My wife came to the U.S. on a J-1 visa as an au pair through Cultural Care Au Pair. She received a weekly stipend from her host family during her program and has never filed a U.S. tax return for that income.
We are now married and trying to get her immigration status adjusted, and we want to make sure her tax history is in order.
Here is our situation:
- She was a J-1 nonresident alien during her time as an au pair
- She received stipend payments from her host family (no W-2 was issued)
- She never filed Form 1040-NR or any other U.S. return for those years
- She is now in the U.S. and we are in the process of adjusting her status
My questions:
1. Can she still file late returns for prior years using Form 1040-NR?
2. Is there a penalty risk for filing late, and how significant is it typically for au pair income levels?
3. Would TurboTax support the 1040-NR for prior tax years, or do we need a third-party service like Sprintax?
4. Given that she is now married to a U.S. citizen, does her filing status or the form she needs to use change?
Any guidance or experience with this situation would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.