Part year Canadian resident and part year US resident

[oceanlovin'ea]

I am trying very hard to figure this out. I had some help but I still have a couple of questions. Canadian man moved to US 6/06/14. The first part of the year he lived and worked in Canada. He moved to US and got married. He is considered a resident because he was in the country more than the required number of days. He began working in US in December. He filed a Canadian tax return on his Canadian income.
This is where I am or what I understand so far:

If they file MFJ, he must include his Canadian income and can get credit for the Canadian taxes he paid. If they file MFS, she will claim her income on her return. What does he claim on his return? Just his US income? Since he has already filed his Canadian return and he was not in the US when he earned the Canadian income, can he file MFS and just claim his US income?

Can I do whichever will have the best outcome for them? Thank you so much for your help. I have read the pubs but they don't seem to address this situation.

Linda, EA

[TAXNJ]

Pubs

Which PUBs did you read?

[oceanlovin'ea]

I read pubs 519 and 597

Linda, EA

[TAXNJ]

Help?

This help?

http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Inter...-Status-Aliens. OR THIS

http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/Frequently-Asked-Questions-About-International-Individual-Tax-Matters

[oceanlovin'ea]

maybe overthinking this

It talks about a US citizen married to a non-resident alien. She is married to a resident alien. She wasn't married to him when he lived in Canada.

Linda, EA

[TAXNJ]

Try this

It talks about a US citizen married to a non-resident alien. She is married to a resident alien. She wasn't married to him when he lived in Canada.

Linda, EA

See last paragraph. Does this do it?

https://americansabroad.org/issues/taxation/us-tax-implications-of-a-non-american-spouse/

[AZUKHiker]

Dual Status By Default

Assuming he is not a US Citizen then he will be a Dual Status alien for 2014 and default filing is MFS. See the pubs for how to report Dual Status alien.

If they married before the end of December 2014 then they can elect to treat him as a US resident for the whole year and file MFJ. You will need to run the numbers both ways (Dual Status v MFJ) to see which is best. Don't forget that both MFS returns will be itemized with no standard deduction because he was a non-resident alien for part of the year.

Have fun. :-)