Can I claim my Canadian child on my US tax return?

My_question_is: Applicable to both US and Canada
Subject:        Can I claim my Canadian child on my US tax return?
Expert:         taxman at centa.com
Date:           Friday November 25, 2005
Time:           07:41 AM -0800
QUESTION:
Hello!  I am a dual citizen.  My family and myself lives in Ontario and I
work in New York State.  Can I claim my child on my US tax return?  How can
I do this?  Thanks in advance for your help.
---------------------------------------
david ingram replies:
Yes you can claim your child and also elect to file a joint tax return with
your wife even if she doe s not have a visa.  Your child will be / is a US
citizen and you need to get a US Social Security number for them by filling
in form SS-5 which you can find at:
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fss5.pdf
Your wife will have to get an ITIN which is an "Individual Taxpayer
Identification Number" obtained by filling in form W-7 and submitting it
"WITH" the return as explained in the instructions. As of Dec 17, 2003, she
can NOT get an ITIN before you  file the return. You can see the form at:
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw7.pdf
However, claiming your son and wife on the US return will NOT likely save
you any tax.
The reason is that your real tax rate is the one you will pay in Ontario.
Your single Canadian return will have a higher tax rate than the rate for a
joint return in the USA.  Therefore, you will pay the Canadian tax rate and
Canada will allow you a dollar for dollar credit for the federal tax, the
Medicare the FICA and the New York State tax you pay.
When you get the work done, make sure that you have the same person prepare
the US AND Canadian returns at the same time.  You are  welcome to send the
returns here if you can not find anyone locally.
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