# Canadian with US Spouse & Income Tax



## ClearlyCanadian (Mar 16, 2015)

I am a Canadian non-resident living in Mexico. My spouse and I both have Mexico Permanent Visa status. 

For 3 years I have claimed my American Common Law Wife as a dependent with CRA (Canadian Revenue Agency). NO PROBLEMS

To date she has had NO income to report, But next year she will begin receiving US Social Security. 

What is the best thing to do? Drop her as a dependent? Have us file individually - US and Canadian tax returns or ?


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

As a US citizen, she is responsible for filing her own US taxes. Now, with US social security she may or may not have to file, depending on whether or not she has any other income.

Since she is your "common law" wife, she can file as "single" which makes life a bit easier. 

Not sure of the Canadian rules for those continuing to file from overseas, but I suspect she has no Canadian filing obligation (whether she files a US return or not).
Cheers,
Bev


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## Nononymous (Jul 12, 2011)

On the Canadian side, you'll just have to read up on the rules concerning whether you can claim her as a dependent if she's receiving Social Security. Then run the numbers to see what's the best option for you in terms of joint or individual filing. As per Bev's response, if she's only a US citizen then I assume she herself has no Canadian filing obligation (unless she's trying to maintain some sort of Canadian permanent resident status (but I know very little about this so really can't comment).


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