Spouse in Canada

mf

I got married in 2023, my spouse is in Canada. What filing status can I use. If we have to file married filing Jointly how can my spouse get an ITIN.

CorinaE

Hi!

When you are legally married on the last day of the tax year (12/31/23) the IRS requires you to use one of the married filing status'. This can be either Married Filing Jointly (MFJ) or Married Filing Separately (MFS).

The IRS recommends taxpayers with foreign spouses file MFS since their spouse does not have a social security number and generally aren't considered residents of the U.S., but there are also benefits to filing MFJ. It really ends up being your choice whether to file MFS or MFJ. There are requirements to filing MFJ with a nonresident spouse, you can read about making this election here: https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/nonresident-spouse

Your spouse can apply for an ITIN by filling out Form W-7 found here: https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-w-7

The filing instructions can be found here:
https://www.irs.gov/individuals/how-do-i-apply-for-an-itin

Hope this helps! Let us know if you have any other questions about this.