I married in Brazil and remained there. On US taxes, should I file joint or married/seperate US return?

Question

I have US income prior to moving to Brazil in June. My wife does not have any USA status or SSN

Answer 1

What about Brazilian taxes .?
You can pay in both places.
Look up an accountant in www.gringoes.com

Answer 2

All of your income is fully taxable, including any you earned in Brazil.

If your new wife agrees to have her world wide income from all sources taxed by the US you can file a joint return. You'll need to attach a joint statement signed by both of you attesting to that fact to every joint tax return you file.

Since she does not have a SSN, she'll need an ITIN. You can attach a completed Form W-7 to your joint return along with the required proof of her ID and mail the return to the Austin, TX service center (not Philadelphia as noted on the form). The IRS will then process the ITIN application, apply her ITIN to the tax return, and then process the return.

If your wife does not agree to have her income taxed by the US, you will have to file Married Filing Separately. Since she doesn't have an SSN or ITIN in this case, write "Non-resident alien" where the SSN would normally go.

Get copies of IRS Pubs 54 and 519 from the IRS website. They will tell you most of what you need to know about your tax situation (Pub 54) and your wife's (Pub 519).