file marriage it goes along way for your case build up

if you are legally married, you should file as married. you’ll get more refunds too.

how does this work if the spouse earns only foreign wages ? do you have to report this income even if it’s already taxable outside of the US?

if your spouse is overseas, you’ve got two options: file as married filing jointly file as married filing separately if you file jointly, then your spouse would need to apply for an ITIN and then they would have to include their income for US taxes (whether they will taxed on it, that I don’t know). married filing separately: you would need to do paper filing and after writing your spouse’s name, you’ll write NRA (nonresident alien) in place of their SSN and mail it to whatever office you have to. you can find that online. the benefit of this is that your spouse’s income does not need to be declared here. the disadvantage involves something about the tax bracket etc. I don’t have that much information. I have been filing as married filing separately just so I don’t have to over complicate it with getting ITIN for my spouse

@amatul Shafi many thanks for the information and explanation, very helpful! happy new year

@amatul shafi very nice answer. Do you normally mail or you use some type of programs for your case ( my case is the same like yours). Programs like TurboTax or others, can you please advise if any programs can fill the tax return for NRA ( If my husband is also abroad) thank you in advance, be blessed.

@ Vicky s Tax Act works for Non resident spouses

I usually mail them