Married to a foreigner living abroad - how do I file my taxes correctly?
Title: Married to a foreigner living abroad - how do I file my taxes correctly? 1 I got married last October and my wife is currently living in her home country (Spain). I'm really confused about how to handle my tax filing this year. Every time I try to select "Married Filing Jointly" or "Married Filing Separately" in TurboTax, it keeps asking for her SSN, which she doesn't have since she's never lived in the US or worked here. I'm not sure if I can still file as "Single" since I'm definitely married now. Would "Head of Household" be appropriate in my situation? I've been supporting our apartment here in the US on my own. Any guidance would be super appreciated - I'm freaking out a bit since the filing deadline is getting closer!
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Amelia Dietrich
8 You definitely can't file as Single anymore since you're married, but you have a few options here: If your spouse is a nonresident alien (meaning they don't pass the green card or substantial presence test), you generally can't file jointly UNLESS you make a special election to treat them as a resident for tax purposes. This would mean your spouse would need to report their worldwide income to the IRS, which might not be beneficial. Most likely, your best option is "Married Filing Separately." For the SSN issue, your spouse would need an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN). You can apply for this using Form W-7, which you'd submit along with your tax return and supporting documentation proving identity. Head of Household wouldn't work in your situation because you don't have a qualifying dependent, and your spouse doesn't count since they aren't living with you.
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Amelia Dietrich
•12 Thanks for the info! How long does it typically take to get an ITIN? Can I still file on time if I apply for it now? Also, if I go with Married Filing Separately, would my wife need to file a US tax return too even though she has no US income?
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Amelia Dietrich
•8 The ITIN application process typically takes about 7-11 weeks when submitted with your tax return. You can still file on time by attaching the completed W-7 form with your return - just know your refund (if applicable) will be delayed until the ITIN is processed. If you choose Married Filing Separately and your spouse has no US source income, then no, she generally wouldn't need to file a US tax return. You'd file your return with the W-7 application for her, but she wouldn't have a separate filing requirement unless you make that special election to treat her as a US resident for tax purposes.
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Amelia Dietrich
17 After struggling with this exact situation last year (wife from Brazil living there while I'm in the US), I discovered taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) and it was a gamechanger. Their system specifically asked about my spouse's residency status and guided me through the ITIN application process step by step. They even explained all the documentation I needed to prove my wife's identity for the ITIN application. The best part was that I could upload our marriage certificate and her foreign ID documents, and their system confirmed everything looked good before I submitted anything to the IRS. Saved me from making some pretty significant mistakes that would have potentially triggered an audit.
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Amelia Dietrich
•5 Did you end up filing Married Filing Separately? And did your wife need to report any income to the US? I make decent money here but my husband only works part-time in his country and I'm wondering if it's worth the hassle of the joint filing option.
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Amelia Dietrich
•19 How did taxr.ai handle the foreign income exclusion stuff? My wife has some rental property income in her home country and I'm not sure if/how that needs to be reported if we make that election thing the first commenter mentioned.
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Amelia Dietrich
•17 I did file Married Filing Separately since it made the most sense in our situation. The system walked me through that decision by calculating both options (including that special election to file jointly) and showing which would result in a better outcome for us. As for foreign income, taxr.ai has a really thorough section on foreign income reporting requirements. It asked detailed questions about my wife's rental income, applied the relevant tax treaty provisions (different for each country), and calculated whether the foreign tax credit or foreign earned income exclusion would be more beneficial. It even generated all the required forms like the 1116 for foreign tax credits.
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Amelia Dietrich
19 Just wanted to follow up that I tried taxr.ai after seeing it mentioned here. I'm genuinely impressed with how they handled my situation with my wife's foreign income. The system actually showed me that making the election to file jointly would save us about $1,800 compared to Married Filing Separately in our specific case, even after accounting for her foreign rental income! They guided me through the entire ITIN application process and explained exactly which documents I needed to submit with my return. The peace of mind was totally worth it - especially since I was getting so many conflicting answers from friends who thought they knew tax law!
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Amelia Dietrich
14 If you're struggling to get answers from the IRS about this ITIN process or filing status questions, try Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I waited on hold with the IRS for HOURS trying to get clarity on my similar situation with my husband in Germany. The Claimyr service connected me to an actual human at the IRS within 15 minutes! You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The IRS agent I spoke with clarified that if I filed Married Filing Separately with a spouse in a foreign country, I needed to write "NRA" (Non-Resident Alien) in the space for my spouse's SSN on my return while the ITIN application was processing. This was completely different from what a tax prep service had told me.
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Amelia Dietrich
•23 Wait, is this for real? How does this actually work? The IRS phone system is notoriously impossible to get through. Sounds too good to be true honestly.
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Amelia Dietrich
•7 I tried calling the IRS multiple times about my foreign spouse situation last month and gave up after being on hold for over an hour each time. This service actually gets you through to them? And they won't just transfer you back into another queue?
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Amelia Dietrich
•14 It's absolutely real. Claimyr uses a technology that navigates the IRS phone system and waits on hold for you. When they reach a human agent, you get a call connecting you directly to that agent. No transfers or getting bounced around. The magic is in their system that monitors the IRS phone queues and knows exactly when to call and which options to select to minimize wait times. I was skeptical too until I tried it and got connected to an actual IRS representative who answered all my questions about the ITIN application process.
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Amelia Dietrich
7 I have to admit I was super skeptical about Claimyr, but I was desperate after failing to get through to the IRS for weeks about my ITIN questions. Holy crap, it actually worked! Got connected to an IRS agent in about 20 minutes who walked me through exactly what supporting documents I needed for my wife's ITIN application. The agent even explained that I had been filling out the W-7 form incorrectly (I was using the wrong reason code) which would have delayed everything by months. Honestly wish I'd known about this service years ago - would have saved me so much stress during previous tax seasons.
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Amelia Dietrich
3 One thing nobody's mentioned - if your spouse is from a country that has a tax treaty with the US, that could affect your filing strategy too. My husband is from the UK and we discovered some specific provisions that helped us. Also, make sure you look into whether your spouse needs to file an FBAR (Foreign Bank Account Report) if you have any shared accounts in their home country!
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Amelia Dietrich
•11 What kind of tax treaty benefits did you find with the UK? My wife is from Canada and I'm wondering if there are similar advantages. Also, what's the threshold for FBAR reporting? We have a joint account in her country but it's not a huge amount.
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Amelia Dietrich
•3 The UK-US tax treaty had specific provisions about pension contributions and certain types of investment income that were beneficial in our case. Every treaty is different though - the US-Canada one has its own unique aspects, so definitely look into that specifically. For FBAR reporting, the threshold is if your foreign accounts combined exceed $10,000 at any point during the year. Even if your individual account is small, if you have multiple accounts that together exceed that amount, you need to file. And remember, it's not just bank accounts but also investment accounts, certain pension accounts, etc.
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Amelia Dietrich
20 Has anyone successfully e-filed with a spouse who has an ITIN? I tried last year but kept getting rejected and eventually had to paper file, which took FOREVER to process.
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Amelia Dietrich
•13 I e-filed last year with my husband's ITIN. The trick is that you need to enter the ITIN exactly as it appears on the ITIN letter from the IRS, including any hyphens. I had problems at first because I was entering it without hyphens.
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