Filing Taxes from Canada

[Antumbra 0]

Hello everyone!  I was hoping to get some advice on some tax questions since my wife and I are thoroughly confused.  Big shout out to everyone by the way, we have searched through here throughout the visa process and you all have saved us many times!

 

My wife came from Canada on the K-1 visa last year at the end of February and we got married at the beginning of March.  She did work for the first month and a half of the year in Canada, but nothing since arriving.  We recently had the I-765 approved, but no SSN like requested came with it (we plan on heading into the SSA in a couple of days).  We also were just approved for the green card this week.

 

My questions are:

-From what I've read, we should be filing jointly here in the US.  Is this correct?

-If we do file jointly and we report her earnings from 2020, does she still need to file in Canada as well?

-Should we get a tax pro to help us out through this?  If so, any recommendations on who to go with (such as HR Block)?  Are we filing an expat tax return?

-Does her retirement fund RSP have to be reported?  The bank mentioned it would not, but just wanted to be sure.

 

Thank you all in advance and stay safe!

 

[Wuozopo 4,293]

54 minutes ago, Antumbra said:

From what I've read, we should be filing jointly here in the US.  Is this correct?

You may file Jointly and it will likely be your best choice for lower taxes. You may also file Married Filing Separately and she files nothing because she earned no income in US. 
 

54 minutes ago, Antumbra said:

If we do file jointly and we report her earnings from 2020, does she still need to file in Canada as well?

Don’t know anything about Canadian Income Tax. On a joint return, you report her earnings for all of 2020 to the IRS, but you get to exclude the Canadian income while she was physically still living in Canada. See Form 2555.
 

54 minutes ago, Antumbra said:

Should we get a tax pro to help us out through this?  If so, any recommendations on who to go with (such as HR Block)? 

I use TurboTax Deluxe and it will handle the exclusions and foreign income. I would not suggest the H&R tax service people. They are not as trained on unusual things like foreign income and make mistakes. You would probably get better info from this forum. A real CPA professional if you want to pay somebody is better than the big box services. 
 

54 minutes ago, Antumbra said:

Does her retirement fund RSP have to be reported?  The bank mentioned it would not, but just wanted to be sure.

Only if she received money from it in 2020. If it is just sitting there waiting for her retirement, then it isn’t income.

Edited April 4, 2021 by Wuozopo

[HRQX 4,145]

4 hours ago, Wuozopo said:

and she files nothing because she earned no income in US.

*If they decide on doing the Filing Separately route she should still file a simple tax return (after getting the SSN she is now eligible for) in order to claim the $1800 Recovery Rebate Credit. She entered the US in Feb 2020 so she is a resident alien for tax purposes in that tax year per the Substantial Presence test.