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Trying to File MFS without a SSN or ITIN for my spouse

Hello! I am trying to filing my taxes here in the US. My husband is Australian and has never been to the US and does not have a US income, or any needfor a SSN or ITIN. Yet, on my US tax return I am required to prived a # for him!

I am a US citizen, and we do not plan on settling here in the US, and I don't see the need for processing tax paperwork for him. Should I just file as a single?

I have looked through the IRS site, and cannot find anything talking about this topic. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

-McSasster

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Reply to
McSasster
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Without a SSN or ITIN for your spouse, you have one option for filing your taxes -- and it is NOT filing as Single. You will file as Married Filing Separate, claim no exemption for your spouse, nor claim any of his income on your return. If you want to file as Married Filing Joint, he MUST have an ITIN (see form W-7) and his WORLDWIDE income (as well as yours) must be claimed on the return. Is that worth the benefit of claiming his exemption on your return? IRS Pub 54 has detailed information on this topic.

Reply to
Herb Smith

You are married! You can not file as single. Assuming that you do not have a qualifying child living with you that might allow you to file as head of household, your only option is to file as married separate or married joint. You can only file married joint if you and your spouse both elect to treat him as a resident alien of the US. If you file married separate, you only need to have an ITIN for your spouse if you desire to claim a personal exemption for him assuming he had no US source income. See IRS Pub 519 for how one makes the election to be treated as a resident alien and the tax implications of such an election. It also explains that he would need to file a Form W-7 with your tax return to obtain the ITIN.

-- Alan

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Reply to
A.G. Kalman

You are married so you cannot file as single. However, if your spouse is a non-resident alien and has no US source income, you do not need an ITIN or SSN. Just file the return as MFS and indicate that your spouse is NRA (non-resident alien.) Of course, you cannot file jointly or claim him as an exemption. Lanny K. Williams, CPA Nawarat, Williams & Co., Ltd. Income Tax Services for Expatriate Americans

Reply to
L K Williams

File MFS. If you are using software that asks for your husband's SSN, there should be alternatives that you can put in that will allow you to file electronically. Use the help function to see what they are. It might be something like "unable to obtain", "refused", or "non-resident alien". If you are filling out a paper return, just leave it blank. Dennis

Reply to
bono9763

According to the specifications for electronically filed returns, the field for the spouse's SSN (where the spouse is not the primary taxpayer name) is supposed to take the values of either a number or blank. See IRS Pub. 1346, part

2 page 21. If your spouse does not have an ITIN, then you cannot claim an exemption for your spouse on your return; however, there does not appear to be any rule that requires your spouse to have an ITIN under all circumstances if you do not claim an exemption for him. Leave the spouse SSN line blank and see if the system accepts your return.
Reply to
Shyster1040

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