topic My spouse is not a resident of the United States of America. We are filing separately. What information for him do I need to file my taxes? in Get your taxes done using TurboTax

My spouse is not a resident of the United States of America. We are filing separately. What information for him do I need to file my taxes?

punkducks — Tue, 03 Feb 2026 06:40:15 GMT

My spouse is not a resident of the USA, he is an alien and does not work or live in the USA. How do I go about filing when he doesn't have a SSN

Re: My spouse is not a resident of the United States of America. We are filing separately. What information for him do I need to file my taxes?

xmasbaby0 — Mon, 13 Jan 2025 18:21:57 GMT

MY SPOUSE LIVES ABROAD AND/OR DOES NOT HAVE A SSN

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/taxation/married-person-claim-head-household-filing-status/L078u1RSW_US_en_US?uid=lmtc1ov4

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/tax-credits-deductions/file-taxes-spouse-nonresident-alien/L4AuRKrMd_US_en_US?uid=m5r1a77j

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/nonresident-spouse

Re: My spouse is not a resident of the United States of America. We are filing separately. What information for him do I need to file my taxes?

Opus 17 — Mon, 13 Jan 2025 18:31:35 GMT

Briefly, you either,

a. file as married filing separately, leaving of your spouse. I don't know if you can e-file this year, in the past you could not. You may need to print your return and write "NRA" in the space for your spouse's name.

b. File as married filing jointly, by electing (choosing) to treat your spouse as a US person for tax reasons. You report all their income, no matter how small, as well as yours. You must apply for a tax ID number for your spouse (ITIN). You can't e-file, instead you print and mail the return and the ITIN application to the IRS along with any required proof for the ITIN.

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/nonresident-spouse

Joint filing has lower taxes as some deductions and credits are reduced for married filing separately. But the choice to treat your spouse as a US person for taxes is not easy to undo, and may cause you to pay more tax if they start making money.