Marriage In Another Country
 

What I want to inquire about and explore is this. If you are married in another country, but not legally married with a marriage license in USA.
How does this affect you when filing taxes? Can you with good cause file single not married?
The way I see it you are not married in USA but somewhere else.
What do you guys think about this?

Re: Marriage In Another Country
 

A bizarre question. You typically get taxed more filing as single.

Re: Marriage In Another Country
 

Sounds to me like you're just looking for an excuse to have an affair. Where were you married?

Re: Marriage In Another Country
 

That's like saying you don't have a college education because you graduated from a university located outside of the US.

You're either legally married or you aren't. You don't have to be married in the US in order for the US government to recognize your marriage.

The one exception (that I can think of, anyway) would be a gay couple who legally married in another country and whose marriage is not recognized by the US government.

Are you one half of a gay couple who legally married in another country? If so, THAT might be a "good cause" for filing your US tax returns as single instead of married.

~ Jenney

Re: Marriage In Another Country
 

Another would be someone who might be a polygamist, where it's legal in another country...but that's even more far fetched :D

Re: Marriage In Another Country
 

Such as Utah?

Re: Marriage In Another Country
 

No it is like this, I am not talking about recognize marriage. I am talking about the true legal side concerning the almighty IRS. I my wife files single could it be any problems for her? The reason is i do not file and do not want my number attached to her form. so even though we are married in Thailand, i still could see how we are not legally married in USA, recognized or not.
And for you preverts who always want to go off topic it has nothing do with affairs, second wife or anything not healthy. Just the damn IRS>
THANK YOU...

Re: Marriage In Another Country
 

Legally, the US recognizes any marriage performed in another country where that country recognizes the marriage as legal. Having said that, yes, you should file married, both of you. Filing single will have many reprecussions in the future. The first would be if you filed single, when in fact married, and there is a difference in taxes due in favor of the IRS, then you will liable to pay the additional taxes, plus penalties, and perhaps legal ramifications if the IRS decides to call fraud. Also if you ever have the intent to bring your Thai wife to the US as an immigrant you will have to explain to the USCIS why you denied your marriage by filing single on your IRS form.

Do I understand you correctly that you DO NOT file US taxes? If that is so, I wonder why since worldwide income, interest, inheritance, etc. are taxable by the IRS and a USC must file a tax return yearly on all income above a certain amount.

All that said, the choice is yours how you want to handle your taxes.

Re: Marriage In Another Country
 

We should be careful here. I think a tax specialist is called for. If the OP lives in FL, and has a low enough income he may not have to file. If the wife never comes here and doesn't draw US income........This looks like exotic territory.

Admitedly, the OP would struggle on an income low enough to avoid filing.

Re: Marriage In Another Country
 

Why a tax specialist? I noted that exemption from filing in my response to the OP. This is not exotic territory. A marriage is a status and if the marriage is recognized in the country where it was performed it is recognized by the US government and that includes the IRS. You are not to file single if you are married. The wife's income does not have to be reported to the IRS if she is earning the income outside of the US and is not a legal permanent resident of the US. He still have to file married, filing separate if he has the income level required to file taxes.

As for his wife's income and filing of taxes in Thailand, she should consult a Thai tax expert for that information.

Re: Marriage In Another Country
 

From what the OP says, it seems that his wife is in fact in the US and it is she who is filing the taxes.

Re: Marriage In Another Country
 

FWIW, the idea of "not filing" is never recommended by the tax attorneys I deal with. Even if you owe NOTHING it is far better to file the simple form and PROVE you owe nothing than to not file and hope the IRS takes your word on it.

A few 'holes' in reporting will raise red flags later in life if you do suddenly have to start filing, and dealing with their questions of 'why didn't you file' is not much fun.

Given that the OP may eventually immigrate to the US (or has some connection with the US and the IRS) I would recommend filing.

By the way, the IRS recognizes common law marriages in states that recognize common law marriages as being valid marriages, so the definition of marriage is a rather broad one (not, however broad enough to include gay marriages though)

Re: Marriage In Another Country
 

That's one interpetation of his posting. Perhaps he is the foreign spouse and she is the USC or perhaps he needs to go back to school to learn to write a comprehensive post.

If the wife is here in the US and working and paying taxes, she has to file married, either jointly or separately. Another supposition is that perhaps the OP is getting money from the government, i.e. welfare, and doesn't want the IRS, albeit US government, to connect them as a couple as his welfare might be cut off and he might have to reimburse the funds.

Can have fun with this scenario.

Re: Marriage In Another Country
 

Sorry, it doesn't matter if you could see it that way -- you're wrong.

Think about it. You brought your wife here on a K3 visa. She has adjusted status based on her marriage to you, a US citizen. YOUR MARRIAGE IS CONSIDERED LEGAL BY THE US GOVERNMENT, WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT.

You can't have it both ways. You can't bring her here on the basis of marriage and then turn around and say, "Well, I don't want to file taxes so I'm going to pretend that we're not legally married." But hey -- don't take my word for it. Here's what the IRS has to say:


Considered married. You are considered married for the whole year if on the last day of your tax year you and your spouse meet any one of the following tests.

1. You are married and living together as husband and wife.
2. You are living together in a common law marriage that is recognized in the state where you now live or in the state where the common law marriage began.
3. You are married and living apart, but not legally separated under a decree of divorce or separate maintenance.
4. You are separated under an interlocutory (not final) decree of divorce. For purposes of filing a joint return, you are not considered divorced.

Could filing as a single person cause problems for your wife? If she plans on applying for citizenship, you bet it could. Personally, I don't know why you're trying to cause problems for her.

~ Jenney

Re: Marriage In Another Country
 

Looking at his profile and previous posts shed a lot of light on his background.

His wife is originally from Thailand. She came here on a K3 and has since adjusted successfully, and as of last month is a conditional PR. She works and pays all of her taxes because "it's the correct thing to do" and "because she wants things that are here in the great USA." She is also hoping to become a USC one day.

The OP, on the other hand, is a USC and is apparently a "US government inspector" who is "tired of work." He believes that being required to file tax returns is unconstitutional. He also thinks he shouldn't have to pay taxes when USCIS processing is so slow. In his words, "Because the goverment is not doing anything in a hury [sic] for us, so why should hurry to pay taxes."

~ Jenney