i am a us citizen and married to a forign spouse how do i do my taxes when my wife does not have a SSN?

Question

Everytime i try and do my taxes i can never do it cause my wife does not have a SSN cause shes a forign spouse and i can not do my taxes????

Answer 1

You have TWO options:

1) MFJ: Married Filing Jointly. Follow the other advice here: Form W7 to get an ITIN for your wife. Hire a tax preparer to assist you in getting it right, as it's easy to make a mistake on the form and when you do, it takes forever to rectify it.
Pros: You get MFJ deductions and rates.
Cons: You are taxed on both you and your wife's worldwide income. If she's got a lot of investments, she ain't gonna be happy about it. If she's destitute, it's no skin off her back. If she's somewhere in-between, get advice from a professional tax preparer about whether it makes sense to tax her in the US on her income.

2) MFS: Married Filing Separately. You do not list your wife or include her income on your return.
Pros: No need to get an SSN or ITIN for your wife. File based only on what you earned. Easy-peasy.
Cons: Higher tax rates. Deal with it.

There is a third option if you have children who are either US citizens or US residents and your wife does not meet the definition of a Resident Alien. You can file as Head of Household even if you live with your NRA spouse. The IRS regs on this are quoted below.

Answer 2

If your spuse is not eligible for an SSN she must obtain an ITIN. Form W-7, "Application for IRS Individual Taxpayer Identification Number," is available from this link here:

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw7.pdf

She can apply for an ITIN by taking the completed Form W-7 and supporting documents to certain IRS offices or, if you are outside the U.S., to the U.S. consular office. Call your local IRS office to see if it accepts Form W-7 applications. The IRS also designates certain financial institutions, university offices (ask your international studies office) and other federal agencies as "acceptance agents," which you can also apply through.

You have the option of mailing her application to the IRS, but she must include her original passport, driver's license, birth certificate and other things, so this is not prudent for the security of her documents. Submit her Form W-7 early, because it takes a few weeks for the IRS to process your application.

You may call the IRS toll-free at 1-800-829-1040 for information and help in completing your Form W-7 and your tax return, or to check on the status of your application six weeks after submitting Form W-7.

After recieving her ITIN you should be able to file your taxes as married filing jointly barring any exceptions due to any information not provided to me about your situation.

Answer 3

You file a "W-7" with your return.

A return prepared this way can not be electronically filed. It must be mailed to a special address in Pennsylvania. The address is included with the instruction for the W-7.

Answer 4

She must have an alien registration number or wait, is she still in her country? If she is, then you have to use the number she uses to do her taxes. I had to go to H&R block to do mine last year. I was in the same situation. You have to have a special form. Are you trying to file together? I don't have enough info to give you a straight answer. e-mail me.

Answer 5

The better half can no longer enter as a customer, they actually can, yet no person is going to have self belief that they do no longer look to be making plans to stay right here. you need to document the petition and get the immigrant visa until now they arrive over.

Answer 6

Why doesn't your wife have an SSN? She shouldn't be working in the US if she doesn't. Just put you on your taxes, file single.

Answer 7

contact the IRS or Soc Sec Administration & get a taxpayer ID number--it's free; not having one is not an excuse for not filing (in their eyes)

Answer 8

You pay U.S. taxes. You need to contact a good CPA to determine how to tax your wife.