Filing status when non alien resident wife lives abroad.

[Billo1]

I am a US citizen living in the US who is married to a non-resident alien who is not residing in the US. I have three minors who are US citizens living with me in the US. My wife visited the US for a total of 100 days in 2019. She did not work in the US. Should I file Head of Household?

[jtax · Accepted solution]

You can use HOH. See the following from the IRS. However, you can only do that if you have not elected to treat your non-resident spouse as a resident. Yes, that is a choice. It can often be better to make that election. Yes it means you are taxed on your spouse's world-wide income, but it means you can file with joint status. Because US income-tax rates are so low, plus you can get a credit for foreign income tax, you will often save money.  The only way to really know what is best is to try the numbers in both ways.

If you are a U.S. citizen married to a nonresident alien you may qualify to use the head of household tax rates. You are considered unmarried for head of household purposes if your spouse was a nonresident alien at any time during the year and you do not choose to treat your nonresident spouse as a resident alien.

from https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/us-citizens-and-resident-aliens-abroad-head-...

And see this for info on how to elect to treat a non-resident spouse as a resident.

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