I got married and my wife is still in Foreign country and has no Us Social Security

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Black01

Registered Users (C)
Hi guys, tax filing again. This year is very complicated for me and I'm not sure what I should or how I should be filing my taxes.

Here's my situation, me and my wife got married in July of 2008 and she is still in the Philippines and has never been in USA and definitely do not have a US Social Security. What is the procedure in my situation? I want to file "Married filing joint". Please help.
 
Black01 said:
Hi guys, tax filing again. This year is very complicated for me and I'm not sure what I should or how I should be filing my taxes.

Here's my situation, me and my wife got married in July of 2008 and she is still in the Philippines and has never been in USA and definitely do not have a US Social Security. What is the procedure in my situation? I want to file "Married filing joint". Please help.
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Either contact a tax professional or call the IRS 1-800 number. You can elect to treat your spouse as resident for tax purposes even if she is not here, but both of you need to sign a letter making the choice for her to be treated as a resident that is the only option you have to file a joint return. You will have to declare your world-wide income including hers, but you can always file form 2555 to exclude her income. Please read Publications 519 and 54. (http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p519.pdf http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p54.pdf). She will also need an ITIN since she is not entitled for SSN(http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw7.pdf).

All the best.
 
PR81502 said:
Either contact a tax professional or call the IRS 1-800 number. You can elect to treat your spouse as resident for tax purposes even if she is not here, but both of you need to sign a letter making the choice for her to be treated as a resident that is the only option you have to file a joint return. You will have to declare your world-wide income including hers, but you can always file form 2555 to exclude her income. Please read Publications 519 and 54. (http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p519.pdf http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p54.pdf). She will also need an ITIN since she is not entitled for SSN(http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw7.pdf).

All the best.
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Hi..isnt that option for non resident aliens only? Can a spouse staying abroad exercise that option? The IRS documents were not very clear and the tax lawyers seems to have difference in opinions. I am in a similar situation.
 
Are you a USC or GC holder?

Black01 said:
Hi guys, tax filing again. This year is very complicated for me and I'm not sure what I should or how I should be filing my taxes.

Here's my situation, me and my wife got married in July of 2008 and she is still in the Philippines and has never been in USA and definitely do not have a US Social Security. What is the procedure in my situation? I want to file "Married filing joint". Please help.
Click to expand...

Are you a USC or GC holder? Only then will the options given above apply to you.
 
PR81502 said:
Are you a USC or GC holder? Only then will the options given above apply to you.
Click to expand...
Hi thanks for the reply. Sorry for the late response from me. I am a GC holder. I tried filing MFS but the software does show error with my wife SSN textbox being blank. My wife and I agreed that I should file separately. What should I do now? Please help.
 
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Black01 said:
I tried filing MFS but the software does show error with my wife SSN textbox being blank. My wife and I agreed that I should file separately. What should I do now? Please help.
Click to expand...

Find better software, or file MFJ and request an ITIN for her with your return.
 
Filing taxes are months away. How long will it take if my wife apply now for ITIN before she the number?
 
Also another question, is her income going to get taxed too or just my income? I'm sorry dumb question.
 
ITINs are issued after you submit the tax return, along with form W-7. Even for 2008, you should have filed this form, and she would have her ITIN.

If you file MFJ, both of you are required to report all worldwide income. The benefit of MFJ is that it will likley lower the US tax on YOUR income, hopefully more than the tax she might owe on her foreign income (you do it both ways to find out). The tax she already pays in the Phillipines can be used as a credit (or she can even exempt her wages using 2555, as described earlier), so there is typically no disadvantage to filing jointly in these cases (unless your wife is making scads of money or is an heiress)

You filed separately last year, and that was not the end of the world. So why the urgenct once again to get ITIN now in the middle of the year? It is only needed if she files jointly with you, and will be issued after you do that.
 
Thanks Nelsona.

Another question when filing taxes. Can I file joint federal return and separate state return? Tax Cut has this option and I'm not 100% sure if this is legit.
 
Hi Nelsona, thank you for all of your response. I have one more question, do I need to send the papers to my wife and have her sign the tax return since it's a joint return or her signed suplemental documents stating that she is agreeing to file jointly is good enough. I'm asking because event the tax advisor that I talked to is not even sure of this.
 
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