Can I file as married filing jointly with me claiming foreign income exclusion and my spouse not?

[mlee3]

I am a US citizen living and working overseas. I meet the requirements for foreign income exclusion. Only US sourced income I have is interest income which is about $300. My spouse is a resident alien (green card holder) living and working in the US and does not live in the country with me. He does not have any foreign sourced income.

We were wondering if we could file married filing jointly with me claiming foreign income exclusion and my spouse not. Or would it be much better if we filed separately?

Thank you very much.

[Critter]

The exclusion is a per person thing so you can take it even if they don't ... even if you file a joint return.

[pk]

yes -- you can. Just make sure that one income ( US resident person) is entered under the W-2 screen while the other ( foreign resident) is entered  under "Foreign Earned Income and Exclusion" screen  --- to reach this  , under personal income , select "I will work of my own..." and then from the drop down list of categories of income, near the bottom,  " not-Common..." , here select "Foreign Earned Income and Exclusion" and follow instructions