+1(514) 937-9445 or Toll-free (Canada & US) +1 (888) 947-9445

MapleLeafBride

Hero Member
Dec 3, 2013
207
7
Category........
Visa Office......
Ottawa
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
13-12-2013
Doc's Request.
06-06-2014
AOR Received.
08-01-2014
File Transfer...
15-01-2014
Med's Done....
26-08-2013
Passport Req..
waived
VISA ISSUED...
08-08-2014
LANDED..........
25-08-2014
Hi All,

While still a few months away from filing our taxes, my American husband and I have been discussing what exactly we should do. We got married this year (2013), but still live/work in separate countries. So all his income is American and all mine is Canadian. Does anyone have experience with this? Do we file under a married/separate tax return and just do our own returns in our respective countries? He mentioned that there's an option in the US where we file jointly (get a better exemption?), but that means I have to also do an American tax return as well as a Canadian one and I don't think they should be entitled to any of my money.
Anyway, any advice or tips about how people in a similar situation did theirs would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks and a happy 2014 to all!
 
Great post, I hope to hear more about this..as I am in the same situation.
 
Great question! I'm also in the same situation and haven't given this much thought... please if anybody has experience in this give us your insights.
 
My wife and I were in the same boat for 2012. She was living/working in the US while I was living/working in Canada. We filed separately because I thought it would be easier to deal with. But I am curious what people think since I'm not sure if our decision was the best one.
 
I would like to add..that I started a new position, and today as I was filling out my w-4 for taxes, it stated to pick SINGLE AND 1..if you are married but seperated or your spouse is a non citizen.
 
Oh, right. You can only file jointly if both are citizens. Both my wife and I are US citizens so we can file jointly, but so far have not.
 
Yea, personally, since my husband is in canada and a canadian citizen, I will not worry about it for now.
 
My husband was telling me there is an option to file jointly in the US even if your spouse is a non-citizen. I would be given a SSN for tax purposes only (I couldn't work in the US with it for example). I don't know if there's an equivalent in Canada.
 
There is no equivalent in Canada (as far as I know). You file separately but reference each other's SIN number. That way they can keep track of which person claimed the various household credits and such