Filing taxes and i-864

[999]

Hi everyone, I have a question regarding tax filings for the last year:

I am canadian citizen and married to an american girl, now we are about to file her taxes for the last year and right after that- to file my adjustment of status plus all the rest- i-130, i-864 etc.

Now the question is- does she have to file taxes as married or as a single? Fact is , we were married on november 12 last year, so, technically she should file joint return as married, but in that case I would have to declare my income on it too, even though I have not lived in the US last year at all and all the income I've had was in Canada and paid in Canadian dollars? How do I even declare it? There are no W-2 forms in Canada, only T-4, which is the same thing but still! Plus, I still have to declare it in Canada, which means I will pay double the taxes.

Did anyone here face the same decision and what did you do?

 

[TheRealCanadian]

Now the question is- does she have to file taxes as married or as a single? Fact is , we were married on november 12 last year

She is eligible to file as married, as are you.

all the income I've had was in Canada and paid in Canadian dollars? How do I even declare it? There are no W-2 forms in Canada, only T-4, which is the same thing but still!

You convert your Canadian income to US dollars at some reasonable rate, and declare it.

Plus, I still have to declare it in Canada, which means I will pay double the taxes.

No you won't. You declare your federal/provincial/ui/cpp as foreign taxes, and claim a credit for them. Your US tax liability should be zero, or pretty close to it.

 

[999]

She is eligible to file as married, as are you.

Yes, she is eligible, but does she have to?
Would it be a crime not to?

I would rather not complicate the issue, since filing a joint return maybe confusing for USCIS, plus I still am not so sure my taxes will be close to zero here- even after federal-provincial-etc deducted there still is going to be quite a lot left!

 

[rbhpsj1]

She will get a better rate, and thus better refund or lower payment if she files jointly. She can file on her own, but her standard deduction will be lower than if she was filing jointly or if she was unmarried. Your out of the US income should not be taxed if you were living outside of the US for most of the year. Ask an accountant.