IRS Filing Status

[Sebastian]

Lee - thanks for the compilation !! I'll see how it goes in Chengdu this week or next.

[LeeFisher3]

I'm ready for someone to file a complaint with the DOS for some of the consulates in China hampering a married USC from filing their taxes.

[hopelives]

The W-7 will get her an ITIN number. This number is what you use instead of her SS#. IMO, it is better to file together and not separately.

so if I go and marry her in a few month I could have her fill out a W-7 and I could start declareing 2 then file joint as 2 dependents and get more money back at the end of the year also. Right now they are holding about 400 amonth out on taxes but if I declare 2 I should get an extra 200 to send her now I can only afford to send her 200 because of the economy. She does have a job making 15$ a month I wonder if she will have to declare that or not?

 

We are planning on having a child also so the baby will get a ss right away and I can declare 3.

 

You do not have to report her income. You can Google the W7 and find the form with instructions.

 

I think you do have to report her income for the MFJ status

[Christopher]

The W-7 will get her an ITIN number. This number is what you use instead of her SS#. IMO, it is better to file together and not separately.

so if I go and marry her in a few month I could have her fill out a W-7 and I could start declareing 2 then file joint as 2 dependents and get more money back at the end of the year also. Right now they are holding about 400 amonth out on taxes but if I declare 2 I should get an extra 200 to send her now I can only afford to send her 200 because of the economy. She does have a job making 15$ a month I wonder if she will have to declare that or not?

 

We are planning on having a child also so the baby will get a ss right away and I can declare 3.

You do not have to report her income. You can Google the W7 and find the form with instructions.

 

I think you do have to report her income for the MFJ status

But the first $70K (has it changed recently?) of income earned outside the US is tax exempt. Probably there is a separate form for reporting such income.

 

IMO, if I find a woman in China making $70K who wants to marry me, I will move to China and let her support me in the style to which I should be accustomed. (just kidding)

[mikepellicore]

It might be $87,500, now. Mike & Yizhen

[defendo]

How would you handle state income tax retrun?

 

I handled the state income tax return by giving the same info that I gave with the federal return. I also sent them a copy of the W7 application that was sent with the federal return along with the notarized copy of her passport as well as a cover letter explaining everything. Everything went smooth.

 

How did you get the notarized copy of her passport? I am living in China right now and the US Embassy will not just nortarize a copy of her passport even with me having the original. They say I have to get a Chinese nortary from our city. Then go to the province Foreign Affairs office and have the notary notarized and then bring both documents to ACS and they will nortarize the nortarized documents.

 

Did you just get a notary public in USA to stamp a copy of your wife's passport?

The US Embassy informed you incorrectly, unless China somehow is a member of The Hague Convention.

 

Take the W-7 form along with the instruction sheet, her passport and highlight the following on page 2

Have the copies notarized by a U.S. notary public legally authorized within his or her local jurisdiction to certify that the document is a true copy of the original. To do this, the notary must see the valid, unaltered original document and verify that the copy conforms to the original. U.S. notaries public are available at U.S. embassies and certain consulates worldwide.

Inform them that this is an IRS concerning a USC and their spouse and if necessary run this up through a supervisor or two, you are wanting this certified as a TRUE COPY and nothing else. Unless they are blind they should be able to do that simple task as certification of a true copy only states that they verified the copy is of the original.

 

You might also ask the highly informative person who says to use a China notary to show you documentation as to when China signed the Hague Convention.

 

 

FYI, The Peoples Republic of China became a member of the Hague Convention in 1984!

[LeeFisher3]

The W-7 will get her an ITIN number. This number is what you use instead of her SS#. IMO, it is better to file together and not separately.

so if I go and marry her in a few month I could have her fill out a W-7 and I could start declareing 2 then file joint as 2 dependents and get more money back at the end of the year also. Right now they are holding about 400 amonth out on taxes but if I declare 2 I should get an extra 200 to send her now I can only afford to send her 200 because of the economy. She does have a job making 15$ a month I wonder if she will have to declare that or not?

 

We are planning on having a child also so the baby will get a ss right away and I can declare 3.

You do not have to report her income. You can Google the W7 and find the form with instructions.

 

I think you do have to report her income for the MFJ status

But the first $70K (has it changed recently?) of income earned outside the US is tax exempt. Probably there is a separate form for reporting such income.

 

IMO, if I find a woman in China making $70K who wants to marry me, I will move to China and let her support me in the style to which I should be accustomed. (just kidding)

If you are using the first-year choice, all of the foreign income is treated as US income so there is no exemption for foreign income in that case.

 

If you file jointly you do need to report your spouse's income, but since you don't have a W-2 or 1099 you need to ask your spouse to help you calculate the amount of income to report. I'd suggest explaining how income is taxed including the rate, also that it appears the IRS does not have a method to verify China income and that this puts it purely on the honor system.

 

Then ask your spouse how much income they remember making that should be reported to the IRS to be taxed at whatever rate this would be remembering that this might include paying social security on that income.

 

Be sure your spouse understands the situation and I believe you will discover that they might not have been completely truthful about their income and in fact they didn't make anything all year, but were just trying to make you feel secure about finances and with the difference in language you misunderstood the answer.

[whome?]

Thanks for all the information Lee.

 

It seems that it would be simple for me to go to Beijing and do this or Shanghai. Both are closer for me than GZ. However I thought it would be good to have this request in the GZ records for her future interview. What do others think of this idea?

 

Sorry I hijacked this thread. Last information. I asked Beijing and Shanghai on the phone and they told me to bring my wife, her passport and they would certify the true copy.

 

I asked Guangzhou on the phone and they said they cannot certify a foreign document and I need to take it up with Beijing and Shanghai as to why they can and do not follow the rules. She also said that I have to get the local and province level notary done in the same province as the passport was issued AND GZ will only authenticate the signature of the chinese offical if it is from one of the four provinces they represent. In other words, I still have to go to Beijing if i follow GZ rules.

 

I give up on having my visit to the GZ ACS documented.

 

Beijing will certify that you have true copy of your spouse passport for IRS usage only. Very easy and quick to do. you and your spouse go into the embassy, they have a pre-made form, she takes an oath and signs the form then they notarize it. They even make the copy of the passport for you.