Question:
Greetings,
I am going to marry a Chinese women. After our marriage she will reside in China and I will reside in the US. She will make all her money in China. When I file as married for this year, how do I treat her income? Is it taxable? Can I claim her as a dependent? Thanks!
Answers:
Your wife, as a nonresident alien, will not be eligible to file a joint tax return with you unless she elects to be treated as a resident.
If you do not file a joint tax return, then you must file using the "married filing separately" tax rates, which are the highest rates. The return must include all your income. I do not believe you would be able to claim her as a dependent, but that is something you can check on using the 1040 instructions.
If she elects to be treated as a US resident and file a joint return, then her income, expenses and other items must be included in the return. However, items such as the foreign earned income exclusion and the foreign tax credit should reduce the impact of their inclusion. A paid tax preparer or advisor can explain these matters to you.
The best way to decide what to do in this situation is to have your paid preparer or advisor compute the tax several ways using the various scenarios such as married filing separately, married filing jointly with foreign earned income exclusion, mfs with foreign tax credit, etc. A lot depends upon your respective incomes, the amount of tax payable in China, and other factors.
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