I am a US citizen and my spouse arrived from the Philippines on a green card in April 2025. They earned about $1k from a foreign sole proprietorship before moving. We want to file jointly using the 6013(h) election. How do we handle Form 8858 and Schedule M for their foreign business, and what are our options for affordable tax help or review?
Because you are making the 6013(h) election to file jointly, your spouse is treated as a U.S. resident for the entire year. This means you must report their worldwide income for the whole year and file Form 8858 with Schedule M for their foreign sole proprietorship. If your spouse had not become a U.S. resident by the end of the tax year, you would use the 6013(g) election instead.
You have clear options for getting this done. While you need to hire a paid professional to handle the foreign disclosures, making this election lets you file jointly and claim the standard deduction.
Since the 6013(h) election treats your spouse as a U.S. resident for the entire year, they are considered a U.S. person operating a foreign branch or disregarded entity. You must complete the entire Form 8858, including the separate Schedule M, for their foreign sole proprietorship.
You asked about using affordable tax help like the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. VITA offers free tax help to people with low-to-moderate incomes. To use a VITA clinic for this return, the volunteer must be specifically authorized to prepare foreign disclosures like Form 8858 and the 6013(h) election. If you cannot confirm a volunteer holds this authorization, you must engage a paid tax professional. You can choose an enrolled agent, a certified public accountant (CPA), or another credentialed preparer. Make sure the person you hire has a {"term": "ptin"} and signs your return.
