Hi @Opus 17, I have a follow up question on this. I am in a similar situation. In my case, my spouse's employer did not deduct FICA since she was a non-resident alien (on F1 OPT visa) and working under the practical training authorization and stayed in the US for less than 5 years. So, her W2 shows 0 for social security and medicare taxes. We are filing jointly.
For tax purposes, is there a difference between 'considered a non-resident alien' (for joint filing) vs 'become a resident alien'? The following link shows
https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/foreign-student-liability-for-social-securit...
"Generally, foreign students in F-1, J-1, or M-1 nonimmigrant status who have been in the United States more than 5 calendar years become resident aliens for U.S. tax purpose if they meet the “Substantial Presence Test” and are liable for Social Security and Medicare taxes. (unless they are exempt from FICA under the "student FICA exemption"." But it does not mention that, individual becomes resident alien if they file jointly with a resident alien.
Therefore, my understanding is: if an individual is treated as resident alien for joint filing (but is non-resident alien otherwise who satisfies the F1 exemption), the resident is exempt from FICA tax. Please correct me if I am wrong. Also, in my case, do we need to include the 8843 in this case?
Thanks for your help.
