Deductions & credits

1. You probably can't e-file.  

 

As a US citizen, you are required to file a US tax return no matter where you live in the world.  You have the option of filing jointly with your spouse, but to do this, you must elect to treat your spouse as a US person for taxes.  That means their income is reported and taxed on your return (but you will get an offsetting credit if they also pay tax in their home country).  To file jointly, you would have to file by mail and include an application for an ITIN, international tax ID number.  (If your spouse already has a valid ITIN, and you file jointly, you can probably e-file.)

 

Or, you can file married filing separately and only report your income.  To file MFS, you write "NRA" in the box for your spouse's name under Filing status, and you leave your spouse's SSN blank.  In the past, you could not e-file this way, I don't know if that is a Turbotax rule or an IRS rule, and I don't know if it will change for the 2025 season.   You should probably plan to file by mail, but wait and see if the program handles this situation differently.

 

2. Yes, you can deduct medical costs for yourself, your spouse, and your dependents, even if provided overseas.  But, only procedures and drugs that are legal in the US.  For example, if your child receives a medication that is approved in the country where you are living but is not approved by the FDA for use in the US, that is not deductible.

 

3. The child care credit is not allowed if you file as married filing separately, by law.   If you file as married filing jointly, the credit is allowed.  You must write “LAFCP” (Living Abroad Foreign Care Provider) in the space for the provider's SSN.  You probably can't e-file without a real SSN, so this again would mean filing by mail. 

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