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My wife has lived in the Philippines all her life, how do I file my income tax return?
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Since you are married, you must file your tax return either Married Filing Jointly or Married Filing Separately, unless you qualify to file as Head of Household by having another dependent who lives with you.
If you elect to file jointly with your wife, you will need to apply for an ITIN for her and you will also need to report all of her income. By filing jointly with her you will be making an election to treat her as a resident alien for tax purposes (just for tax, this doesn't actually make her a resident alien) and this election is something she can only make once in her life (even if later she marries someone else.)
When using TurboTax, filing separately when your spouse doesn't have an ITIN requires filing by mail. For that reason, you might want to apply for one when you file your first return this way so that in future years it is easier to file your tax return.
If your wife should join you later in the United States all of these same rules apply unless and until she becomes a resident alien or US citizen. Then all of the same tax rules apply to her that apply to you.
For more detailed instructions on your options and how to file, see the following post by@LindaD1: Filing with Non-resident spouse
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