Can a spouse living outside the U.S. and not a citizen be claimed on a return as joint or a dependent?

Can a spouse living outside the U.S. and not a citizen be claimed on a return as joint or a dependant?

Do they have a tax ID# issued by the US government? They won't have an SSN... but you haven't been able to claim someone without a unique nomber that proves they exist for a good number of years now.

Assuming you are a resident alien, green card holder or U.S. citizen, you can file jointly with your spouse irrespective of their physical location; they can be on Mars for all the IRS cares.

However, the out-of-country spouse must apply for an Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN), which requires submission of Form W-7 with a natorized photocopy of the spouse's passport. The notarization process, a simple matter here in the U.S. CAN be rather complicated in Third World countries.

Further, the JOINT tax return (and the Form W-7) MUST be signed by the out-of-country spouse.

Finally, you must declare the spouse's home country income, then either EXCLUDE it using the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (Form 2555) or claim the Foreign Tax Credit (Form 1116).

This makes the entire process somewhat time-consuming, but it CAN be done. I do it at least a dozen times each year for my clients.

If you need my professional help in the process, email me at the email address in my profile.