Here’s another TurboTax post about entering income paid by a foreign employer (which of course will not have jumped through any of the U.S. tax hoops). You’ll see a screen where you’ll describe how the income was reported by checking “A statement from my foreign employer,” then another one where you’ll enter her total for the year. And yes, if the bank didn’t give her that total, it would be a matter of your adding up the statements (they would be what you would show the IRS in the event they later requested proof).
However, since you’re seriously thinking about doing this, I should probably mention that (in addition to speaking with with legal/immigration experts about the possible non-tax implications) it would be an excellent idea to show those check statements to a tax pro who could examine them and double-check exactly what is being added.
Foreign pensions and other benefits tend to fit like a square peg into the round U.S. tax hole, and unless none of that applies here (or unless you’re going to just add up the U.S. dollar value of all her compensation of any kind, to be on the safe side), I want to make sure that you don’t have any headaches later because I didn’t bring this up!
Regarding the info they gave your wife, the bank itself doesn’t actually have a direct agreement with the U.S. — they just know that the tax code here considers employees of international organizations such as theirs to be ongoing non-residents, and that the treaty between countries says they won’t be taxed (because they’re ongoing non-residents). But, as I mentioned earlier, she can’t file a 1040 with you in that case (non-residents must file 1040NR if they need to file, which she doesn’t). And the exception in the U.S. code that would allow her to file jointly with you means the non-resident thing is out the window and she gets taxed on her worldwide income, like all U.S. residents (discussed in this link from earlier).
Good luck, Gregory-webb06!
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