Question

FYC Nonresident Spouse Treated as a Resident Can I do with Turbotax?

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
July 26, 2021
1 reply
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Me and my wife are qualified to use First Year Choice and Nonresident Spouse Treated as a Resident in order to be considered as RA for 2020 whole year, questions:
1) which 1040 do we file jointly?
2) can we do this with Turbotax?

TurboTax Premier Online

P

pk12_2

Employee

@mufasayang , as a prospective resident for tax purposes ( assuming you and your spouse both qualify), you use form 1040 which is fully supported by TurboTax. So the answer to your question is (i) form 1040 and (ii) YES.

However, in order to be sure we are all on the same page , please could you answer the following questions: ?

(a) which country are you and your wife from

(b) what visas are you and your wife on

(c) when did you each enter the USA and were either of you here in the USA during 2019 and 2018 ( and of course for how many days)

(d) do you have any children/ dependents here in the USA

Anything else that you think may be pertinent

Look forward to your response

pk

M

mufasayangAuthor

Thanks for reply pk!

So we are both from China, I received H1B last year and been on H1B since Oct. 2020.

I e-filed 4868 earlier this year, before deadline.

My wife was full time student in 2020, and she entered US in 2017, same as I.

We were married in 2017.

She is still on F1.

My travel history since 2017-12-31:

2019: 21 day out side of US

My wife's:

2020: 8 days out side of US

2019: 81 days out side of US

2018: 23 days out side of US

And we do not have children / dependents

P

pk12_2

Employee

@mufasayang , having gone through your responses to my questions -->

1. yes you are a resident for tax purposes for the year 2021 -- started counting days from Oct. 2020 with the adjustment of status.

2. You have SSN

3. You wife is still on F-1, a full time student ( as required ) and therefore exempt from counting days till the end of the calendar year 2021. However since she is married to a Resident for tax purposes, she is eligible to request to be treated as a resident for tax purposes for the whole year . Assuming that she has SSN, then all she has to do is to file a joint return with you and send in a letter signed by both you and her requesting to be treated as a resident for tax purposes for the whole year of 2021. This does mean that you will have to file by mail ( attachments sometimes do not work as intended).

4. If your wife does not have SSN and is not eligible for one , she can request an ITIN from the IRS -- if you need help in how to do that, let me know --- there have been a lot of write up on this topic ( ITIN being issued retrospectively)

5. Two points to note --- (a) it is probably advisable to carry on with her F-1 if she wishes to continue studying and be free to use OPT /etc. facilities when she wishes to . If she adjusts her status to H-2 -- a dependent visa, those work permits may not be available -- please check with DHS and your school; (b) note that while using the Married Filing Joint is the most tax benign filing status, you also open her to US taxation on any foreign income she may have; (c) Note that US- China treaty allows the exclusion of first $5000 per student/trainee as long as he/she is in the USA temporarily -- this may not be applicable if she changes her status to dependent visa ( H-2/4).

Is there more I can do for you ?