being done both ways. I think it depends on which individual tax agent handles the return and application. When I called about why they didn't allow my daughter's exemption and issue an ITIN, they said it was because she wasn't in the US for half the tax year. When I said my wife wasn't either, they referred me to the p501 and said my wife shouldn't have been allowed either.

I think it's worth trying, if you're willing to mail a passport or have a way to get a notarized copy of one in your hands. I could have brought my wife and daughters' passports home with me, got them notarized and sent them back but I just didn't want to risk it. That's why I filed single and later amended. (I used the tax return to finance that second trip to China.)

My reading of the tax law would say that the spouse was allowable but the child was not... The child simply does not meet the definition and there is not a special exception available like there is for the spouse...