[usDesi]

Hi if anyone in this forum can help me with these set of questions.

Questions about ITIN
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I got married last year, currently on H1B and resident for more than 5 yrs in US. Wife on H4 visa, who is here since July 2008 and I want to file taxes this year using Turbotax.
I heard about ITIN requirement for my spouse, and I have downloaded the W-7 form also.

1) Can I get ITIN by simply sending the W-7 form with notorized copies?

2) If I get ITIN in a few weeks by the above way, where do I enter any tax software.. inplace of Social Security Number? (refering to turbotax or taxcut)

3)If above methods don't work and I file by paper, Is it a requirement to attach the W-7 form along with the 1040 not 1040NR (resident for 5 years) and send to IRS or anywhere else?

Please let me know! Thanks

[MukatA]

You can file joint return as residents. You will attach W7 (ITIN application) with your tax return Send paper return. If you send W7 separately, it may be rejected.
Read about H1-B tax filing: Your U.S. Tax Return: The U.S. Visas

[AtlantaTaxExpert]

You will need to submit Form W-7 with your return to get an ITIN for your wife.

You make photocopies of all pages of the passport that had information on it; you can ignore BLANK pages. You then take these photocopies to a local bank to have them notarized, usually at no charge. If the bank will not do it, go to a local IRS office (call first to make sure they provide the service) to have the IRS officials certify the photocopy as a true copy of the passport.

Prepare the tax return with your name and SSN and your wife's name; leave her SSN area BLANK. Both you and your wife need to sign the tax return. A tax return is a legal document which must have original signatures by the taxpayers.

Have your wife sign the W-7, then staple the notarized photocopies of the passport to the W-7 and paper clip both forms to the tax return. You then mail the tax return and the W-7 to the IRS to the address in the W-7 instructions.

The IRS receives the W-7, issues her ITIN, inserts her ITIN on the tax return and processes the return.

The IRS then mails the ITIN to her in a separate envelope.

This process takes between 4 weeks and three months, depending on the workload at the ITIN processing center.

Once you get her ITIN, you then file the STATE tax return with her ITIN.

[usDesi]

Thank you for your reply! MuktaA and AtlantaTaxExpert

[AtlantaTaxExpert]

Glad to help!

[zumajoe]

I am in the same situation- I am confused as to whether I should file jointly or separately.

I have read that if I file jointly, because my spouse does not yet have a SSN- I will not be eligible for the "-$400 Make Work Pay" credit.

It makes sense as to not receiving 2 -$400 credits, but why is it that I won't get the single credit for myself just because she hasn't received a SSN yet?

Also, if that ends up not being true- my remaining issue would be that TurboTax automatically forces the -$400 credit two times (when spouse is obviously not eligible.)

Seems like a headache and I should just file separately- which is a bummer because having her as a dependent would probably help Immigration process.

You will need to submit Form W-7 with your return to get an ITIN for your wife.

You make photocopies of all pages of the passport that had information on it; you can ignore BLANK pages. You then take these photocopies to a local bank to have them notarized, usually at no charge. If the bank will not do it, go to a local IRS office (call first to make sure they provide the service) to have the IRS officials certify the photocopy as a true copy of the passport.

Prepare the tax return with your name and SSN and your wife's name; leave her SSN area BLANK. Both you and your wife need to sign the tax return. A tax return is a legal document which must have original signatures by the taxpayers.

Have your wife sign the W-7, then staple the notarized photocopies of the passport to the W-7 and paper clip both forms to the tax return. You then mail the tax return and the W-7 to the IRS to the address in the W-7 instructions.

The IRS receives the W-7, issues her ITIN, inserts her ITIN on the tax return and processes the return.

The IRS then mails the ITIN to her in a separate envelope.

This process takes between 4 weeks and three months, depending on the workload at the ITIN processing center.

Once you get her ITIN, you then file the STATE tax return with her ITIN.

[AtlantaTaxExpert]

The Make Work Pay Credit was implemented by reducing the amount withheld from your check. This may result in your refund being subsequently reduced if your wife's ITIN causes you to lose the credit.

However, since we are only taking about an $800 maximum credit, it is not worth worrying about. Your final refund my be somewhat smaller, but it will not be catastrophic if you withheld at the rates specified by the IRS for foreign nationals, i.e. Married with TWO allowances or SINGLE with ONE allowance.

[nebdv]

Hi, I am on H1B and got married last year. My wife does not have SSN and I filed for her ITIN couple of months back and got her ITIN. Now I filed jointly for returns online through turbotax. Initially it went OK, but got a rejection from IRIS (Error code 0503), stating that My wife's name and SSN are not tallying. But the number I entered is ITIN in place of SSN. How do I need to tackle this problem. Can you please help. Thak you

[AtlantaTaxExpert]

Make sure the name entered on the tax return matches the ITIN letter EXACTLY. No abbreviations or initial when the ITIN letter has a full name.