vpr Posted April 5, 2010 Report Share Posted April 5, 2010 I'm a bit confused about how I should file my taxes for 2009. I lived the whole year in 2009, so it's only Foreign Earned Income (2555), no US earned income. In the past I just used TurboTax or what-have-you and did it without much thought. However, this year it's different since we're going for the Visa (Interview on the 26th). How should I mark my marriage status? She has no SSN or TIDN. Is it okay just to file as 'Single' but I don't want it to seem like we're trying to pull a fast one at the interview. I'm from Texas, so we don't have State Tax. Help would be appreciated - thanks,vpr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy W Posted April 5, 2010 Report Share Posted April 5, 2010 (edited) I'm a bit confused about how I should file my taxes for 2009. I lived the whole year in 2009, so it's only Foreign Earned Income (2555), no US earned income. In the past I just used TurboTax or what-have-you and did it without much thought. However, this year it's different since we're going for the Visa (Interview on the 26th). How should I mark my marriage status? She has no SSN or TIDN. Is it okay just to file as 'Single' but I don't want it to seem like we're trying to pull a fast one at the interview. I'm from Texas, so we don't have State Tax. Help would be appreciated - thanks,vpr If you're married, you're married - no need to lie to the IRS, especially if it would cost you money. If you don't owe any taxes, however, you may still wish to file married for immigration purposes. It looks like your choice, however, is between trying to get her document copies notarized, and filing single. Your call there. I wouldn't think it would affect your interview Filing Jointly While Your Spouse is in China or Otherwise Ineligible for an SSN You will need an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN). See http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=96287,00.html IRS issues ITINs to foreign nationals and others who have federal tax reporting or filing requirements and do not qualify for SSNs. A non-resident alien individual not eligible for a SSN, who is required to file a U.S. tax return only to claim a refund of tax under the provisions of a U.S. tax treaty, needs an ITIN. Documents acceptable for identification include the passport, or two of the other documents listed at http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=96287,00.html (e.g., National ID, driver's license, birth certificate). Note that these must be the original documents, or notarized copies. Since China is not a party to the Hague Convention, a copy of the document must be notarized either at a Consulate, or here in the US. Originals may be mailed in (they will be returned, although this is not recommended), or may be taken to an IRS office. Apply using Form W-7, Application for IRS IndividualTaxpayer Identification Number, which must be attached to an income tax return and mailed to the ITIN Operation Service Center in Austin, TX. Use this address for both the W-7 and the return instead of the one listed in the instruction book. For your first year filing jointly, you will want to get a copy of Publication 519, U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens, particularly if the foreign spouse has income in China that needs to be reported. The First Year Choice may allow you to declare your spouse a nonresident alien for part of the year, and a resident for the rest, which can have big advantages if your spouse has substantial reported income in China. As long as you are married on Dec 31 of that year, you should be able to file married filing jointly, even if your spouse is classified a non-resident alien for the entire year. This is usually the best option for those of us whose spouses have had no reportable income for the tax year. This option allows you to file a married filing jointly return with no complications except for the ITIN. From Publication 519:Nonresident Spouse Treated as a Resident If, at the end of your tax year, you are married and one spouse is a U.S. citizen or a resident alien and the other spouse is a nonresident alien, you can choose to treat the nonresident spouse as a U.S. resident. If you make this choice, you and your spouse are treated for income tax purposes as residents for your entire tax year. Neither you nor your spouse can claim under any tax treaty not to be U.S. resident. b]You are both taxed on worldwide income.[/b] You must file a joint income tax return for the year you make the choice, but you and your spouse can file joint or separate returns in later years. Attach a statement, signed by both spouses, to your joint return for the first tax year for which the choice applies. It should contain the following information.• A declaration that one spouse was a nonresident alien and the other spouse a U.S. citizen or resident alien on the last day of your tax year, and that you choose to be treated as U.S. residents for the entire tax year. • The name, address, and identification number of each spouse. (If one spouse died, include the name and address of the person making the choice for the deceased spouse.)The notation:Consular offices at U.S. Embassies and Consulates overseas may not certify true copies of foreign public documents and will refer applicants to the foreign authority that issued the document. was added to the W-7 instructions in March, 2009. At last report, the Beijing Embassy and Shanghai consulates were willing to notarize "true copies", Guangzhou was not. Edited April 5, 2010 by Randy W (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tsap seui Posted April 5, 2010 Report Share Posted April 5, 2010 I'm a bit confused about how I should file my taxes for 2009. I lived the whole year in 2009, so it's only Foreign Earned Income (2555), no US earned income. In the past I just used TurboTax or what-have-you and did it without much thought. However, this year it's different since we're going for the Visa (Interview on the 26th). How should I mark my marriage status? She has no SSN or TIDN. Is it okay just to file as 'Single' but I don't want it to seem like we're trying to pull a fast one at the interview. I'm from Texas, so we don't have State Tax. Help would be appreciated - thanks,vpr If you're married, you're married - no need to lie to the IRS, especially if it would cost you money. If you don't owe any taxes, however, you may still wish to file married for immigration purposes. It looks like your choice, however, is between trying to get her document copies notarized, and filing single. Your call there. I wouldn't think it would affect your interview Filing Jointly While Your Spouse is in China or Otherwise Ineligible for an SSN You will need an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN). See http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=96287,00.html IRS issues ITINs to foreign nationals and others who have federal tax reporting or filing requirements and do not qualify for SSNs. A non-resident alien individual not eligible for a SSN, who is required to file a U.S. tax return only to claim a refund of tax under the provisions of a U.S. tax treaty, needs an ITIN. Documents acceptable for identification include the passport, or two of the other documents listed at http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=96287,00.html (e.g., National ID, driver's license, birth certificate). Note that these must be the original documents, or notarized copies. Since China is not a party to the Hague Convention, a copy of the document must be notarized either at a Consulate, or here in the US. Originals may be mailed in (they will be returned, although this is not recommended), or may be taken to an IRS office. Apply using Form W-7, Application for IRS IndividualTaxpayer Identification Number, which must be attached to an income tax return and mailed to the ITIN Operation Service Center in Austin, TX. Use this address for both the W-7 and the return instead of the one listed in the instruction book. For your first year filing jointly, you will want to get a copy of Publication 519, U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens, particularly if the foreign spouse has income in China that needs to be reported. The First Year Choice may allow you to declare your spouse a nonresident alien for part of the year, and a resident for the rest, which can have big advantages if your spouse has substantial reported income in China. As long as you are married on Dec 31 of that year, you should be able to file married filing jointly, even if your spouse is classified a non-resident alien for the entire year. This is usually the best option for those of us whose spouses have had no reportable income for the tax year. This option allows you to file a married filing jointly return with no complications except for the ITIN. From Publication 519:Nonresident Spouse Treated as a Resident If, at the end of your tax year, you are married and one spouse is a U.S. citizen or a resident alien and the other spouse is a nonresident alien, you can choose to treat the nonresident spouse as a U.S. resident. If you make this choice, you and your spouse are treated for income tax purposes as residents for your entire tax year. Neither you nor your spouse can claim under any tax treaty not to be U.S. resident. b]You are both taxed on worldwide income.[/b] You must file a joint income tax return for the year you make the choice, but you and your spouse can file joint or separate returns in later years. Attach a statement, signed by both spouses, to your joint return for the first tax year for which the choice applies. It should contain the following information.• A declaration that one spouse was a nonresident alien and the other spouse a U.S. citizen or resident alien on the last day of your tax year, and that you choose to be treated as U.S. residents for the entire tax year. • The name, address, and identification number of each spouse. (If one spouse died, include the name and address of the person making the choice for the deceased spouse.)The notation:Consular offices at U.S. Embassies and Consulates overseas may not certify true copies of foreign public documents and will refer applicants to the foreign authority that issued the document. was added to the W-7 instructions in March, 2009. At last report, the Beijing Embassy and Shanghai consulates were willing to notarize "true copies", Guangzhou was not. Randy, that was a boatload of info there. In our situation there is no refund as the money since our marriage is well...tax free money from the Uncle hisowndamned self. I would like to put lil' rabbit and son on my tax form strictly for the visa application as additional proof of the bona fide relationship. Do I need to jump through the hoops with getting their passports notorized, etc. . sending forms and letters to God knows where? If so This ol' boy is filing single...let the other 10 pounds of bona fide relationship stand on their own merit. tsap seui Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy W Posted April 5, 2010 Report Share Posted April 5, 2010 Yeah, you need either the ITIN or an SSN in order to put anyone on your tax return. There is nothing wrong whatsoever with filing single even if you are married. If you get an SSN for them on down the line somewhere, you can file an amended return if you want for any reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tsap seui Posted April 5, 2010 Report Share Posted April 5, 2010 Yeah, you need either the ITIN or an SSN in order to put anyone on your tax return. There is nothing wrong whatsoever with filing single even if you are married. If you get an SSN for them on down the line somewhere, you can file an amended return if you want for any reason. Alrighty now, I'll just file single, I never knew it was so much to get them an ITIN number, yes, I'm no furreigner, but the last time I got an ITIN number I jest did it off the internet. I saw MIchael or someone had said they had gotten an ITIN number for their wife, but I'll be damned if I'm gonna make the lil' rabbit go to some dern American consulate to get her ID card and passport notorized just for this, or have them sent to me so I can do the moonwalk with them through some governmental office, and then send them back. Maybe I could just do like I do on all these visa forms and say..."Please see Continuation Sheet" and blather on endlessly about the situation. tsap seui By the way...beautiful car!! I hope things are going well in the Homeland for you guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vpr Posted April 5, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2010 Yeah, you need either the ITIN or an SSN in order to put anyone on your tax return. There is nothing wrong whatsoever with filing single even if you are married. If you get an SSN for them on down the line somewhere, you can file an amended return if you want for any reason. Yea, I saw your original post and just kind of closed it then brought it back up and read through it. A little intimidating to be sure. Since the school I work for was fighting about giving me the time off to go to Guangzhou on the 26th, I doubt I'd be able to get the time off to go to Beijing. (I'm in Wuhan) so I think I'll just be filling Single since it seems to not be a big problem as I suspected it might be. I'll write up a letter for her to lug to the interview if need be explaining it. Just to clarify: My intentions were never to lie to the IRS. Thanks and I'm glad my question helped someone else too, always nice to know you're not the only one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy W Posted April 5, 2010 Report Share Posted April 5, 2010 Yeah, you need either the ITIN or an SSN in order to put anyone on your tax return. There is nothing wrong whatsoever with filing single even if you are married. If you get an SSN for them on down the line somewhere, you can file an amended return if you want for any reason. Alrighty now, I'll just file single, I never knew it was so much to get them an ITIN number, yes, I'm no furreigner, but the last time I got an ITIN number I jest did it off the internet. I saw MIchael or someone had said they had gotten an ITIN number for their wife, but I'll be damned if I'm gonna make the lil' rabbit go to some dern American consulate to get her ID card and passport notorized just for this, or have them sent to me so I can do the moonwalk with them through some governmental office, and then send them back. Maybe I could just do like I do on all these visa forms and say..."Please see Continuation Sheet" and blather on endlessly about the situation. tsap seui By the way...beautiful car!! I hope things are going well in the Homeland for you guys. Thanks - they are. Monday falls on Tuesday out here this week (thanks to QingMing), but too much rain to really do anything. I did get to go out with the other Americans, Australians and Englishmen, though. The guy on the right here is an Australian by the name of Malcolm - been teaching here for 7 years and always has a different beauty on his arm. http://i43.tinypic.com/2cs8hzr.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tsap seui Posted April 5, 2010 Report Share Posted April 5, 2010 Yeah, you need either the ITIN or an SSN in order to put anyone on your tax return. There is nothing wrong whatsoever with filing single even if you are married. If you get an SSN for them on down the line somewhere, you can file an amended return if you want for any reason. Alrighty now, I'll just file single, I never knew it was so much to get them an ITIN number, yes, I'm no furreigner, but the last time I got an ITIN number I jest did it off the internet. I saw MIchael or someone had said they had gotten an ITIN number for their wife, but I'll be damned if I'm gonna make the lil' rabbit go to some dern American consulate to get her ID card and passport notorized just for this, or have them sent to me so I can do the moonwalk with them through some governmental office, and then send them back. Maybe I could just do like I do on all these visa forms and say..."Please see Continuation Sheet" and blather on endlessly about the situation. tsap seui By the way...beautiful car!! I hope things are going well in the Homeland for you guys. Thanks - they are. Monday falls on Tuesday out here this week (thanks to QingMing), but too much rain to really do anything. I did get to go out with the other Americans, Australians and Englishmen, though. The guy on the right here is an Australian by the name of Malcolm - been teaching here for 7 years and always has a different beauty on his arm. http://i43.tinypic.com/2cs8hzr.jpg Ah, the fringe benefits package. Them Aussies have a way of being able to talkthemselves into...and out of dang near anything. tsap seui Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy W Posted April 5, 2010 Report Share Posted April 5, 2010 Ah, the fringe benefits package. Them Aussies have a way of being able to talkthemselves into...and out of dang near anything. tsap seui \An incredible guy - about to turn 66, though (mandatory retirement) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shenzhen Posted April 5, 2010 Report Share Posted April 5, 2010 Yeah, you need either the ITIN or an SSN in order to put anyone on your tax return. There is nothing wrong whatsoever with filing single even if you are married. If you get an SSN for them on down the line somewhere, you can file an amended return if you want for any reason. Yea, I saw your original post and just kind of closed it then brought it back up and read through it. A little intimidating to be sure. Since the school I work for was fighting about giving me the time off to go to Guangzhou on the 26th, I doubt I'd be able to get the time off to go to Beijing. (I'm in Wuhan) so I think I'll just be filling Single since it seems to not be a big problem as I suspected it might be. I'll write up a letter for her to lug to the interview if need be explaining it. Just to clarify: My intentions were never to lie to the IRS. Thanks and I'm glad my question helped someone else too, always nice to know you're not the only one.It is not such a big problem but you have to plan ahead of time to do it. Last year my wife and I went to Beijing Embassy and told them we needed a ITIN for her to file our US taxes. They filled the form out for us, notarized the copy of her passport and then took my tax forms and the W-7 to submit to the IRS. Hint: Beijing Embassy has an IRS tax office and you can email/call them and get all the help you need. Check the website. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy W Posted April 5, 2010 Report Share Posted April 5, 2010 Yea, I saw your original post and just kind of closed it then brought it back up and read through it. A little intimidating to be sure. Since the school I work for was fighting about giving me the time off to go to Guangzhou on the 26th, I doubt I'd be able to get the time off to go to Beijing. (I'm in Wuhan) so I think I'll just be filling Single since it seems to not be a big problem as I suspected it might be. I'll write up a letter for her to lug to the interview if need be explaining it. Just to clarify: My intentions were never to lie to the IRS. Thanks and I'm glad my question helped someone else too, always nice to know you're not the only one. Yeah - I meant to just encourage you to file married if you wanted to, and I worded that a little strongly - I apologize. Of course, you have the option of filing singly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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