How to handle spouse taxes when they live in another country and makes no canadian income?

[darewreckk1]

Hi,

My spouse is US citizen which makes income in the US and Lives in the US.  She does not make income in Canada and is not a Canadian resident.  I'm a canadian citizen and make income in canada.  I do not live or make income in the US.

My spouse is the US will be filing a married jointly to take advantage of tax credit and using the foreign income exclusion to exclude my income from her taxes.

If she does that, is there any implications when I do my taxes in Canada?  I do not want to include her US income in my taxes since there are not tax advantages with doing that.

Thanks,
Derek

[TurboTaxLise · Accepted solution]

Hi Derek,

You will file your taxes as per you normally would. 

• At the beginning, it will ask about your marital status, and it will ask the date of marital status change if applicable, you enter this information. 

• Continue through, when it comes to your non-resident spouse with no financial ties to Canada, you simply enter 000 000 000 for SIN and ZERO income because it relates to nothing in Canada. On that same screen, be sure to select No to the “Are you claiming spousal amount?” question to ensure no credits are applied for your spouse.  

[Karolina]

Hi, I don't see anywhere the question

“Are you claiming spousal amount?” 

There are only the following questions for the spouse on that page:

• There are only the following questions for the spouse on that page: Are you a Canadian citizen? *
• Are you a Canadian Indian as defined in the Indian Act? *
• Are you filing an income tax return with the CRA for the first time? *
• CRA’s NETFILE service accepts prior year returns, starting with the 2016 tax year. Do you need to file your 2017 or 2018 tax return?