ITIN on F2 - I'm lost!!

C

chetan1978

Registered Users (C)
Hi All

I am currently on F1-OPT. I have been in the US for more than 5 years, and therefore qualify as a 'resident' for tax purposes. I got married last year and my wife is here in the US on an F2 visa. On my tax return, I filed under "Married filing Jointly". I enclosed the application along with the W7 for an ITIN number.

Our ITIN application was rejected - the reason being "the information you provided on Form W-7, Line 3, Applicant's foreign address indicates that you, a spouse or dependent claimed on a tax return are a resident on India and have been granted an F-2, or J-2 or M-2 visa...". We had entered our full address on line 3 and not just the country name (as recommended by the Tax Assistance Center). I was wondering if anyone has any pointers to this problem? Any suggestions will be most appreciated. Calling the IRS help center did not help - they had no other explanation other than what I've mentioned above.

Thanks
 
Hi RealCanadian

Thanks. I think you are right - after looking around quite a bit, it seems that F2 visa holders are not eligible for an ITIN. I'm wondering if there is some way, I can still get to keep the deductions that come with "Married filing jointly". I'm going to meet someone at the IRS center on Monday. I'll post an update when I get back. In the meantime, if anyone else has faced this situation before, your comments will be most welcome.

Thank you all
 
chetan1978 said:
Thanks. I think you are right - after looking around quite a bit, it seems that F2 visa holders are not eligible for an ITIN. I'm wondering if there is some way, I can still get to keep the deductions that come with "Married filing jointly".
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I'm not personally familiar with OPT status, but I'd also question whether you are even a tax resident.
 
Yes, I do - because I've been in the US for more than 5 years and meet the "substantial residence" test. I've previously filed as resident and that has not been a problem.
 
chetan1978 said:
Yes, I do - because I've been in the US for more than 5 years and meet the "substantial residence" test. I've previously filed as resident and that has not been a problem.
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Ah yes. Time in F, M or J status cannot be counted towards meeting SPT for the first five years, but after that, yes, you're likely to be a resident.
 
I suspect that you checked the incorrect box. If you checked 'f' or 'g' as your reason for requesting an ITIN for your spouse, they have no reason to believe that you meet SPT. They are then looking into your spouse's eligibility under the US/India tax treaty.

Since, as you say, you have exceeded the time period for which F1/J1 presence is excluded from SPT, you are a US alien resident, and are thus requesting an ITIN for your spouse on that basis: check box (e) is correct. No need for an Indian address, as you would not be relying on the treaty at this point.

If you did check box (e), then they are simply flat wriong, which is not unusual.
 
Thanks for the input guys. Yes, I checked box "e" on the form. I did go down to the IRS office yesterday. While the person was very helpful, they didn't really know what was going on! The IRS office in Austin (the one that issues the ITIN number) didn't know what was going on either! Here is what they "suspect". Because I checked box "e" - filing as resident, they are assuming that my wife is eligible for an SSN (unless proven otherwise). So, they recommended re-filing the W7 with a letter from the SSN office saying that she is not eligible for a SSN at this time. The tax return was accepted and will be processed without the exemptions for "filing married". However, if we do get the ITIN, they will be able to refund the difference. To their credit, the folks in both the offices were very helpful. Hopefully the ITIN will come through - maybe in a few weeks. I'll update this post as I hear back.
 
The SSN comment is questionable. Most resident aliens here on temp work visa have spouses that are ineligible for SSN -- and ITINs are issued all the time without question. Why else ask for an ITIN in the first place.

Beware that the people who staff IRS local offices are from the same gene pool from which IRS telephlunkies are hired. You have merely gotten a different wrong answer. Let's hope they simply perpetuate their ineptness by giving you the ITIN (right outcome, wrong reason).
 
Finally got it!

Finally got our ITIN today - just a little more than 2 months after resubmitting our application. No reason for why it was denied previously. Now we need to go back and fix what IRS fixed for us! Our return was automatically changed by the IRS because the ITIN was rejected - now we have to go back and clean up their mess! What a waste of time! Anyway, this part worked out as well.
 
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