File Married or Single

I'm an American married to an Englishman.
This is the first time in my life that I am filing taxes for myself.

Prior to getting married my parents claimed me and after I got married I moved to the UK. That was 3.5 years ago - I didn't realise I needed to file if I was abroad and earning foreign money... Oops.

I'm filing electronically and have done all the things (F2555 and FBAR). I'm very straightforward - NHS employee, no other income or assets, and no children, but I'm stuck on my husband.

He's never been a resident of the US and so doesn't have a SSN or Individual Taxpayer ID number (ITIN). I started to file as Married, Separate, but I'm being asked to provide one of those numbers for him.

Does he need an ITIN or can I file as single?

You are not allowed to file as single I’m afraid. Married Filing Separately is almost certainly the best option so that hubby keeps his finances away from the IRS. Since he doesn’t have a SSN or ITIN then instead of the number you can put NRA, Non Resident Alien.

Unfortunately tax filing software doesn’t always allow this. There are threads on this issue here you can maybe search for to see how others resolved the issue.

Here is a recent thread or 2

https://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=99178.0


https://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=30822.120

Tax Act allows you to enter your spouse as an NRA without a SSN. I successfully e-filed using it for my daughter last week (MFS and married to an Englishman).

As @durhamlad says there are various threads on the subject. Here's another recent one also:

https://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=99295.0

There's a free file version of Tax Act also if your qualify.

Thank you both!

I was all set up with TurboTax (name recognition won me over), I'll try TaxAct 

Thank you both!

I was all set up with TurboTax (name recognition won me over), I'll try TaxAct 

I used TaxAct this year for the first time and it was great.  I'm also USC(/dual UKC) married to a UKC without SSN or ITIN.  I filed married... separately, and the app let me indicate NRA for him.  Some other apps I've tried over the years didn't accommodate this,  so I always ended up paper filing before.   So, yay!

I used TaxAct this year for the first time and it was great.  I'm also USC(/dual UKC) married to a UKC without SSN or ITIN.  I filed married... separately, and the app let me indicate NRA for him.  Some other apps I've tried over the years didn't accommodate this,  so I always ended up paper filing before.   So, yay!

I'm all filed and hopefully squared away now!

Thanks for the tip to use Tax Act when one's spouse isn't a US citizen. I'll do that next year.

This year I mailed my return because I had to write my husband in as NRA (he's Welsh). I sent my return back in early April and still haven't received my refund (Stimulus payment #2). Seems like it's taking a very long time, even if it isn't an e-return. In 2019, I got a note from the IRS and had to verify my identity with them before they'd process the return (also mailed). That situation is sorted, but it's hard to know what's up with the current return as the Where'sMyRefund link says my return is waiting to be processed.

Have others on here had to wait quite a while for a paper return for 2020 to be processed?

Thanks for the help!