As I am preparing my tax return for 2004, I ran into a tricky question, and I was wondering if anyone here has seen a similar situation and can advise me where to look for an answer. I got married last year, but my wife is a nonresident alien (I am a US citizen). She lives outside the US (waiting for the US immigration paperwork), never lived in the US, and does not have either SSN, or ITIN. No children. Which filing status should I use on my tax return? Single or head of household seem inapplicable (I have no dependents). We definitely want to avoid "Married filing jointly" - my wife's income last year, all of it earned outside the US, significantly exceeded the $80,000 foreign income exclusion, and paying US taxes on it seems silly. For this reason, we do not want to declare her a resident for tax purposes. I do also do not plan to claim an exemption for her.
"Married filing separately" seems to be my only choice, but the 1040 form appears to require an ITIN for my wife. She does not have an ITIN and does not intend to file a US tax return. Does this mean that I cannot file a tax return AT ALL unless my wife somehow obtains an ITIN? IRS publication
519 does not answer this question, except advising that I would be considered unmarried for the "head of household" purposes, which does not apply, as I could not file as HH even if I had been single. Instructions on the W-7 form for ITIN are very confusing. In particular, ITIN cannot be applied for without an accompanying tax return, but they do not say whose return it must be. Does this mean that instead of filing my tax return normally, I must file it through the IRS Pittsburgh office that processes ITIN applications, even though I am NOT applying for ITIN? I've been going crazy with this problem, and getting contradictory advice from all corners. Any help is appreciated. (But don't tell me to talk to an experienced tax advisor - great advice, but if I knew such a person, I would not be asking questions on the Internet, would I? :) Thanks!