If your spouse is a nonresident alien, you can treat your spouse as a resident alien for tax purposes. If you choose this option, you can file a joint tax return with your spouse and have an increased Standard Deduction. You increase your Standard Deduction, but all your spouse’s worldwide income will be taxed by the United States. Married taxpayers generally must choose between Married Filing Jointly or Married Filing Separately, but taxpayers whose spouse is a nonresident alien may also file using the Head of Household status. Filing as Head of Household may give you benefits such as a greater potential refund. However, you must have another qualifying person to be eligible; your spouse doesn’t count. Credits Same issue here, I already filed wrong and even got the Covid relief. As a legal U.S. resident, you’re subject to the same tax rules as U.S. citizens. Nonresidents of the U.S. are not liable to pay self-employment tax. If your spouse is not eligible for a Social Security number, they will need to apply for an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) from the IRS. However, even if you don’t possess a green card, you are still considered a resident if you are physically present in the U.S. for at least 31 days in the current year and for a total of 183 days over the last three years. The problem is “resident” is not the same as “citizen” legally. So if your spouse is a citizen neither yes or  no is correct, because the answer is they’re a citizen. It’s also a problem that it asks even when you don’t indicate that they a resident (instead of a citizen) which is asked on one check box. Income exclusions generally have a greater impact for lowering your tax bill than tax credits … Click here to continue reading…