My spouse came to the US in September 2018. He had no income in the US but was working in his home country before he came to the US. Should we file a joint return?

[tracy2019]

My spouse came to the US in September 2018. He had no income in the US but was working in his home country before he came to the US. We have a two-year old who lived with me for the whole year. If we file jointly, he will be treated as a resident which means his foreign income need to be reported on our return. If we file separately, he is a non-resident alien with no US income so he doesn't need to file any return and then I can file as a head of household. The second option sounds better. Am I right? 

[Hal_Al]

Deleted

[tracy2019]

do you think he'll qualify foreign tax deduction if we file jointly?

[KarenJ]

Please see my response above regarding the head of household question.

[KarenJ]

Please see below on requirements for filing head of household if you are married.

If you file married filing jointly, you can utilize foreign tax credit on your tax return to help offset any double taxation.

If you file married filing jointly you will need to make an election to file jointly and attach the election statement to your printed tax return and mail to the tax authorities.  

Please see page 9 of Publication 519 Nonresident Spouse treated as a resident for how to make this election.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/replies/4206137

If you file married filing separately, there are certain credits that you cannot take

https://ttlc.intuit.com/replies/3288477

[tracy2019]

if we file separately, does he need to file another return? He is a non-resident alien with no US income. Sounds like he doesn't need to file.

[Hal_Al]

If you file as Married Filing Separately, he does not need to file.

[tracy2019]

Thanks, that's helpful.

[tracy2019]

It says you can be considered unmarried at the end of a tax year if your spouse was a nonresident alien at any time during the tax year. Sounds like I do qualify Head of Household if we file separately since my spouse was a nonresident alien in 2018. Am I missing something?

[Hal_Al]

@TurboTaxKarenJ  - can you confirm this?

[KarenJ]

You should qualify for head of household if you meet the following requirements. According to the IRS, if your spouse was a nonresident alien at any time during the year, you are considered unmarried for head of household purposes and may qualify for the head of household tax rates.  You must have paid more than half the cost of keeping up your home in which you lived and have a qualifying child that lived with you for more than half the year.  Please see more information at the following link. <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/us-citizens-and-resident-aliens-abroad-head-...>