The Spouse's Guide: Canadian on a TD, L-2, or E-2 Dependent Visa — Your Own U.S. Tax Position

Every visa move has two stories. The TN, L-1, or E-2 holder gets the job, the paperwork, and — if anyone got tax advice at all — the tax advice. The spouse on the TD, L-2, or E-2 dependent visa gets the boxes to pack and a tax position nobody ever explains, on the theory that "dependent" means "covered by whatever my spouse files."

It doesn't. You have your own residency, your own reporting obligations, and — in the filing-status decision — half of one of the most consequential elections your household will make. This one's for you.

Your residency is counted on your own days

The Substantial Presence Test (how it works) runs person by person. Move together and you'll both typically become U.S. tax residents the same way; but if you stayed behind to sell the house, or you split time back in Canada with family while your spouse works stateside, your residency dates can genuinely differ — which changes what each of you owes, and where, in the transition year. Don't assume your dates are your spouse's dates.

You'll probably need an ITIN

Dependent-visa spouses without U.S. work authorization don't get a Social Security number — but appearing on a joint return (or being claimed in various ways) requires a taxpayer ID. That's the ITIN, applied for on Form W-7, usually submitted with the first tax return that needs it, with certified copies of your identity documents. It's routine but slow, and it blindsides couples every April. Start it with the first filing, not after the rejection letter.

An ITIN is issued by the IRS for federal tax purposes only.

Whether you can work changes the picture

The dependent visas differ sharply: L-2 spouses (and E-2 dependent spouses) are generally considered work-authorized in the U.S.; TD spouses are not — a TD can study, but not work. If you are authorized and take a job, you're a U.S. earner in your own right: W-2, withholding, and — because you're likely a U.S. resident anyway — your income was headed onto the household's U.S. return regardless. If you're on a TD and keep Canadian remote work or self-employment, be careful: working from U.S. soil for a Canadian payer sits in an awkward spot both for immigration and for tax sourcing. Get advice before assuming the laptop makes it fine.

You have your own Canadian exit — and your own FBAR

The departure from Canada is also individual: your own final return and departure date, and departure tax on non-registered investments held in your name — a detail missed constantly when only the working spouse's accountant is involved. And once you're a U.S. person, the FBAR applies to accounts you own or co-own: your Canadian chequing account, your TFSA, your RRSP, and joint accounts count toward your $10,000 threshold too (full FBAR guide). Households routinely file the earner's FBAR and skip the spouse's. Both are required.

The joint-filing election is a two-person decision

In arrival years and split-residency years, U.S. law offers elections — filing jointly by treating both spouses as full-year residents, or keeping the nonresident spouse out of the U.S. system a while longer. Joint filing usually wins on rates; it also pulls the second spouse's worldwide income and accounts into U.S. scope immediately. Which way is better depends on both incomes, both account structures, and both residency dates — it's household math, not a default checkbox.

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Related reading: - The Substantial Presence Test Explained - FBAR for Canadians Living in the U.S. - U.S. Taxes for Canadians, by Visa Type: The Complete Guide Hub