Filing jointly with spouse with 2013 foreign income

[jft 12]

My wife and stepson moved in with me at the beginning of September 2013 and we married in November. She worked in a restaurant in Russia bringing home about $1100/month after taxes but some of that was under the table so the amount she paid taxes on was less. Unfortunately she has no paperwork from her Russian job as she and the manager do not get along well since she left to go to America.

However I have several questions. It looks to me that she is not a resident alien because she had no US income and did not live here for 180 days, correct? What do I put in for her Russian income, just take a guess? It looks like filing jointly is the far, far more adventageous choice so married filling separately would cost us a ton so I want to get this right. Thanks!

[CarlosAndSveta 808]

Your wife is a nonresident alien for 2013 for federal income tax purposes. Your best option for tax purposes is to file a joint tax return with her for 2013. This will require that you and your wife make the election to treat her as a resident alien for tax purposes. If you do this it means that you will have to file a paper tax return instead of being able to file electronically. You and your wife will need to do your best at estimating her wages she earned in Russia. You will report these on your tax return but then you can claim the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion.

[jft 12]

This is cool, however is there some special exemption where she can be treated as a resident alien even though she did not live in the US for long enough in 2013 and the previous two years to qualify, at least according to Turbo Tax? Once I selected that option and answered a bunch of questions it excluded 100% of her income but Im fuzzy on how she can be treated as a resident alien in this situation. Is there a special form required in this case?

[novedsac 355]

Don't rely on TurboTax.

Read IRS Publiciation 519 ... I believe it's within the first 8-10 pages that explains the information you're looking for.

[CarlosAndSveta 808]

This is cool, however is there some special exemption where she can be treated as a resident alien even though she did not live in the US for long enough in 2013 and the previous two years to qualify, at least according to Turbo Tax? Once I selected that option and answered a bunch of questions it excluded 100% of her income but Im fuzzy on how she can be treated as a resident alien in this situation. Is there a special form required in this case?

Novedsac mentioned Publication 519. The election that he and I are talking about can be found on Page 9 of IRS Publication 519. Read the section that begins in the left hand column titled "Nonresident Spouse Treated as a Resident." That is what you need to do in order to be able to file a joint return with your spouse. There is no official form for making the election. You will just have to create the statement, signed by you and your spouse, and attach it to your tax return.

[aussie_jason 195]

Ultimately though her income is going to be excluded due to the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion so it is possible (but not likely) that TurboTax is actually getting it right.

[jft 12]

Ok, so two more questions. Does anyone have a sample text for the declaration? Secondly does my wife need to file a 1040NR as TurboTax says she might or as my wife is she exempt from that requirement?

[NikLR 13,220]

If you want to file jointly, you'll need to file an w7 to get an ITIN for your wife unless she already has an SSN.

[Zedayn 485]

Ok, so two more questions. Does anyone have a sample text for the declaration? Secondly does my wife need to file a 1040NR as TurboTax says she might or as my wife is she exempt from that requirement?

This post has a sample statement you can follow: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/480447-want-to-file-tax-together-but-need-help/?p=6819756

[jft 12]

Thank you!

One last question, is there a way to treat her son as a resident alien and thus claim the child deduction even though he only lived with me the last 4 months of the year (he of course lived with his mother the rest of the year).