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What should be my filing status

Hi,

  I am on H1B visa and working in California and my wife is working in India. She recently got her H4 and will be travelling to the USA for just 15 days. We both are Indian citizens. What should be the filing status for USA tax purposes?

If we file as married filing jointly, do I need to report her income here? What about the taxes she is already paying in India? Or should the status be filing married filing separately or single? 

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What should be my filing status

If you are a US citizen or resident alien and your spouse does not have a Social Security number or an ITIN and you are not applying for an ITIN with the tax return then you can only file your tax return as Married Filing Separately.  Where asked to enter the spouse's Social Security number enter 999-88-9999.  You can only print and mail your tax return, it cannot be e-filed.  When you print the tax return erase the Social Security number for your spouse and manually enter NRA for non-resident alien.

See this TurboTax support FAQ for the procedure to print and mail a tax return using the online editions - https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1944348-how-do-i-print-and-mail-my-return-in-turbotax-online

 

If you are filing your tax return as Married Filing Jointly you must apply for an ITIN with the tax return and you would need to be providing a statement with your tax return that you want your Nonresident Alien Spouse Treated as a Resident.  See IRS Publication 54 Tax Guide for U.S. Citizens and Resident Aliens Abroad pages 6 and 7 - https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p54.pdf

Go to this IRS website for ITIN information - https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/general-itin-information

On a US tax return, Form 1040, all worldwide income, US and Foreign, must be reported.  Foreign  taxes paid would be reported on IRS Form 1116, Foreign Tax Credit 

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