In most situations, it is better to file as married
filings jointly.
TurboTax - Married Filing
Separately vs Married Filing Jointly
However, if your spouse is a nonresident
alien (NRA), this can become more complicated because
if you decide to file jointly (or even claim a spousal exemption for your NRA
spouse while filing as married filing separately), your NRA spouse would need
either a Social Security Number (SSN) or Individual Taxpayer Identification
Number (ITIN). Also, if you wanted to include her son as your dependent on your income tax return, he would need to an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN). To apply for an ITIN, you would use Form W-7 and would need to attached your tax return to this form. Please note, you will not qualify for the Earned Income Credit (EIC) without a valid Social Security number (not an ITIN) for yourself, your spouse (if filing jointly), and any qualifying children.
As part of including your NRA spouse on a jointly file return, you will also need to attach a statement, signed by
both spouses, to your joint return for the first tax year for which the
choice applies (Nonresident Spouse Treated as
a Resident).
It should contain the following information:
- A declaration that one
spouse was a non-resident alien and the other spouse a U.S. citizen or
resident alien on the last day of your tax year, and that you choose to
be treated as U.S. residents for the entire tax year.
- The name, address, and
identification number of each spouse.
Additionally, if you are including your NRA spouse on a jointly filed
income tax return, your NRA spouse would have to include worldwide income (in
USD) on your jointly filed return (although your NRA spouse may be able to have
all or a portion of that NRA spouse's foreign earned income excluded under
the Foreign
Earned Income Exclusion and would be able
to claim a Foreign
Tax Credit on any foreign income that was
not excluded under the Foreign
Earned Income Exclusion).
Click here for more
information about Claiming
Non-Citizen Spouse and Children On Your Taxes.
Regarding your FBAR requirement if you hold joint
foreign financial accounts with your resident alien spouse -
If
you have foreign bank accounts, you may be required to file a Report of
Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) if are a US citizen or resident
and::
- you had a financial interest in or signature
authority over at least one financial account located outside of the
United States; and
- the aggregate value
of all foreign financial accounts exceeded $10,000 at any time during the
calendar year reported.
Foreign
financial accounts consist of all foreign financial accounts that you own
separately or jointly or for which you have signatory authority over (such as a
foreign business account that is owned by the business but for which you can
sign checks or redirect funds).
To be directed to the US Treasury Government Website to
prepare a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts, click FBAR (TurboTax does not support this form)
