We are to be married in early December; my fiance had income from another country where she lived as a citizen there for the first 11 months of this year, the income amounting to less than $4000 in U.S. Dollars. Do we need to report this overseas 2009 income of hers from prior to our Marriage on our 2009 married filing jointly tax return? She will be filing a return in her country for this income.

AtlantaTaxExpert

Yes. The U.S. requires ALL world-wide income be declared on any joint resident return filed for 2009.

You can for sure claim the Foreign Tax Credit (Form 1116) for any income tax paid to her country on that $4,000 in income.

Depending on the timeline of her stay in ther home country, she MAY also qualify for the Foreign Income Exclusion (Form 2555) to report the income on Line #7 of Form 1040, then EXCLUDE the income on Line #21 of Form 1040.