I am on an H1B visa working in the US - my wife is here under an H4 visa. Since she is not working currently, I am claiming her as a dependent when filing our joint taxes. She does have a US bank account which earns very minimal interest - does this interest income jeopardize her dependent status on my taxes?

I would also like to open up either a 401k for her or a brokerage account. Is this possible and will any of this income impact her dependent status on my tax return?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

None of this affects her dependent status, because she is NOT your dependent; she IS your co-filer.

She does not have a job, so you CANNOT open a 401K for her. You CAN open a spousal IRA for her, though.

You can file resident tax return as married filing jointly. You must both report your world-wide income for 2008.

Thanks for your help. I should not have said dependent but rather an exemption for my taxes. I gather that opening a spousal IRA will not impact the exemption status - as Mukata indicated, I would just need to report all our worldwide income when filing jointly.

Lastly, as an H4 holder, would she be able to open up a brokerage account as well?

Many thanks.

She CAN open a brokerage account if she has an ITIN, which will be issued after you file the tax return.