<p>This may be a unique situation. I will be filing as Head of Household for 2010 because my husband is a foreign national who has never entered US and has no SSN or ITIN. </p>
<p>Questions:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Am I required to report his foreign earned income (well below the foreign income exclusion limit) on my tax returns or FAFSA form? </p></li>
<li><p>I think I saw on the collegeboard PROFILE there is a column to enter the ‘rent paid’. Since we keep two households, can we combine both rents and report that figure?</p></li>
<li><p>What will be the number of people in the household in our case, considering the fact that I am filing HoH and he lives abroad? The only other member in the household is the student.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Yes, his income counts because you are legally married to him.</p>
<p>Don’t know how the 2 rents will factor in, but typically that doesn’t help much because a high rent would be considered “a personal choice” that could be reduced. Do neither of you own your homes?</p>
<p>I don’t think the fact that you file as HOH precludes you from naming him in your household.</p>
<p>However, if you haven’t been including his income on your taxes and he has been sending you money, that could be a problem. Not sure, but that seems a bit problematic.</p>
<p>Regarding including his income (we had only been married for two months now), if I were to report it on my taxes, where would I do that? Like I mentioned, he doesn’t have SSN or ITIN, so I can’t put his name on the tax form. I would prefer to include it on the 1040. He doesn’t send us any money. What he makes is only enough for his personal expenses. Also his earnings are not taxed, he is not required to file tax returns in country either. Does the fact that his income is below the foreign income exclusion level make any difference?</p>
<p>I assume the number in the household would be 3, even if I take only 2 exemptions (one for child and one for self) on my 1040?</p>
<p>If your husband earned income in a foreign country, AND he is not a U.S. citizen, he does NOT file an IRS tax return here, I don’t believe.</p>
<p>BUT his income WILL need to be reported on the FAFSA and the Profile (if your school requires the Profile). </p>
<p>My understanding is that you convert his earnings and the taxes he paid in HIS country (if any) to U.S. dollars. I believe you add those to them to your earnings and taxes on the FAFSA.</p>
<p>OR perhaps you put this under untaxed income IF he paid no taxes in his country,</p>
<p>It doesn’t matter what you do on your tax return. If asked for verification, he will have to provide documentation of his earnings and taxes from the country in which he is employed.</p>
<p>This situation has been discussed here before. I hope one of the “experts” will pipe in.</p>
<p>As for your 1040, you will need to do a bit of research on the subject of taxes for non-citizen spouses. The information is all there at [Internal</a> Revenue Service](<a href=“http://www.irs.gov%5DInternal”>http://www.irs.gov) but you will have to do a bit of digging. I know that it is possible for him to ask the IRS to consider him a resident for tax purposes now that he is married to you even if he is living in a different country. If he prefers to be a non-resident for tax purposes, you need to find out if as a result of your marriage, you are now obliged to file as married-filing-separately. In the case of residents-for-tax-purposes it may be possible to exclude his foreign income and/or take advantage of the special rules for families that must maintain two households in two different countries because of work situations.</p>
<p>Happydad and I never had more than one household, but he was a resident-for-tax-purposes for a couple of years. You have all my sympathy. I just remember the whole thing being a total tax nightmare!</p>
<p>The IRS will be able to answer your questions about your HUSBAND’S tax filing status. They will NOT be able (nor should they) to answer questions regarding the FAFSA or the Profile…and your husband’s income WILL have to be reported on both of these forms regardless of where it is earned or where he lives. If you have FAFSA questions with regard to HOW you report his income (not if, HOW), call the FAFSA Helpline. You can call the College Board to inquire about the Profile.</p>
<p>Your tax filing has NO BEARING at all on your application for financial aid. You must report your husband’s income if you are applying for financial aid.</p>
<p>What is the US immigration status of your husband? If he is a green card holder (if you have applied and he has got a green card) he needs to file US taxes even if lives abroad. So he needs to get a SSN. If he does not have a green card (e.g. if you applied but he has not got it yet or you have not applied), then he does not have to declare his income for US income tax purposes, but any joint income might need to be declared. For example you have a bank account jointly with him in a different country and you get interest on that, you would need to show that income. I would suggest you talk to a tax accountant or IRS if you can claim HOH and other tax questions. I am not a tax accountant.</p>
<p>As thumper1 says *Your tax filing has NO BEARING at all on your application for financial aid. You must report your husband’s income if you are applying for financial aid. *</p>