djinn75049

I'm new to posting here and would like to start by saying that this site has been incredibly useful and informative to my husband and myself. Navigating the immigration process is difficult (to say the least) and we've learned a lot from reading this forum.

My husband and I were married in December of 2007 and are currently working through the complicated process of filing for his green card and legal immigrant status. I am a USC and he is a UK citizen. Now that the deadline for filing taxes is 5 weeks away, I am unsure as to how to handle it. I know that since he cannot yet officially apply for a social security number that there is another number that he can apply for for tax filing purposes. Since we were married in December, I know that legally I have to file as a married person, but since he has no income, how do I do this? Should we file jointly or seperately? Should I apply for an extension? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

Rete

He applies for an TIN Taxpayers Identification Number by submitting the form with your tax return. Since he didn't earn money in the US in 2007 (deduced this since he has no SS# it is because he did not have an EAD which would tell SSA that he was eligible for one), it is probably best for you to file married, jointly instead of married, single.

He will need to show all his worldwide income for 2007 and as long as it is under $80,000 US and he has paid taxes on it in whatever country he earned the money in, he will not have to pay taxes on it again in the US. This includes interest, etc.

He needs to complete an 2555 and include a note that he wishes to be considered a resident for the sake of filing income tax. That is all that we did when we were first married. My hubby came in August to the US and paid Canada tax on the money earned there during those months prior to coming to the US.

lapin_windstar

I am not a lawyer/account/tax nerd, but I am not sure that's true - the links below seem to suggest that you don't *have* to file as a married person, even if you are married. It *might* be more tax advantageous to do so, but it would depend on your position:

http://www.bluntmoney.com/filing-tax...ied-or-single/
http://www.ehow.com/how_9179_file-taxes-married.html

Rete

Excuse me, but since she is sponsoring an immigrant spouse part of the requirement is that she show tax returns stating married.

djinn75049

Thank you for your prompt responses. I will be back once I mull this over with my husband. I'm sure we might have some other questions.

paddingtongreen

There is a difference between "married and filing a joint return" and "married and filing separate returns", they both show married.

Kaffy Mintcake

True, and which one makes the most sense is going to vary by the couple. When my husband and I were first married - we paid to have our taxes done and when they were run both ways - filing separately made the most sense for us. That's not the case for everyone though.

meauxna

hunh. The first link says "But with the exception of a few special circumstances, the decision is easy: if you’re married on the last day of the tax year, you file as married. You can choose between married filing separately or married filing jointly, but filing as single is no longer an option."

..which is what I always understood.

The second link brings up one I have not heard of, and I wonder if there would be any advantage for a two-country couple:
Determine Whether You Are Considered Married

Step 1:
Determine whether you were legally married on December 31 of the tax year. If unmarried, try the "single" or "head of household" status.

Step 2:
Determine whether you were legally separated under a separate maintenance decree issued by a court as of December 31 of the tax year. If you were legally separated, try "single" or "head of household."

Step 3:
Determine whether you are considered unmarried. You are considered unmarried if you paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home for your child and did not live with your spouse for even one day during the last six months of the tax year. If you are considered unmarried, try "head of household."

Rete

Of course, but the other poster was telling her to file "single" that she need not filed married. There is a very big difference.

paddingtongreen

Absolutely, but you said "best for you to file married, jointly instead of married, single."

I was just clarifying that it is "married filing separately". They don't seem very conversant with the terms.

lapin_windstar

Oh, absolutely, apparently I am completely confused about what I am talking about, hence the disclaimer at the start!

BritishGuy36

Either I have got the wrong end of the stick, or the rest of you have!

From the thread title, it seems that the UKC is not yet resident and is therefore not subject to filing taxes with the IRS.

Therefore:

The OP should file maried filing seperately
The UKC does NOT need an ITIN
You put "non-resident alien" in the spouse's name field on the 1040

Job done.