Filing Status: Married Filing Jointly vs Separately

[please_help]

Good day, TurboTax Community. While https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/marriage/should-you-and-your-spouse-file-taxes-jointly-or-separ... provides commendable insight to the pros/cons of a married couple Filing Jointly vs Separately, receiving no intelligible guidance during a phone call with the IRS, I am hopeful a viewing tax expert may advise which status is most appropriate for my current - and future - married realities:

In February 2024, I married a foreign national. My spouse does not reside in the U.S. and will not be granted a long-term visa for at least two years. Understandably, all income earned by my spouse during 2024 and 2025 originates from outside the U.S. (FYI: My spouse's income is informal  - a monthly stipend as a family caretaker - that is not reported in her native country.) My spouse's income does not meet the Filing Threshold for any U.S. Filing Status. My spouse does not have a SSN or ITIN...and will likely never qualify for either after moving to the U.S. due to (1) not working outside the home or (2) informally earning very low individual income annually.

In mid-2026, we are optimistic that my spouse will be granted a long-term visa to reside with me in the U.S. Each year in the U.S., my spouse will continue not meeting the Filing Threshold for any U.S. Filing Status.

Questions:

1. Which Filing Status should I/we employ in 2024 (and 2025) while my spouse does not reside in the U.S., employed informally in her native country, and does not earn sufficient income to meet the Filing Threshold for any U.S. Filing Status?

2. When my spouse is approved to reside in the U.S., but continues not earning sufficient individual income meeting the Filing Threshold for any U.S. Filing Status, which Filing Status should I/we use in 2026 and beyond?

Thank you for your interest and guidance.

[Opus 17]

First, congratulations.

Second, what country?

Third, the answer below is generally true, but might be modified if there is a tax treaty with your specific country.  @pk will be the best person to answer that. 

The general rule is that if you file separately, you only report your own income and deductions.  You usually can't e-file because your spouse doesn't have a tax ID number.

If you file jointly, you must make an election to treat your non-resident alien spouse as a US resident for tax purposes.  When you do this, you are required to list all your spouse's income and deduction on your tax return with your own income. This subjects your spouse's income to US taxation, but you can claim a credit or deduction if she also pays tax in her home country.  Filing jointly usually results in lower US tax because it has a lower tax rates, and some deductions and credits are limited or disallowed when filing separately.  However, the financial impact of filing jointly or separately in your situation can only be determined by you, by testing both scenarios.   IRS info here.

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

If you want to file jointly, you will need to apply for an ITIN for your spouse.  You can't e-file your tax return.  Instead, print and sign the tax return, and also complete a sign a form W-7 ITIN application.  Mail the tax return, the W-7, and any required identity documents to the IRS address for ITINs, not the address for tax returns.  After the IRS issues the ITIN they will process your return.  Your wife will not be granted an ITIN unless she has a financial connection to the US -- since she does not have a US job or own property, her connection is established by filing a joint return, so she will generally be ineligible for an ITIN if you try to apply before filing the tax return.

Also note that when she applies for citizenship or a green card, there will be a question, "have you ever failed to pay income tax that you owed." She doesn't owe tax if you file separately, unless she somehow has US-source income, but she would owe tax if you filed jointly, so be sure to include her income on a joint return even though she doesn't get a US W-2 or 1099.

[TomD8]

This TurboTax help article details your filing options when your spouse is a non-resident alien:

How should I file my taxes if my spouse is a nonresident alien? (intuit.com)

[pk]

@please_help ,  Having gone through your post ( description of the situation ),  and agreeing with the  responses  from my colleagues @Opus 17  and @TomD8 ,  there are few things  I would like to add:

(a) You have not answered as to  your own immigration status ( citizen/ GreenCard/ Resident for Tax purposes ); if you are US citizen, then which country are you a citizen of  --- this is only for completeness and may have no effect on  tax situation

(b) Your spouse , where is she from ?    Has she ever been to the USA and if so when.  This may affect things because of tax treaty ( if any )

(c) Generally,  if the NRA spouse is not in the USA and your tax home is US, then the  "treating of spouse as a resident "   is  not much benefit, especially if there is no  tax treaty in effect  ( because then you cannot get credit for the foreign taxes paid nor be eligible for Foreign Earned Income Exclusion ).

(d)  Note that when filing a US tax return jointly with your spouse , it is total household  income that is considered for  threshold of filing requirement.

 Please answer the questions   and I will circle back once I hear from you --yes ?

pk

[please_help]

Greetings, TurboTax Community. I appreciate your feedback, Opus 17, TomD8, and pk!

I am an American citizen. I return to Manila in two weeks to conduct an in-person Catholic wedding ceremony to remove all reservations of my love for my foreign wife. This will be my second visit to the Philippines, my wife's homeland.

I remain undecided how to file - either "Married, Filing Separately" or "Married, Filing Jointly." While the former is the 'status quo' allowing for e-File, the latter slightly reduces my taxable income (I will remain at 12% in both scenarios). No matter which is chosen, the economic data will be nearly exclusively my own (my wife has worked as an undocumented live-in caretaker her entire life with no tax reporting requirements due to her income being egregiously low). When I die, as my beneficiary, my wife will then have cause to file a tax return in her name; if all that is needed to file is an ITIN, then perhaps now is the time to apply for her ITIN while accepting that I must mail all federal and state income tax returns from this point forward?

[Opus 17]

@please_help 

Does your wife intend to move to the US?  Or remain in the Philippines. 

Your wife is only eligible for an ITIN if she has a tax connection to the US.  That tax connection could be created by filing a joint return with you, or by her having US-source income (income that is connected to working in the US).   However, whether or not your pension would be US-source income is something I don't know.  Are you talking about a pension, IRA withdrawals or something else?  I do know that a foreign person who owns stock in US companies is not considered US-source income, so it's not clear to me whether, under US law, your wife would ever need a tax ID number if she never sets foot in the US, even if she inherits some assets from you.  And of course, even if she does inherit and is required to file a US tax return, she could get a tax number at that time.   

Also, if you file separately for 2024, you can decide to make the election to treat your wife as a US person and file jointly in a later year.  (I think that once you make the election, it is very difficult to un-do.  But you don't have to make the election immediately if you want to try filing MFS instead.)

Ultimately how you file is still a decision only you can make.

[pk]

@please_help , 

  generally agreeing with the response of my colleague @Opus 17  to this most recent post,  I have a few more  questions on the situation :

(a) is you tax home US or Philippines ?  I ask because  you say this is your second visit , to the island nation, you don't say whether your spouse is in  the USA or in  the Philippines

(b) If she is living in the USA, the choice of using " un documented "  implies  that she would not be able to reenter the US after the  on-site marriage in  her home country..

(c)  Do you have any children and if so where  do they live, are they minors,  etc. etc. ?

(d) Why the  reference to her being the "sole"  beneficiary  when you pass  ( in the long / distant future ) ?

(e) Is your longer-term plan to stay in the USA with her ?

I admit while  some of the questions may seem a bit in the left field, I cannot honestly  consider the benefits / cons of filing status choice without these points being considered.  I also recognize  that ultimately it is a choice  that only you and your spouse can make,  . all we can do is to  point to items you should consider  in your decision making.

I  will circle back once I hear from you .

pk