My spouse is a non-resident to Canada and does not yet have her SIN. She applied for an ITN but has yet to receive it. What can I do?

Thank you for choosing TurboTax. 

If you are supporting your spouse in another country, you may be eligible to make a claim for the Spousal Amount. CRA takes into consideration many factors when you make this claim and you need to be sure you do not make the claim in error. Claiming a Spousal Amount that you are not eligible for will result in a reassessment and you will need to pay back any amounts you received. 

 

If your Non-Resident spouse has little or no income, and you are sending support payments to them, CRA may request proof of these payments prior to assessing the tax return and allowing the claim for the credit. 

 

If you are eligible to claim the Spousal Amount, here's some information for claiming the credit using TurboTax.

 

• You report yourself as Married or Common Law. Your partner does not need to file a CRA return.
• You should specify that your spouse is a non-resident ( yes you can do this), you should prepare your own individual return separately, indicating your spouse has zero income, non-resident, and with a null SIN 000 000 000.
• You cannot claim the direct cost of any remittances made to your non-resident partner.

There are no claims for Dependants who are out of the country, so there is no need to include them on your tax return.

 

**NOTE: You may want to call the CRA at 1-866-223-4403 to inquire about getting an ITN (Individual Tax Number) or TTN (Temporary Tax Number) for your non-resident spouse. 

• T1261 - Application for and ITN 

 

If you need any further clarifications, we would be glad to assist you by having you contact us by phone or via Facebook or  Twitter.