Question

J1 filing taxes as resident or non resident

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
February 22, 2021
1 reply
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Hello,

I am a Colombian in my first J1 Trainee Visa since January 2020. I entered the US on January 1st 2020, my program will end in May 1st 2021. I'm still in the US and need to file my taxes for 2020. Now, I'm not sure if I need to file under non resident or resident as I don't quite understand the Substantial Presence Test. Also I was unemployed from March 2020 to July 2020. Does the stimulus check apply?

Please I'm not sure how to properly file my taxes for 2020.

TurboTax Basic Online

DaveF1006

You have two choices to make:

You would qualify to file as a resident under the substantial presence test because you met the 183 days present in the United States for the three-year qualifying period unless you spent some of those days traveling back and forth between here and your native country.
if you were here for 366 days in 2020, you immediately qualify. However if you travelled back and forth and if those days were more than 183 days, then you wouldn't pass the substantial presence test.
Also according to the IRS, you can declare yourself "exempt" meaning you do not need pay social security taxes or Medicare and file as a non-resident.
If you decide to file as a non-resident, you won't be able to file with Turbo Tax
But you can file a return with sprintax, which is a separate arm from Turbo Tax.
No, you weren't eligible for the first two rounds of the stimulus payments. You may qualify for the third round as the details of that stimulus package have not been released fully.