Stormy

Can I put my wife on my tax returns for this year even though she has never been in the United States. She has also never had any income in Morocco. Can I put her as filing jointly. I know I can't put her as a dependent, but I would like to have her name on the tax returns. I called IRS but they said someone would contact me in about 14 days. Thanks

Rete

You're married so you have to file as married. Even if you were to file married, separate, as opposed to married, joint, you still have to name your wife and give her social security number. In lieu of a ss# you can use an individual taxpayers identification number obtained through the IRS. Someone on the forum recently posted that IRS changed the rules and that you can apply for this at the same time as you file your tax returns. You might want to check out the correctness of that statement.

Rete

katesuiter1

Sorry to poke my beak in on this thread, but I'm confused. We went to file Corey's taxes last night, and we both filed married, but file at single rate. She never asked me for my SSN, or even my name.

She also commented that we'd be better off filling in the worksheet by putting all "0" when it asks for your deductions, but on the first line of the W4, it states :Put "1" if no-one else can claim you as a dependant". Surely in our case, we'd both put 1, as we're both earning and we're not dependant on each other.

After so many years of having someone else deal with my taxes, all this is a bit weird!

Kate. xxxxx

Bluegrass Lass

Nobody else can claim me, but I always put "0."Just in case no one has ever explained it to you, when you put down 0 exemptions, the IRS will tax you higher now, and you most likely will not owe anything. If you put down 1, they take out less taxes, and you could end up owing. You would start putting 1 (or more) if you have children and need more money now to support them. This is very basic reasoning, so I'm sure there is a much more in-depth explanation behind how people should chose their exemption levels.

Jamie

katesuiter1

Wow!!!! Learn something new every day!!! Thanks for this info, Jamie! We don't have kids and never plan on them, so your method is probably best for us.

Corey got a small rebate, and I was attempting to work out how much I'd be getting. From the looks of it, I might owe some. I still have to wait on 1 last W2 til I do mine, though, as they "got lost in the mail", so they're sending a duplicate. Tax lady did say that I can just bring in my pay stubs for that particular job after the 15th Feb, but hopefully I'll have my W2's by then.

Thanks again for the simple explanation. I feel a little less like a duck out of water now!!!

Kate. xxx

Rete

Not sure what you are talking about Kate. I believe you are talking about completing the W-4 for the withholding of taxes from your paycheck not about filing your IRS 1040 form.

Rete

Rete

hehehe yes you are talking about completing a W-4 not a tax return. And it is not a rebate LOL it is a refund.

Why did you opt not to file joint? Usually if you earn a small amount of money, it is advantageous to file joint rather than separate.

Rete

Rete

I've been filing taxes as a single and/or married filer for the last 39 years but to prove mysef correct I have the d/l 1040 form in front of me.

If filing joint you enter the spouse's name and SSN number under the label section.

If filing married/separate you enter spouse's name in the filing status section #3 and enter their SSN under the Spouse's social security number box.

Rete

Mrtravelkay

Stormy wrote:

    > Can I put my wife on my tax returns for this year even though she
    > has never been in the United States. She has also never had any
    > income in Morocco. Can I put her as filing jointly. I know I can't
    > put her as a dependent, but I would like to have her name on the tax
    > returns. I called IRS but they said someone would contact me in
    > about 14 days. Thanks

Yes, you can file a joint return.. She would NOT be a dependent, she
would be the joint filer. For the purpose of filing a joint return, she
would be considered as a resident alien. It's in the 1040 instructions.

Mrtravelkay

Rete wrote:

    > Originally posted by Stormy
    >
    >>Can I put my wife on my tax
    >
    > returns for this year even though she has never been in the United
    > States. She has also never had any income in Morocco. Can I put her as
    > filing jointly. I know I can't put her as a dependent, but I would like
    > to have her name on the tax returns. I called IRS but they said someone
    > would contact me in about 14 days. Thanks
    >
    >
    > You're married so
    > you have to file as married.

NO... married people living apart do not always have to file as married.
This is in the instructions.

Mrtravelkay

sunflwrgrl13 wrote:

    >
    > Nobody else can claim me, but I always put "0."Just in case no one has
    > ever explained it to you, when you put down 0 exemptions, the IRS will
    > tax you higher now, and you most likely will not owe anything. If you
    > put down 1, they take out less taxes, and you could end up owing.

So, you would rather give the government a tax free loan, instead of
paying your credit cards etc, in full every month? FWIW, you can
calculate your deductions based on itemized deductions. Currently, I
claim 19 and STILL got a federal refund (high mortgage interest amount,
and other taxes)

katesuiter1

My British roots showing through!!!


I had no clue about how best to file for our situation, but the office manager of my last job said it might be advantageous for us to file singly. We'll carry on filing singly now, though, as Corey has had a pay raise, and I'll be earning a good wage this year.

Kate. xxxxxxxx

Mrtravelkay

katesuiter1 wrote:

    >
    > I had
    > no clue about how best to file for our situation, but the office manager
    > of my last job said it might be advantageous for us to file singly.
    > We'll carry on filing singly now, though, as Corey has had a pay raise,
    > and I'll be earning a good wage this year.

Did the office manager know all about your situation, potential
deductions, salaries of both people, etc????

Rete

I sent you a PM about this. Unless your office manager is a tax accountant or knows your situation you are best off consulting a professional on this matter, even if it is someone like H&R Block (which I don't really recommend).

The IRS forms are not that difficult to understand, especially if you don't have itemized deductions.

Rete

jeffreyhy

Mrt,

She will only be considered as a resident alien (for tax purposes) if both husband and wife sign a joint statement to the effect that they want her to be treated as a resident alien.

As you say, it's in the instructions.

Regards, JEff