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February 8, 2020
Question

Resident alien

  • February 8, 2020
  • 1 reply
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My wife is a resident alien. What forms do I file? Can we file Married joint

1 reply

DavidS127
February 8, 2020

If your wife is a resident alien at the end of 2019, she has the option to treat you as a resident for tax purposes, even if you don't have a green card or meet the Substantial Presence test.  See this text from IRS Publication 519 about the option to treat a Nonresident Spouse as a Resident :

 

"If, at the end of your tax year, you are married and one spouse is a U.S. citizen or a resident alien and the other spouse is a nonresident alien, you can choose to treat the nonresident spouse as a U.S. resident. This includes situations in which one spouse is a nonresident alien at the beginning of the tax year, but a resident alien at the end of the year, and the other spouse is a nonresident alien at the end of the year."

 

To make the choice, attach a statement, signed by both spouses, to your joint return for the first tax year for which the choice applies. It should contain the following information.

  • A declaration that one spouse was a nonresident alien and the other spouse a U.S. citizen or resident alien on the last day of your tax year, and that you choose to be treated as U.S. residents for the entire tax year.
  • The name, address, and identification number of each spouse. (If one spouse died, include the name and address of the person making the choice for the deceased spouse.)

Otherwise, you as a nonresident may need to file a Form 1040-NR if you had US source income.  TurboTax does not support the Form 1040-NR.

 

You will need an ITIN for your 2019 tax return filing.  For details on how to do so, click these links for Form W-7 and Instructions for Form W-7.

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