H1B Tax Return - Dependant wife on H-4 not co-operating for ITIN because of Divorce

[test1244]

Hi,
I am on a H1-B visa and got married in July 2008. I brought my wife to the US on a H-4 visa and unfortunately we realized marraige is not working out. We went back to India in Jan and are now talking Divorce.

I am now trying to file my tax returns for 2008 and want to file as a "married filing jointly" as the returns are more in that category. For that , my wife is not co-operating to apply for an ITIN (she is not eligible to apply for a SSN). I cannot get her to sign the ITIN form or get a notarised copy of the I-94 or passport.

Can someone please advice me on how I can get my tax returns filed as "married filing jointly" without my wife having an ITIN?

Thanks and your response is much appreciated!

[sparkles]

nope you need it, or you can file single.

[txh1b]

No, you should NOT file as single. File as married filing separate.

[test1244]

Thx for helping me out here guys.

But even if I file as "Married filing separately", it asks for wife's SSN .... And my wife does not have a SSN yet. Any ideas?

[SunnyGN]

You could write "NRA" (Non-Resident Alien) in the SSN Field and go ahead and file as Married Filing Separate.
Since you were still legally married at the end of 2008, you will not need to further amend your 2008 tax return once your divorce comes into effect in 2009.
Hope that helps.

[test1244]

Thank you for your responses!

The problem I am facing is that if I filed "married filing separately", I only get about $1.5K back. But if I file "Married filing jointly", I am getting close to $4K back!

Is there any way for me to file under "Married filing Jointly" without my wife's ITIN?

Filing as single gets me only $500 and hence I am trying to avoid that option at this point ...

[txh1b]

You would need signature for filing jointly. What would you do about that?