US/Canadian dual citizen living in Canada, help on US taxes?

[david2]

I've been happily living in Canada as a citizen for a few years now, but recently found out that I've been filing my US taxes incorrectly. I'm not too concerned, as I make less than the 100k required to actually OWE taxes, but obviously I want to get this squared away ASAP. I'll be filing for a few years worth because apparently my previous returns have been rejected (and the company I was using didn't bother letting me know), so e-filing is out of the question.

So, couple questions:

1) What forms should I be filing? 1040 + 2555? 2555EZ? Both? Is there anything else I need to be using?

2) I'm married to a natural Canadian citizen (in Canada). I can't seem to figure out how to file as that. She has no SSN or anything to report to the US, but I doubt I'm just supposed to file as "single." What do I do here?

Thanks for all and any help!

 

[nope]

I think you choose the category 'married filing as single' but I can't remember, I still haven't done mine this year.

 

[david2]

I've never seen that before, only options on the 1040 are:

Single

Married filing jointly (even if only one had income)

Married filing separately. Enter spouse’s SSN above
and full name here.

edit: figured it out! the correct way to do it is "filing as married filing separately on your US return and as your spouse does not have a Social Security Number you would just put NRA (non-resident alien) where the number would go."

 

[keesio]

I've been happily living in Canada as a citizen for a few years now, but recently found out that I've been filing my US taxes incorrectly. I'm not too concerned, as I make less than the 100k required to actually OWE taxes, but obviously I want to get this squared away ASAP. I'll be filing for a few years worth because apparently my previous returns have been rejected (and the company I was using didn't bother letting me know), so e-filing is out of the question.

So, couple questions:

1) What forms should I be filing? 1040 + 2555? 2555EZ? Both? Is there anything else I need to be using?

2) I'm married to a natural Canadian citizen (in Canada). I can't seem to figure out how to file as that. She has no SSN or anything to report to the US, but I doubt I'm just supposed to file as "single." What do I do here?

Thanks for all and any help!

1) You always need the 1040. And if you will be claiming the FEIE, then 2555 also. Note that even though you make under 100K and can simply use the FEIE to exempt all your income, you may want to look at the possibility of claiming the FTC instead (1116). This is because since Canada (generally) has higher taxes, hence you can use the credit to offset any taxes and carry over leftover credits for following years. You may want to consult with an account who specializes in crossborder taxes. There are a lot of "gotchas" with crossborder taxes. Oh, don't forget to file the FBAR and FATCA 8938 if you qualify

2) Married filing separately.