[asn234]

Hello, I have a straightforward question:

I am a resident alien who is married to a nonresident alien. We have one child who is my dependent. I will be filing as head of household and will claim an exemption for my wife (she does not work) and for my child. Do I still need to write my wife's name and ITIN at the top of the 1040 form? It says that space is for use only when filing a joint return, but she did not have any income for 2007 and does not need to file a return. I know in order to claim her as an exemption the IRS would need her name and ITIN. I know I need to put my child's name and SSN in the space for dependents. Any clarification on this would be great.

Thanks

ASN

[odobson]

If you file with your wife name on top of the form then you need to file jointly regardless if she has any income. If she has no income the she is still your dependent - and you show only your income. The IRS looks at the income per household. I am not sure if you can in fact call your wife a 'dependent'. A dependent by law is a child under 18 or a parent that lives in your household. The fastest way to find out 100% if your wife is your dependent is to make a phone call to an H&R place. Hope this helps

[asn234]

Thanks for your reply.
I do not think my wife is a qualifying person as a dependent because according to Publication 501: "You are considered unmarried for head of household purposes if your spouse was a nonresident alien at any time during the year and you do not choose to treat your nonresident spouse as a resident alien. However, your spouse is not a qualifying person for head of household purposes. You must have another qualifying person and meet the other tests to be eligible to file as a head of household."

My question pertains to claiming her as a personal exemption.
I found this online too: "If you are filing separate returns, or as head of household, you can claim an exemption for your spouse only if you meet all of the following:

* Your spouse has no gross income
* Your spouse is not filing a return.
*Your spouse was not another taxpayer's dependent."

Do I need to put her information anywhere on the 1040?

UPDATED: I think I found the answer. According to publication 501: "If you qualify for head of household filing status because you are considered unmarried, you can claim an exemption for your spouse if the conditions described in the preceding paragraph are satisfied. To claim the exemption for your spouse, check the box on line 6b of Form 1040 or Form 1040A and enter the name of your spouse in the space to the right of the box. Enter the SSN or ITIN of your spouse in the space provided at the top of Form 1040 or Form 1040A."

So basically I put her name to the right of the box on line 6b and I place the ITIN at the top of the form 1040.

Thanks for your help.