joe_bear
Returning Member

Stimulus payment eligibility for resident alien for tax purposes

Here's the relevant background info before I get to my question: My now-husband arrived in the U.S. on a K1 fiance visa in August 2021, and we got married that same month. We've applied for his green card, but it has yet to be granted, so currently, he is a nonresident alien *for immigration purposes*. Because I am a U.S. citizen and we are filing jointly, however, he is considered a resident alien for tax purposes. (Not sure if it's relevant, but my husband does not yet have an SSN. We are going to applying for an ITIN for him at an IRS office on February 1, when we will also submit our tax return.)

 

My question is: TurboTax says that together, we are eligible for $2800 total from the third stimulus payments from early 2021. I received $1400 as an individual at the time the payments were first disbursed. But TurboTax indicates that because we are married filing jointly, we are now eligible $2800, and so we will get a $1400 tax credit. If this is accurate, I will be very happy. But given that my husband is still a nonresident for immigration purposes (and that he wasn't even in the country when the payments were first sent out), I just want to make sure that he/we are truly eligible for the $1400. I wondered if we have a relatively unusual circumstance that TurboTax doesn't account for (e.g., him being newly arrived to the U.S., being a nonresident based on immigration but considered a resident for tax purposes).

 

If someone could give any input on whether TurboTax seems to be correct on this matter,  I would greatly appreciate it. Alternatively, if my husband is actually not eligible, is there a way to remove the credit from our return? TurboTax doesn't allow a way to skip it; it seems I would have to just (incorrectly) enter that we received $2800, so that the return wouldn't give us the $1400 credit.