IRS Question

A

ajju2004

Registered Users (C)
Hi,

This question is related to IRS.

I am on H1-B visa. Got married in April 05 & came along with my wife (H4 visa) and because of some issues my wife went back home on june 05.
Now my wife from india has filed monthly expense in matrimonial court and is not willing to come back to USA. Legally i am married but dont have any SSN or TIN for my wife.

Now my question is what will be my status while filing tax for 2005. Am i suppose to file single, married or married filing sepreately.

Anyone knows about it and reply will be highly appreciated.

Thanks
 
ajju2004 said:
Hi,

This question is related to IRS.

I am on H1-B visa. Got married in April 05 & came along with my wife (H4 visa) and because of some issues my wife went back home on june 05.
Now my wife from india has filed monthly expense in matrimonial court and is not willing to come back to USA. Legally i am married but dont have any SSN or TIN for my wife.

Now my question is what will be my status while filing tax for 2005. Am i suppose to file single, married or married filing sepreately.

Anyone knows about it and reply will be highly appreciated.

Thanks
Click to expand...
Sorry to hear this.

You can't file Married - You don't have TIN and she will not be available to sign ur returns nor ur refund check (if its refund).

I don't think, you can file single either, as she came to this country on H4 (though IRS & INS doesn't communicate to each on live system, they can't find you), but why take risk. Given the fact that, ur life is already at stake. I am not sure, if she has filed in US matrimonial court, if so certainly u can't file as single and moreover she needs TIN, if she is filing in US.

I guess only option left is Married filing separately. Even for that, if I am not wrong you need TIN.

You better off calling IRS - local office (They are pretty helpful not like INS) and they can guide you with it. You need marriage certificate and Passport of her to file for TIN..even you may be able to get TIN in her absence. Call them.

Good Luck!!.
 
Thanks for your response Kishore,

She has not file divorce case yet, she doesn't want mutual divorce because its not going to get her money. She has filed for for monthly maintence and that she has filed on Indian court nothing in US court.

She is not working before marriage neither she worked while she was staying with me in US after marriage and am sure she is not going to file any income tax.

I called IRS and they are also not sure about the answer .. they keep asking me if she is going to be consider as resident alien. How will I know what she should be consider as because she lived with me for 70 days in this country before went back to India.

I wanna go to HR block but not sure if they will be of any help because i dont have good impression about ppl working with HR block.

Still confused ...
 
HR Block should be able to help you. This is not such a unique situation. you should file "married, filing seperately". do not stress over this.
 
ajju2004 said:
Thanks for your response Kishore,

She has not file divorce case yet, she doesn't want mutual divorce because its not going to get her money. She has filed for for monthly maintence and that she has filed on Indian court nothing in US court.

She is not working before marriage neither she worked while she was staying with me in US after marriage and am sure she is not going to file any income tax.

I called IRS and they are also not sure about the answer .. they keep asking me if she is going to be consider as resident alien. How will I know what she should be consider as because she lived with me for 70 days in this country before went back to India.

I wanna go to HR block but not sure if they will be of any help because i dont have good impression about ppl working with HR block.

Still confused ...
Click to expand...
I am not an attorney, but I believe in US court (even in her absence) you can file to dissolve the marriage, if you have separated within 2 months or so. Either of you owe anything to each other. The other option is after 18 months of separation, you can get divorce (without any lawyer involved in both the scenario). I do not know your situation, however my suggestion is try to work it out and involve attorney at the end, if it doesn't work.

Forget HRBlock .....Most of them don;t know anything. I consider them as trained data entry persons. Write a letter to IRS, they have to answer (it can't be they are not sure, they have to give you an answer). Also go in person...I am pretty sure they will answer you by calling their superiors. Do not rely on HR Block....most of them just take a class for a month and will start working there as tax specialist. Good luck again.
 
Thanks again Kishor
I agree with you HR block ppl are just like data entry clerk and knows nothing about little tedious situation.
Hopefully I'll try to find some answer from IRS or go to some Desi CPA.

Thanks
 
HR Block is for simple stuff...

gc2005nyc said:
HR Block should be able to help you. This is not such a unique situation. you should file "married, filing seperately". do not stress over this.
Click to expand...

HR Block, huh huh huh... they are good only what they can do with their software. Most of them doesn't have any answers beyond what the software let them do. I had enough with them when i filed thru them once. Your situation warrants for an expert Attorney, and i guess they definitely won't charge any $$ more than what you pay to HR Block.
 
Kishore_l said:
Forget HRBlock .....Most of them don;t know anything. I consider them as trained data entry persons.
Click to expand...

That was they are exactly in small centers. Go to the Nodal center they may help little bit more.

Although it looks he has to file Married filing separately There is another scenario here. When someone comes on the H1 with spouse is in home country people usually file single because spouse does not have SSN or ITIN.
Even for married filing separately you need SSN or ITIN.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
srichalam said:
Your situation warrants for an expert Attorney, and i guess they definitely won't charge any $$ more than what you pay to HR Block.
Click to expand...

No, it requires a CPA who specializes in international taxation.
 
Under W4 there is a clause saying you can claim to be single for tax purposes if the spouse is a nonresident alien I am sure there is similar provisions for filing 1040's -- that is probably what the IRS was trying to tell you when they said "resident alien".

Not that you are asking, but I dont think one can claim to tax benefits of a married person if the spouse in not in the US. So international taxation laws are a moot point.
 
Sc3 said:
Not that you are asking, but I dont think one can claim to tax benefits of a married person if the spouse in not in the US. So international taxation laws are a moot point.
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This is not the case. There are some aliens who under the tax treaty can file a 1040 as married even though NEITHER spouse is in the US.
 
TheRealCanadian said:
This is not the case. There are some aliens who under the tax treaty can file a 1040 as married even though NEITHER spouse is in the US.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info - I learn something new every time I open my big mouth, but does it apply to Indians too - or is the tax-treaty based on type of visa?
 
Sc3 said:
Thanks for the info - I learn something new every time I open my big mouth, but does it apply to Indians too - or is the tax-treaty based on type of visa?
Click to expand...
Tax treaty depends upon the country.
 
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