[gpboardwalk]

Question: I am on H1B and my wife on H4, she does not have an ITIN number or SSN... So do I send her W7 form and my Federal+State return to the Austin address

OR

Do I send her W7 + My federal forms to Austin address and then send the State returns separately to California tax dept without the ITIN.


Please advise

[AtlantaTaxExpert]

You CAN submit the tax return to California without your wife's ITIN, but I normally have my clients WAIT to get the ITIN so the California can be efiled.

You need to submit with the Form W-7 and the tax return a CERTIFIED passport photocopy of your wife's passport, or the passport itself (NOT recommended, because the IRS will hold the passport for about TWO months and HAS, in the past, LOST the passport).

Your best bet is to take the W-7 and tax return to a Tax Assistance Center in California that can verify the passport, then return it to you. A list of the TACs that do passport verification is at the link below:

Taxpayer Assistance Center Locations Where In-Person Document Verification is Provided

California has 22 TACs.