Hi there,

I am a German national and US resident (filing as resident alien). My wife is also a German national, but as a student she can file as a non-resident alien. For a number of reasons we want to file our tax returns separately. Initially I thought this was going to be a "married filing separately" situation. Now I answered a few questions in TurboTax and it turns out that if she files as a non-resident alien and I file as a resident I can file as "head of household" despite the fact that we have been living together all year.

Is this correct/plausible?

First I thought this must be a TurboTax error because it might assume that a non-resident does not live with their spouse. But then I found this ruling online which supports the view:

Legal Ruling 95-1 (http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ftb.ca.gov%2Flaw%2Frulings%2F active%2Flr95_1.html&ei=OQIGRorzC5j-gwOT9o3kBg&usg=__wke0DWerB6CykV7te64yXq6EKjs=&sig2=8jA82MfgtN3AORkS6nw4iA)

HoH filing is attractive because it qualifies you for the child tax credit (which is what TurboTax applies).

Any opinions?

Best,

German

German:

Based on the ruling you provided, you CAN clearly claim Head of Household Staus on your resident alien return, while your wife files as a Married non-resident alien on her non-resident tax return.