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I have been living and studying abroad here in Mexico. I am a retired military person, no other income. Was recently married to a foreign citizen here in MX

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
June 5, 2019
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She is a homemaker, no income to report from MX. Do I file jointly? How do I get her a TIN number in time for taxes? What should I do?

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Best answer by GeoffreyG

If you are a United States citizen and are married to a non-citizen (from Mexico, for example), then you have some options on how to file your United States tax return, although current US tax laws do not make this process particularly easy. Please allow us to explain your choices, although we would preface the following by first noting the following fact. If a US taxpayer is married at any time during the year, they are considered by the IRS to have been married all year, and thus cannot file a tax return as Single. With that much clear, what follows is a discussion of your filing options.

Option # 1: You can file your US tax return as Married Filing Separately (which is usually a somewhat unfavorable tax filing status), and just report your own income there. TurboTax can walk you through this process, and help you create the necessary Form 1040. If your spouse does not already have an ITIN number, or a Social Security Number, then this return would have to further be printed and paper filed. If your spouse has a valid ITIN or SSN, then the tax return would be eligible for e-filing. If there is no ITIN or SSN, then in any place where the nonresident spouse's taxpayer ID number is required on a tax form, you would take a black or blue pen and manually write "nonresident alien" or abbreviate as "NRA."

You can also claim a personal exemption for your spouse, if your spouse had no gross taxable income for U.S. tax purposes, and was not the dependent of another taxpayer. This mirrors the similar rule for US citizens and resident aliens filing as Married Filing Separately to claim the personal (dependency) exemption for their spouse, where that spouse has no taxable income, is not filing a separate tax return, and is not claimed as a dependent on any other taxpayer’s return. But, in order to do this and claim the personal exemption, your spouse must also have a valid Social Security Number or an ITIN.

Option # 2: You can elect to include your nonresident spouse on your US income tax return (which may be more or less tax favorable than Married Filing Separately); and file as Married Filing Jointly; but you would need to file a paper Form 1040 tax return in order to do so. The somewhat complicated process for completing this type of tax return is explained in detail at the IRS.gov website here:

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/u-s-citizens-and-resident-aliens-abroad-nonresident-alien-spouse

Such a tax return (Option # 2) is probably best done by a professional tax preparer, lawyer, or accountant. You could probably find such a qualified person, familiar with US tax law, in any of Mexico's larger cities.

If you choose Option # 1 and have any difficultly with that, then having the tax return prepared by a professional is also an option here too.

TurboTax has a helpful Frequently Asked Questions webpage about claiming international spouses and children, and you may wish to look at that as well. Here is the link:

https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/tax-tips/Taxes-101/Claiming-a-Non-Citizen-Spouse-and-Children-On-Your-Taxes-/INF27549.html

Also, you can read the complete answer to a similar question that was asked here about a year ago. There is some good information and advice in there as well:

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/3089728-how-can-i-file-taxes-with-my-new-foreign-spouse-who-doesn-t-have-a-social-security-number

Thank you for asking this important question; and on behalf of the many veterans and non-veterans here at TurboTax, we also thank you for your military service.

G

GeoffreyGAnswer

Employee

If you are a United States citizen and are married to a non-citizen (from Mexico, for example), then you have some options on how to file your United States tax return, although current US tax laws do not make this process particularly easy. Please allow us to explain your choices, although we would preface the following by first noting the following fact. If a US taxpayer is married at any time during the year, they are considered by the IRS to have been married all year, and thus cannot file a tax return as Single. With that much clear, what follows is a discussion of your filing options.

Option # 1: You can file your US tax return as Married Filing Separately (which is usually a somewhat unfavorable tax filing status), and just report your own income there. TurboTax can walk you through this process, and help you create the necessary Form 1040. If your spouse does not already have an ITIN number, or a Social Security Number, then this return would have to further be printed and paper filed. If your spouse has a valid ITIN or SSN, then the tax return would be eligible for e-filing. If there is no ITIN or SSN, then in any place where the nonresident spouse's taxpayer ID number is required on a tax form, you would take a black or blue pen and manually write "nonresident alien" or abbreviate as "NRA."

You can also claim a personal exemption for your spouse, if your spouse had no gross taxable income for U.S. tax purposes, and was not the dependent of another taxpayer. This mirrors the similar rule for US citizens and resident aliens filing as Married Filing Separately to claim the personal (dependency) exemption for their spouse, where that spouse has no taxable income, is not filing a separate tax return, and is not claimed as a dependent on any other taxpayer’s return. But, in order to do this and claim the personal exemption, your spouse must also have a valid Social Security Number or an ITIN.

Option # 2: You can elect to include your nonresident spouse on your US income tax return (which may be more or less tax favorable than Married Filing Separately); and file as Married Filing Jointly; but you would need to file a paper Form 1040 tax return in order to do so. The somewhat complicated process for completing this type of tax return is explained in detail at the IRS.gov website here:

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/u-s-citizens-and-resident-aliens-abroad-nonresident-alien-spouse

Such a tax return (Option # 2) is probably best done by a professional tax preparer, lawyer, or accountant. You could probably find such a qualified person, familiar with US tax law, in any of Mexico's larger cities.

If you choose Option # 1 and have any difficultly with that, then having the tax return prepared by a professional is also an option here too.

TurboTax has a helpful Frequently Asked Questions webpage about claiming international spouses and children, and you may wish to look at that as well. Here is the link:

https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/tax-tips/Taxes-101/Claiming-a-Non-Citizen-Spouse-and-Children-On-Your-Taxes-/INF27549.html

Also, you can read the complete answer to a similar question that was asked here about a year ago. There is some good information and advice in there as well:

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/3089728-how-can-i-file-taxes-with-my-new-foreign-spouse-who-doesn-t-have-a-social-security-number

Thank you for asking this important question; and on behalf of the many veterans and non-veterans here at TurboTax, we also thank you for your military service.