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I am married. My husband and I live in the United Arab Emirates, tax free. We file married but separate. I earned no income, do I still need to file my own taxes?

 
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1 Reply
jtax
Level 10

I am married. My husband and I live in the United Arab Emirates, tax free. We file married but separate. I earned no income, do I still need to file my own taxes?

If your total gross income is less than $4,050, you are not required to file a return. See Pub 501 table 1 page 2. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p501.pdf

However, it is always a good idea to file a return. Why? Because if you don't file the statute of limitations never starts to run and the IRS can audit you anytime in the future. If you file, then after three years the IRS can't come after you (absent fraud or understatement of income by > 25%).

Finally, you don't mention if your spouse is a US Citizen. If he is, then you should figure your taxes jointly if only to see if you will pay less. Joint filing almost always results in lower total tax paid. It may not be the case for you (e.g. if all of his income can be excluded as foreign-earned income or if he is not subject to US taxes), but generally it is true.

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