You can choose to treat your spouse as a US resident alien by filing jointly. If you make this choice, you and your spouse are treated for income tax purposes as residents for your entire tax year. This also means that you must include all of her worldwide income on your joint return. Review the following requirements. Your tax home is the US.
If you meet certain requirements, you may qualify for the foreign earned income exclusion. To claim these benefits, you must have foreign earned income and your tax home must be in a foreign country, and you must be one of the following:
- A U.S. citizen who is a bona fide resident of a foreign country or countries for an uninterrupted period that includes an entire tax year,
- A U.S. resident alien who is a citizen or national of a country with which the United States has an income tax treaty in effect and who is a bona fide resident of a foreign country or countries for an uninterrupted period that includes an entire tax year, or
- A U.S. citizen or a U.S. resident alien who is physically present in a foreign country or countries for at least 330 full days during any period of 12 consecutive months.
If she pays tax on her income to her home country, and you do not qualify for the foreign income exclusion, then you would be allowed to take the foreign tax credit which will provide tax relief so that you are not taxed twice on the same income. Use the following link to enter your credit.
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