US Citizen Married to former Permanent resident living outside the US

[mitchxhell]

I am a US citizen my husband is a Canadian citizen, he was a PR but gave up his status mid last year as we moved to Canada together. He did not have any income in the US in 2017, I had some. Should I still file as married filing jointly? Im sure since we were both living outside the US for over a year now we would be able to claim the income exclusion.

Should I file married jointly in the future as well even though he would then be a non resident alien? I'm unsure if the SSN he has/had expires.

[pk · Accepted solution]

if he has given up his Green Card and has squared his accounts , taxwise with the USA, there is no requirement for him to file a US return. IF he joins you in filing a joint return  then his world  income would come under US purview.   In such a case, absent other compulsions, it is best filing as Married Filing Sep ( i.e. only you file to the USA , no matter your source of income )  If you need more on this, please comment

[mitchxhell]

Okay that makes sense, so this year we will file married jointly because we do have to claim a small 401k withdrawal and then next year I will do married separately. I think since he has been out of the country for well over a year now his income would be excluded anyway. Guess we'll see and deal with what comes! Thanks!