Do I need to claim my wife?

[rexzor 0]

Hey guys!

I have been married to my wife since October 10th of this year and I want to know if I should be claiming her on my taxes. I am from the US and she lives in Canada. We have not sent any immigration forms yet but, we will be early January.

[EM_Vandaveer 2,408]

You either file Married Filing Separately and in this case you can simply put NRA (for non-resident alien) on the form where it asks for her SSN. Once she immigrates to the US and gets an SSN, you'll be able to amend your taxes to Married Filing Jointly.

Or you file Married Filing Jointly, but you'd need to get her an ITIN, which is somewhat of an involved process.

You CANNOT file your taxes as Single or Head of Household.

[aaron2020 11,651]

If you file a joint return or amend to add your wife later, then she is choosing to be treated as a US taxpayer for the year and her Canadian income must be included in your joint return. Make the choice carefully as to whether to file with her which requires including her income. She will get a tax credit for taxes paid in Canada on her US tax return. Make sure that you make the choice that results in the least amount of tax payable to Uncle Sam.