How to file taxes when husband's ITIN has expired - help needed!

I'm in a bit of a complicated situation with my taxes this year. My husband is currently living in Ecuador and his ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number) has expired. For the past few years, I've been filing as head of household since he's been away. I still had to include his ITIN on my forms, but now that it's expired, I'm totally confused about what to do. The problem is I can't renew his ITIN because he's not living in the US anymore and doesn't have any legal status here. So now I'm stuck trying to figure out how to handle my tax filing. Should I continue filing as head of household but use his expired ITIN? Or should I file as legally separated (even though we're actually still together and married)? I'm not including any of his income or additional information about him on my tax forms, so maybe the expired ITIN doesn't matter? I really don't want to mess this up and trigger any red flags with the IRS. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

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18 comments

Nia Watson

•8M

This is actually a common issue for people with international spouses. Here's what you need to know: If your husband doesn't live with you in the US and has no US income, you should not be filing as Head of Household while still married to him. Head of Household is typically for unmarried individuals who pay more than half the cost of keeping up a home for a qualifying person. Since you're still legally married, your proper filing status would be Married Filing Separately. You'll still need to include your husband's taxpayer ID (the expired ITIN) on your return. The IRS uses this primarily for identification purposes, not for tax calculations when filing separately. The expiration of the ITIN doesn't prevent you from using it on your tax forms. You could also look into qualifying for "Considered Unmarried" status which might allow Head of Household, but you'd need to meet specific requirements like having a dependent living with you.

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Nia Watson

•8M

The IRS system can still recognize an expired ITIN for identification purposes on a Married Filing Separately return. It's primarily used to identify who your spouse is, not to process any tax benefits related to them since you're not claiming any. The expiration mainly affects the person who would be using the ITIN to file their own taxes or claim benefits. Since your husband isn't filing US taxes or being claimed for benefits, the expired status shouldn't delay your processing.

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Katherine Shultz

•8M

I was in a super similar situation with my wife's ITIN last year! I found this amazing tool called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that seriously saved me hours of research and stress. It's an AI-powered tax assistant that analyzed my specific situation with the expired ITIN and gave me very clear guidance. I uploaded my previous year's return and explained my situation about my wife's expired ITIN, and it pinpointed exactly what sections of the tax code applied to me and how to proceed with my filing. It even explained what documentation I should keep on hand in case of questions from the IRS. The personalized analysis was way more helpful than the generic advice I was finding online.

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Katherine Shultz

•8M

It works independently of your tax software, so you can use the guidance with TurboTax or any other program. You input your specific situation and it provides analysis based on IRS regulations that you can then apply while preparing your return in whatever software you prefer. Regarding privacy concerns, the service uses bank-level encryption for all document uploads and doesn't store your documents after analysis. They comply with all IRS regulations for tax preparation services and clearly outline their security measures on their site. I was hesitant too but researched their security protocols before using it.

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Marcus Marsh

•8M

Just wanted to update after trying taxr.ai that the previous commenter mentioned. It actually cleared up my confusion about my spouse's expired ITIN situation! I didn't even need to upload anything - I just described my situation in detail and it gave me specific guidance about filing as Married Filing Separately with an expired ITIN. The system explained that I should continue using the expired ITIN for identification purposes, and provided the exact line on Form 1040 where it needs to be entered. It also confirmed that since my spouse has no US income, the expired status won't affect my return processing. Finally feel confident about my filing status after weeks of stress!

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Cedric Chung

•8M

If you're having trouble getting clear answers from the IRS about your ITIN situation, I'd recommend trying Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I was in ITIN limbo last year and spent days trying to get through to the IRS with no luck. Claimyr basically holds your place in the IRS phone queue and calls you when an agent is about to answer. Saved me hours of hold music! When I finally got through, the IRS agent explained exactly how to handle my spouse's expired ITIN and confirmed I was filing correctly. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c I was able to get definitive answers straight from the IRS about my international spouse situation, which gave me way more confidence than just guessing or relying on forum advice.

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Cedric Chung

•8M

Using Claimyr, I got through to an IRS representative in about 2 hours total. Without it, my previous attempts had me waiting 4+ hours before I eventually hung up. The actual process was that I got a call when an agent was about to pick up, so I didn't have to actively wait on hold the entire time. It's definitely not a scam. The service uses an automated system that waits in the phone queue for you. It doesn't violate any IRS rules because when the agent picks up, it's actually you talking to them directly - Claimyr just eliminates the need for you to personally sit on hold. Think of it like having someone wait in a physical line for you and then calling you when it's almost your turn.

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Maxwell St. Laurent

•8M

I have to admit I was completely wrong about Claimyr. After posting my skeptical comment, I decided to try it myself since I had ITIN questions too. It actually worked exactly as described! I got a call back after about 90 minutes, and then was connected with an IRS agent who answered all my questions about my spouse's expired ITIN. The agent confirmed that for Married Filing Separately, I can continue to use the expired ITIN for identification purposes. The peace of mind from getting official confirmation directly from the IRS was absolutely worth it. Would've spent my entire day on hold otherwise. Definitely using this for any future IRS questions.

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PaulineW

•8M

To be completely honest, when I was in your situation, I just continued using my husband's expired ITIN and filed as Married Filing Separately. I've done this for 3 years now with no issues from the IRS. As long as you're not claiming any benefits related to your spouse (like credits or deductions), they seem to only care that you identify him properly. Just make sure you're actually eligible for whatever filing status you choose. Filing HoH while married can trigger audits if you don't meet the "considered unmarried" requirements.

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PaulineW

•8M

I did look into Head of Household, but I found that I didn't qualify because I didn't have a qualifying dependent living with me. To file HoH while married, you need to live apart from your spouse for the last 6 months of the year (which you do), but you also need a dependent who lived with you for more than half the year. If you do have a dependent like a child living with you, then you might qualify for "considered unmarried" status and could file HoH. That would be more beneficial tax-wise than Married Filing Separately. But if you don't have a qualifying dependent, MFS is likely your only proper option.

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