cbernard

we are currently waiting on an 130 and a 129F(K3) for my wife. I have an appt with a tax accountant coming soon, anyone know what I should expect (anything i should claim, expect to lose, etc)? I support her financially 100%. We got married in Thailand last September, 2001.

best regards

Ameriscot

You can file a joint return with your wife if you wish. That way, you can take advantage of her deduction. Or you can file on your own as 'married filing separately'.

If you go the joint route, she will be taxed on her income for the entire year. You would need to check to see if there is a tax treaty in place between the USA and Thailand (I believe there is one) that would allow her to eliminate her Thai earned income (or the first $78k of it), which would bring her US taxable income down to zero.

Since she doesn't live in the US and is not a citizen or PR, she is under no obligation to file US taxes, but she can elect to be a permanent resident for tax purposes as a result of being married to a US citizen. You should do whatever works out cheapest for you.

Ameriscot

Sorry, just spotted that you said you support your wife financially. You can ignore my middle paragraph from the above post.

cbernard

Thanks. Just want to be ready. I figure it's better for her to be in full-time school right now than full-time work.