Filing taxes late when expecting a refund - any penalties with ITIN application?

So if we're expecting a refund we won't get fined for filing late? I thought there was always a late filing penalty regardless of whether you owe or are owed money? Also, do you know if the refund would be delayed significantly because of the ITIN application process?

The IRS doesn't penalize late filing when you're owed a refund - there's really no incentive for them to do so since they're holding your money. The late filing penalty only applies when you owe taxes and haven't paid them by the deadline. Your refund will likely be delayed regardless because of the ITIN application process. The IRS typically takes 7-11 weeks to process ITIN applications, and they'll hold your refund until the ITIN is assigned. So whether you file on the extension deadline or a day after won't make a meaningful difference in when you receive your refund.

Does this service actually help with the ITIN application itself or just review your documents? I'm in a similar boat with my spouse needing an ITIN and wondering if this would speed things up at all?

I'm a bit confused about the whole ITIN process too. Did you have to mail physical documents to the IRS or could you submit everything electronically through this service? And how long did the whole process take from start to finish?

The service actually reviews all your documentation before you submit to make sure everything is complete and correct. They won't fill out the application for you, but they'll analyze what you've prepared and flag any issues that could cause rejection or delays. For the ITIN process itself, you still need to submit physical documents to the IRS or work with an Acceptance Agent. What taxr.ai does is make sure you've got everything right before submission so you don't waste weeks only to get rejected for something minor. My whole process took about 8 weeks from submission to getting the ITIN, but without the document review, I would have been rejected and had to start over.

How does this actually work? Like do they have some special access to the IRS or something? Seems weird that they could get through when regular people can't.

Yeah right. Sounds like a scam to me. Why would I pay a third party to call the IRS when I can just keep calling myself? Has anyone actually verified this works or is this just an ad?

They don't have special access - they just use technology to navigate the IRS phone system and stay on hold so you don't have to. It's basically an automated system that waits in the queue instead of you wasting your own time. I was skeptical too before I tried it. The way it works is you start your call through their system, and then they call you back when they've reached a human. You don't need to provide any sensitive tax info to them - they just connect you directly with the IRS agent when one becomes available. For me it was worth it because I wasted an entire afternoon on hold before trying this.

Thanks for bringing this up! Yes, we've looked into this and decided to make the election to treat my spouse as a resident for tax purposes. Their foreign income is fairly minimal and the benefits of filing jointly outweigh the additional tax liability in our case. Is there any specific form I need to include with our return to make this election?

You'll need to attach a statement to your tax return declaring that you're making this election. The statement needs to be signed by both spouses and include specific language about the election. You should look at the instructions for Form 1040-NR for the exact wording required. In addition, in future years, you'll need to continue filing jointly unless you revoke the election or it's terminated for another reason. Once revoked, you can't make the election again without IRS approval. So make sure this is a long-term strategy that makes sense for your situation.

That's actually what I did in a similar situation. Filed my return as married filing separately to meet the deadline, then amended to married filing jointly once my spouse's ITIN came through. It was a bit of extra paperwork but avoided any deadline issues completely. Just make sure you file the amendment within 3 years.

This is really helpful to hear from someone who went through the exact same situation! I've been losing sleep over this deadline issue, but you're absolutely right that getting the ITIN application done correctly is way more important than rushing to meet a deadline by one day when there are no actual penalties involved. Did you have any issues with the IRS when your return was processed, or did everything go smoothly once the ITIN was assigned? Also, did the 9-week processing time include getting your refund, or was that just for the ITIN approval itself?