Married, I must file Canadian and US taxes - joint or individual?

I am a dual Canadian/US citizen living in Canada, married to my Canadian wife (we%26#039;ve two kids). As a US Citizen, I know I have to file a US return for 2007. I%26#039;m trying to figure out whether I should file (in Canada) jointly with my wife, or individually since I am the only one obligated to file a US return - I realize we have to file as married.

Here is some relevant background:

- We both live and work (main full-time jobs) in Canada, but I have consulting income from the US from 2007

- we used to live in the US, and my wife has filed US returns in the past (she had no US income for 2007 though)

- we have child care expenses that are tax deductible (how to divide these if filing individually?)

- individually, my wife would probably get a refund and I will have a large balance owing (which I can pay) due to my consulting income

- I%26#039;m assuming that, since I%26#039;ll have to pay high Canadian taxes on my worldwide income, the resulting US foreign tax credit will eliminate any additional taxes

Married, I must file Canadian and US taxes - joint or individual?

Short answer: all Canadian taxpayers file their own returns, there is no %26#039;joint%26#039; filing in Canada.

You report your marital status and spouses income, but that is just for claiming certain credits (GST, Child Tax Credit, etc)

I think your spouse, since she has no Canadian income, doesn%26#039;t have to report her income, so i assume you%26#039;ll use $0 on that section of your return.

Incidentally, it may not be accurate to assume Foreign Tax credits will eliminate any additional taxes. I know in my case a few years ago, the result was that I paid whatever the HIGEST rate was between two countries. It%26#039;s not a simple %26quot;I paid them $xxx, so I can deduct $xxx from my taxes due. It%26#039;s more complicated than that.