Living abroad and spouse moved back to US during tax year - do we file separately?

[myxz]

My spouse and I have lived abroad together in Europe for the last 3 years but in 2022, he got a new job so started to live in the US from June and I continued to live abroad to transition/work out relocation.  How should we file our 2022 tax return - separate? or Joint?  We are both back in the US from January 2023 so I gather we would file jointly again for 2023 but our income from 2022 and work places are very different. 

[DoninGA]

You can file your 2022 tax return as Married Filing Jointly regardless of where each of you are physically located in the world.

[xmasbaby0]

Provide more information.  Are both of you U.S. citizens with Social Security numbers?   Or not?   Did both of you work and receive income in Europe during 2022?   Do you have dependents?   Do the dependents have SSN's?

[myxz]

My husband and I both have SS#s  - I'm US citizen and he's perm resident.  No dependents.

My job was based in Europe - so my payroll was based in Europe. I worked and was based in Europe for 99% of the time (except for few weeks to visit/vaca in US).  Whereas my husband's new job was based mainly in the US so he mainly worked out of the US (approx 7 months in the US, and worked out of Europe for 2-3 months total- he did not work all 12 months).  Since he spent 7 months in the US, I think he's not eligible for the Form 2555 - he doesn't have any Foreign Taxes paid as the taxes witheld in Europe all comes out of my paycheck.  THis is why I think we have to file separately?  

[Critter-3]

You can file your 2022 tax return as Married Filing Jointly regardless of where each of you are physically located in the universe.  You also have the option to file separately if you want to and agree to do so however it is not usually the best option however you can use the downloaded program and try it both ways and see which option is best for your situation.

[RobertB4444]

You are correct that your husband isn't eligible for form 2555 for 2022.  However, 2555 is filed individually - one for each spouse.  So you are still eligible.  And your husband can take the foreign tax credit to reduce the taxes due by the amount of tax he pays on his European salary.  You should wait to file your US return until both of you have filed whichever returns are required of you internationally in order to have the amount of that foreign tax credit handy.  Then, as @Critter-# says, filing a joint tax return is better for you in almost every instance.  ESPECIALLY if one spouse eliminates their income using form 2555 but still receives a standard deduction.

@myxz

[myxz]

Dear RobertB4444 & Critter-3.

Thank you very much for the advice and explanation. I didn't realize Form 2555 was for individuals. We have only filed as joint filing in the past so didn't realize certain forms were for 1 individual.  Tax filings for 2022 are due March 31 in the country where we lived so we will manage the tax returns there first and then see what comes out as Foreign Tax Credit for the US tax return for my husband.  We may download the program and work out both ways to see what is best as well. Thank you very much!!