Married non-resident alien TAX forms

soheil · Post by **soheil** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 11:12 am

Hi all,

Last summer I had an internship in California, and I am filing for TAX return. I am married, but my wife didn't didn't accompany me for my short visit.

I will be submitting 1040NR, but I am not sure if I can use "Spouse Exemption" or not. According to the guide, she'd need an ITIN.

Can/should I get an ITIN for my wife? Is she eligible to have an ITIN?

Any help is much appreciated.

Thanks

nelsona · Post by **nelsona** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 11:57 am

As a Cdn, your spouse is eligible for exemption of your return, however, as you say, she will need to get ITIN (which you get by filing W-7 along with 1040NR).

However, is there much point to doing this, since your tax in US should be minimal, and can be used as a credit on your Cdn return.

In fact, if your US income was less than 10K, you are not taxable in US at all, by treaty, so you would only be filing 1040NR to get your income tax back. Cali tax would still be owed.

So, its up to you wether you bother with ITIN, since any tax you save in US, will glady be taken by Canada.

soheil · Post by **soheil** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 12:07 pm

Thanks so much for your prompt reply.

So, could you please let me know whether it's better to file without "spouse exemption" even if I earned more than 10K in US?

nelsona · Post by **nelsona** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 12:20 pm

You will need to figure that out yourself. I gave you my answer.

It comes down to whether or not you can use all the tax you pay in US (fed, cali, fica) on your Cdn return. If in doubt, file for ITIN.