Tax Year Prior to 2020: Can i claim my wife as a dependent since she does not work

[Sillymami]

@DoninGA 

Our situation is we are family of three, a British guy left England for 4 years and now come back with a 2 years old baby, we just want to know after we married and I am not working, is there any tax deduction coz we found so many people not working and took benefits, seems not fair to us we have zero deduction having a child and family. When we phone to the tax department , they are not helpful and seems service are went down from few years back after we left the country. We just want to know if we can claim anything back or any tax deduction 

[Sillymami]

Maybe I’m making a big deal out of nothing but I just want to know something clearly, that’s it, but thanks for your reply anyways Carl

[DoninGA]

For a 2018 US Federal tax return if you file as Married Filing Jointly you receive a Standard Deduction of $24,000 if both are under age 65.  Since you have a child under the age of 17, if you claim the child as your dependent then there is a Child Tax Credit of up to $2,000.  Based on your Earned Income and Adjusted Gross Income you may be eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit.

The child must have a Social Security number.  Both you and your spouse must have either a Social Security number or an ITIN issued by the IRS.

See this IRS website for the Child Tax Credit - https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/child-tax-credit-and-credit-for-other-dependents-at-a-glance

See this IRS website for the Earned Income Tax Credit - https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/individuals/earned-income-tax-credit/eitc-income-limits-maxim...

[Critter]

IMPORTANT FACT .... do NOT file the return until the child gets a SS# if they do not have one yet. Then new rules doesnt allow a return to be amended to get the child credits if the SS# was not issued prior to the filing. Same goes for the foreign spouse although an ITIN can be applied for with the federal tax return.

[Wsayers80]

I plan on filling MFJ. We married in June 2019. She is from Brazil and we are going through the immigration process. She has very little income if any and what little she does make goes to Brazil for her 3 kids, so Basically I fully support her here. She does not have a social yet which I believe is needed in tax purposes just an AT number. 

How do I file? Do we still get the married tax credit?

[DoninGA]

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@Wsayers80 wrote:

I plan on filling MFJ. We married in June 2019. She is from Brazil and we are going through the immigration process. She has very little income if any and what little she does make goes to Brazil for her 3 kids, so Basically I fully support her here. She does not have a social yet which I believe is needed in tax purposes just an AT number. 

How do I file? Do we still get the married tax credit?

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If you are a US citizen or US resident and your spouse does not have a Social Security number or an ITIN and you are not applying for an ITIN with the tax return then you can only file your tax return as Married Filing Separately.  Where asked to enter the spouse's Social Security number enter 999-88-9999.  You can only print and mail your tax return, it cannot be e-filed.  When you print the tax return erase the Social Security number for your spouse and manually enter NRA for non-resident alien.

See this TurboTax support FAQ for the procedure to print and mail a tax return using the online editions - https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1944348-how-do-i-print-and-mail-my-return-in-turbotax-online

[Wsayers80]

What if she has an IT number?

[DoninGA]

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@Wsayers80 wrote:

What if she has an IT number?

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If she has a valid ITIN issued by  the IRS then you can file as Married Filing Jointly.  But she would have to report on the US federal tax return all worldwide income she received during the the year, US and foreign income.

[Dzac00]

We were thinking of filing Married but filing Separately. Is it true that once you file MFJ, you can’t file separately again?

And also,  if my wife only work a 5 months towards the beginning of the year & we decide to file Married filing separately, who should claim our child on their taxes to benefit as a whole?

[xmasbaby0]

@Dzac00 The rule is that you cannot amend a joint return to married filing separately after the filing deadline.  Here is some information you should consider when you are deciding which way to file:

If you were legally married at the end of 2019 your filing choices are married filing jointly or married filing separately.

Married Filing Jointly is usually better, even if one spouse had little or no income. When you file a joint return, you and your spouse will get the married filing jointly standard deduction of $24,400 (+$1300 for each spouse 65 or older)  You are eligible for more credits including education credits, earned income credit, child and dependent care credit, and a larger income limit to receive the child tax credit.

If you choose to file married filing separately, both spouses have to file the same way—either you both itemize or you both use standard deduction. Your tax rate will be higher than on a joint return. Some of the special rules for filing separately include: you cannot get earned income credit, education credits, adoption credits, or deductions for student loan interest. A higher percent of your Social Security benefits may be taxable. Your limit for SALT (state and local taxes and sales tax) will be only $5000 per spouse. In many cases you will not be able to take the child and dependent care credit. The amount you can contribute to a retirement account will be affected. If you live in a community property state, you will be required to provide additional information regarding your spouse’s income. ( Community property states:  AZ, CA, ID, LA, NV, NM, TX, WA, WI)

If  you are using online TurboTax to prepare your returns, you will need to prepare two separate returns and pay twice.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1894449-married-filing-jointly-vs-married-filing-separately

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901162-married-filing-separately-in-community-property-states

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1894449-is-it-better-for-a-married-couple-to-file-jointly-or-separ...

[Dzac00]

Thanks a lot @xmasbaby0  for the information & for the fast reply!.

[xmasbaby0]

@Dzac00 You are welcome.

[DonVergas]

Yes, you can claim your spouse.

You can claim your partner as a dependent if your situation meets all of the following conditions:

• No one else, such as your partner's parents, can claim your partner as a dependent child on their tax return
• Your partner must be a U.S. citizen, a U.S. national, a U.S. resident alien, or a resident of Canada or Mexico also might qualify
• Your partner must live with you all year
• Your partner's gross income for the year—meaning income from all sources—cannot exceed $4,250 for 2019
• You must provide more than half of your partner's financial support during the year
• Your partner cannot be married to someone else and file a joint return with that other person except to claim a refund of withheld income tax or estimated income tax paid

[DonVergas]

No, your partner must live with you for the entire year to qualify as a dependent. 

[satchimo]

Please see question above...