Foreign Tax Credit When Married to a Non-Resident Who Has Foreign Income

[vidis12]

Hi,

  We got married in 2025 and now I am working on 2025 tax returns, however, my wife lives and works in UK and is non-resident, I live and work in US and I'm a resident. However, we are looking to file MFJ and apply ITIN for my spouse. Now, it is clear that in this situation I have to add spouse's UK income and we may or may not use FEIE, but CAN we use Foreign Tax Credit considering taxes spouse paid on UK income?

    Spouse has around 40K, USD conversion, income and paid around 5K in taxes for that income. Which would really help with tax liability going to a small refund if credit can be used. 

[LaShaunA3]

Yes. If you file MFJ by electing to treat your nonresident spouse as a U.S. resident for the entire year, you must report her worldwide income, and you may claim a Foreign Tax Credit (FTC) for creditable UK income taxes paid on that income.

The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion isn't available in this situation, unless your spouse separately meets its requirements. But not using FEIE doesn't prevent claiming the FTC. 

For more information, see the following articles

How should I file my taxes if my spouse is a nonresident alien?

Foreign Tax Credit

[vidis12]

Thank you