Taxes - It's complicated

[lizka 3]

Hi everyone. My husband just received his conditional residency and his social security in August. He also received a private bank scholarship from Spain to go to grad school in the US. (yes, they know he is married to an American and there is no requirement for him to return.)

So my question is this, currently, I filed married filing separately for 2011 because he wasn't here, so when 2012 comes, i was going to file jointly. However, my husband is not allowed to work while on this scholarship even though he is allowed with his resident card. He has to dedicate all his time to study. The stipend he gets is more than sufficient. So, I know he isn't responsible for paying taxes on the scholarship, but what about the stipend? The money is Spanish money, so when I file for both of us, how would i do that. Additionally, he worked for 1/2 a year in Spain and quit this June, but he paid taxes in Spain on his income, so does that come into play here?

I just don't want him to get in trouble for not filing correctly. Any advice would be really appreciated. I talked to an accountant who is also a professor at my school, and he was kind of stuck and couldn't give me a direct answer.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

There is a foreign income schedule. You fill it out, declare the income and the taxes already paid, and that is deducted from your calculations. You don't pay double tax, but you must report it.

Regarding the stipend, was Spanish taxes already taken out? I am not sure about that - my guess is it's non-taxable or the taxes were taken out in Spain prior to being given to him, but you'll have to investigate that.

[tempa 1]

I am not sure about the stipend but I would say it falls under taxable income just as everything else.

and his income he earned from spain is also taxable in the US.

there are separate places in the tax forms to report taxes paid in a foreign country that will be "reducted" from your taxes owed to US.

it most likely will be a boring read but you should also checkout www.irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/spain.pdf for the tax treaty between the countries.

[C-ma'am 684]

**Moved from AOS family visas to Off Topic as the question is not related to any immigration process.