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Cartridge in a bare tree

Lettuce change course....

It is amazing how little we know on some areas and yet we use strong words such as illegal aliens when we refer to our clients, but that's another subject. An ITIN is for a person who crossed the border, got a towel, got himself dried and started working without the proper documentation and wants to file his/her taxes. Going back to the question at hand, this is what you need to do. First, limit yourself to prepare their taxes geting them the biggest refund legally possible or reducing their tax liablity as much as it is legally possible. If they want immigration advice, they will consult their immingration attorney. We know that not paying child support will not prevent you from claiming the child's exemption in 2013 as long as the child lived with him in the same household more than 183 nights. So you need to file as single for 2013 and if he qualifies, he can claim the child and if he further qualifies he can file as HoH. In 2014, they are both your clients and you can talk to them about the fact that if they are getting a refund, it will be redirected to cover his child support if he is not current. The wife and him have only two choices to file: MFS or MFJ. You will file 1040 all along. If you they decide to file jointly, you list her first on the return and list the husband second with his ITIN. Since he has been here in the US, you do't have to do anything special. 99% of these people file jointly because that helps to prove that their marriage is a bone fide marriage but that something that is beyond our scope. If they decide to file MFS, then you will prepare 2 1040 and that's it.

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This is amazing work. Paper sculptures.

We have this as one of our Christmas Decorations....

JohnH, you jest. Someone is going to input 60 returns in 3 hours? That's 20 per hour, or 3 minutes each. I'm fast on the keyboard, but in 3 minutes I don't think I'd get past their name, address, phone numbers, SS#, birth date (not to mention same for dependents). And this is supposed to include time for someone to check the data entry? Give that person 1 hour, so the original data entry person gets to input 60 returns in 2 hours, or 30 per minute, or 2 minutes each. Did you mean 3 days? Even that's stretching it unless these are really simple returns. I want that data entry person to work with me! During tax season I'll be able to leave at 5PM, or 4, or maybe take every afternoon off.

Maybe I'm slow today. The wife is American...so she filed a return for 2013. He is not American..is here illegally but has an ITIN number. If he was here illegally...he did not qualify for an ITIN number. What I am thinking is that he was married previously to another American and they filed jointly...and he got an ITIN based on that. In any case...I'd do a 1040 for 2013...when he was single. Simple as that.......... However...I think a lot of this story is missing. You don't go from illegal status to citizen status immediately because you married a citizen. I think there is a 5 year (or something like that) process.