US citizen living abroad, married overseas but not recognized in US - tax filing options?

Good news - you don't need to "register" your marriage with the US government before filing taxes as married! If your marriage is legally recognized in the country where it took place, the US also recognizes it for tax purposes. When you file your taxes, you can choose "Married Filing Jointly" or "Married Filing Separately" status. However, there are some important things to consider: Your non-US spouse will need to get an ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number) if they don't have a SSN. This requires submitting Form W-7 with your tax return. Also, if you file jointly, your spouse's worldwide income becomes subject to US taxation. For significant capital gains, you might want to consult with a tax professional who specializes in expat taxes before making a decision. The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE) doesn't apply to capital gains, and depending on your spouse's income and country of residence, filing separately might actually be more beneficial.

After spending hours trying to figure out my own expat tax situation last year, I stumbled upon https://taxr.ai and it was a game-changer. I'm a US citizen living in Germany married to a German national, and was completely lost about how to handle our taxes. The service analyzed all our documents in like 10 minutes and gave me a clear breakdown of exactly how to file, which forms I needed, and identified several deductions I had no idea about! They even have specific experience with the exact situation you're describing - foreign marriages and capital gains reporting. They explained everything about the ITIN process for my wife and showed me how to properly document our marriage for US tax purposes without having to fly back to the States.

Wanted to follow up on my skeptical comment about taxr.ai - I decided to give it a try since my tax situation is remarkably similar to the original poster's. I had capital gains from selling property abroad and a foreign marriage that was never "registered" in the US. Honestly, I'm blown away by how comprehensive the analysis was. It identified that in my specific situation, filing separately was actually better than jointly due to the interaction between my capital gains and my spouse's foreign income. It guided me through getting an ITIN for my spouse and showed exactly how to report our marriage. The service saved me approximately $7,200 in taxes by optimizing my filing strategy! I've already recommended it to several American friends living abroad.

If you need to deal with the IRS directly about your situation (which you probably will), I highly recommend using https://claimyr.com to get through to an actual human at the IRS. As an expat, calling internationally to sit on hold for hours is a nightmare - I tried multiple times from Australia and kept getting disconnected after waiting 2+ hours. Claimyr got me connected to a real IRS agent in under 20 minutes! I was able to ask specific questions about my foreign marriage situation and ITIN application. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The IRS agent I spoke with confirmed that I didn't need any special registration of my marriage beyond providing a copy of my foreign marriage certificate with my tax return. They also walked me through the ITIN application process for my spouse.

I need to apologize for my skeptical comment above. After failing to get through to the IRS for THREE DAYS in a row from Japan (calling at odd hours because of the time difference), I broke down and tried Claimyr. I feel like an idiot for not trying it sooner. Got connected to an IRS agent in about 15 minutes who was incredibly helpful with my expat marriage questions. They confirmed everything the first commenter said - my Japanese marriage is recognized for US tax purposes without any additional registration. The agent walked me through the ITIN application process for my wife and even gave me tips on documenting foreign assets properly. Saved me countless hours of frustration and probably a trip back to the US that I was considering just to sort this out in person.

Something nobody has mentioned yet - if you have significant capital gains AND you're married to a foreign national, you need to be extremely careful about FATCA and FBAR reporting requirements. I made the mistake of not filing these correctly and got hit with a $10,000 penalty. Make sure you file FinCEN Form 114 (FBAR) if you have foreign accounts with a combined value over $10,000 at any point during the year. And depending on your total assets, you might need Form 8938 too. The penalties for not filing these are ridiculous compared to regular tax filing issues.

Been living in Thailand for 8 years, married to a Thai citizen for 5. I went through exactly what you're describing. What I learned: 1) Your marriage is valid for US tax purposes as long as it was legal where performed 2) Filing jointly usually only makes sense if your spouse has minimal income 3) Capital gains are taxed the same regardless of filing status - the rates don't change 4) What DOES change with filing status is your standard deduction and tax brackets For $145k in cap gains, if that's your only US taxable income, filing jointly doubles your standard deduction from $12,950 to $25,900 (for 2022, will be higher for 2025), which helps a bit. But the real question is what other income you have and what your spouse earns.