Hi there,
I'm hoping for some tax advice for me and my wife as first time tax filers with a green card holder in the household. For some background, I am a US citizen married to a Thai citizen that moved back to the US from Thailand back in April 2023. My wife spent time going back and forth on a tourist visa until she finally got her green card in July 2024, after which she has lived here in the US as a permanent resident. She has never filed US taxes, and we have never filed jointly, and I'm generally wanting to know whether we should/could do our taxes alone using something like TurboTax, or whether we'd be better off hiring a professional.
Main questions are:
1) My wife still earns her income in Thailand, and I know she will need to pay taxes on that. Does she need to pay taxes on all of her income since becoming a green card holder? Will she need to file for anything she earned prior to July 2024? Will she be able to file for a Foreign Earned Income Exclusion?
2) My wife also owns real estate in Thailand and is receiving rental income on two condo units. Will she be required to file on this income, and are there any further considerations regarding exclusions/credits?
3) My wife has significant savings in Thailand but has not actively earned income on that beyond a very low savings account interest rate. Will she need to file or pay taxes on any of this?
4) Will it be beneficial to us to file jointly vs married separately as I did on my previous taxes?
I feel like this is complicated compared to my single-earner tax filings, so I was originally thinking we'd need to hire a CPA or tax preparer, but perhaps I'm mistaken. Any and all help would be much appreciated!
Thanks!
David
