@trishzilla wrote:
Hi, I have a similar situation. I got married in 2021 and my spouse was a NRA living & working in Europe. My spouse has since moved to the US and now has a SSN. I would like to amend my 2021 filing to MFJ and I understand that worldwide income needs to be reported. However, since my spouse was already subjected to income tax in a different country, do we qualify to submit Form 2555 for Foreign Earned Income Exclusion with the amendment? And if the foreign income is lower than the exclusion limit, does that mean I do not need to change the income amount on the 1040 form?
It's not clear at this point what benefits you think you will gain from filing jointly for 2021. Also, you must file the amended return by April 18, 2025; if you miss that deadline, it will be too late to claim any refunds.
No, you can't use the foreign earned income exclusion, because the whole point of filing jointly when your wife is a non-resident, you have to treat your wife as a US resident for tax purposes. However, you should be able to claim a deduction or credit for the foreign income taxes paid on that income that will now be taxed in the US.
https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/foreign-tax-credit-choosing-to-take-credit-o...
https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc856
