Author Topic: German wife without a SSN, can I claim back the tax?  (Read 998 times)

Allthepiecesmatter

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German wife without a SSN, can I claim back the tax?
« on: May 07, 2018, 06:04:23 AM »
Hi,

My wife is German but as we've never lived in the USA and have little intention of doing so she's not applied for nor been issued a SSN. This year I inherited a considerably sum from my late father's trust about 140k. Filing as married would have save me about 6,000. How can I go about registering the marriage, getting her an SSN and can I then re-file claiming back the 6k I handed over to Uncle Sam?

Lester

sokoloff

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Re: German wife without a SSN, can I claim back the tax?
« Reply #1 on: May 07, 2018, 06:48:23 AM »
If she's not eligible for a SSN, you can get her an ITIN to use as a tax ID number to file the return.

It's not clear which year you're talking about. One part implies a 2018 inheritance.

In any event, you can file jointly for 2018 (or file an amended return for 2017 to switch from married-filing-singly (MFS) to married-filing-jointly (MFJ) if you were married in/before 2017). If filing for 2017 amendment, you can use the amended return to ask for the refund you are due. If filing for 2018 next year, you can get that 6K as a credit on your taxes for 2018, which may result in a refund early next year.

Moonwaves

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Re: German wife without a SSN, can I claim back the tax?
« Reply #2 on: May 07, 2018, 07:08:24 AM »
Just in case you haven't already, make sure you check out the tax situation very carefully and are not opening her up to potential taxation on all of her income in the US. There was a huge outcry from lots of expats when this first came up a few years ago and even just last week, the topic came up again in the paper (this article in the Irish Times). I think it's related to citizenship, which she may not automatically have if you get her an ITIN (or SSN), but better safe than sorry.

 

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