My questions is a variation of this subject, and that is can the election to be treated as a U.S. resident for the entire year be filed by an amended return after the joint return is filed? My son is a U.S. citizen and his wife received her green card in February 2023. She wants to elect to be treated as a U.S. resident for the year and he agrees, so they have prepared a joint return. Neither of them have any income for 2023 that would result in a U.S. tax liability. We have had so many problems filing paper tax returns in order to include attachments (such for treaty issues), filing another a paper return vs. e-filing is just another potential problem. Since they cannot attach the required election and e-file, II would much prefer for them to file a joint return including their income for the entire year and file the election in an amended return. I know they can file separate returns by e-file and then make the election in an amended return, so that probably is the best choice since she has no income, but it is just another paper return for the IRS to take 2 to 3 years to process or lose.
