Hi,

I have a query regarding income tax return filing status - to be filled as Married filing jointly or separately.

I came to San Jose, CA, US in May 2013 & will be going back to India in Jan 2014. I am married & have 1 year old son. My wife & baby travelled to US just for 5 weeks, but unfortunately could not apply for SSN due to federal shutdown in Oct 2013.

Please suggest whether it will be possible to avail married tax benefits while submitting income tax return without having spouse's SSN.

Thanks,
Gautam

Gautam,

I have answered your email, but will post that answer here (in part) for general consumption.

YOU have met the Substantial Presence Test, and therefore are eligible to file JOINTLY with your wife and CHOOSE to be treated as residents for all of 2013. However, your wife MUST submit Form W-7 and apply for an Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN) AND you must declare ALL income (yours and your wife's) earned in 2013, be it in the United States or India. You can use the Foreign Tax Credit (Form 1116) to offset any double taxation on the India-sourced income.

Unfortunately, your son has NOT meet the Substantial Presence Test, so you CANNOT claim him as a dependent on the 2013 tax return.

To get an ITIN from India, you must make a clear color photocopy of your wife's passport and have the Indian government certify the photocopy as authentic. This can be done at a local office of the Indian government agency which issues the passports. That certification, along with Form W-7 and the signed joint tax return, must be mailed to Austin, Texas for processing.

The alternatives is for you to mail the IRS her passport for authentication (highly NOT recommended, as the IRS will hold the passport for at least three months and may even lose it).