I want to pass on some information I just received from the IRS.
My question was how to identify that I have a non-resident alien spouse.
If you are married and want to file electronically, you must enter a SSN or ITIN for your spouse. If he/she doesn't have one because he/she is a non-resident alien, you must write "non-resident alien" on the form where you would normally enter his/her number. The IRS says this probably means you can't file electronically. Apparently the companies who do the processing can't handle it.
I was convinced after reading the IRS documentation that we would have to apply for a number for my husband and we were both relieved to learn that we do not. In fact, unless we wanted to file jointly (why would we want to?) it is not even possible to get a number.
I hope this saves someone the hassle of a 30-minute conversation with the IRS. Not that the seven people I talked to weren't pleasant to chat with but...
