[Donna2323]

I am a u.s. citizen and my husband is not. We have not filed yet for his citizenship therefore he does not have a ss# or any u.s. id #. I want to file jointly because this gives us the best benefits, and he has not been able to work so our income is only from one person. What should I do?

[Five Rings]

Where do you live; inside or outside the US?

[AtlantaTaxExpert]

Donna:

You can file jointly with your husband and you both CHOSE to be treated as resident aliens. This will allow you to claim the $11,400 joint standard deduction plus two $3,650 personal exemption (for yourself and your husband) .

You will need to submit Form W-7 to apply for an ITIN for your husband . A notarized photocopy of his passport needs to be stapled to the W-7.

His physical location is irrelevent; he could be on Mars for all the IRS cares.

The downside is that you must declare ALL 2009 world-wide income (yours and his), but you can at least partially offset any double taxation by claiming a Foreign Tax Credit (Form 1116).

Even with the downside, this is probably the best way for you to file.

If you want professional help doing this, email me at [email protected].

[MukatA]

U.S. citizen or resident can file joint return as residents irrespective of citizenship or resident status of spouse as well if spouse lived in the U.S. or not.

[Five Rings]

With all due respect to my colleagues here, where you live does have some relevance.

As you know Donna, before your spouse can join you in filing he will need a taxpayer identification number. If you and he are resident in America, he may be eligible for a Social Security number and thus ineligible for an ITIN. If he is without the US then he will file a W-7.

How to do that is covered in detail in other posts.