topic UPDATE 2 in Get your taxes done using TurboTax

resident alien partial year interest and dividends

dac10012 — Sat, 17 Jan 2026 15:47:17 GMT

My wife became a resident alien in August but will receive 1042-S not 1099-B/DIV. How do we report capital gains and interest and dividend income only earned after the date she got her Green Card and became liable for US income taxes?

Re: resident alien partial year interest and dividends

pk — Sat, 17 Jan 2026 18:12:49 GMT

@dac10012

(a) are you a US person ( citizen/GreenCard/Resident for tax purposes) ? I ask because , if her actual residency start date is not start of year ( see item (b) below ), but you are a US person, you could request her to be treated as a resident for the whole calendar year. This allows you to file MFJ plus use standard deduction but exposes her world income for the year to US taxes.

(b) Was she present in the US for all of 2025 i.e. prior to/awaiting GreenCard ( Aug. 2025 )? I ask because for GreenCard holders, residency starts the on the first day of legal presence in the country.

(c) Because she is a resident for the year , you should inform the financial institutions to issue her 1099s rather than 1042-S ( and withhold the fed tax).

(d) which country is she a citizen of ( for purposes of tax treaty considerations )

I will circle back once I hear from you --yes ?

Re: resident alien partial year interest and dividends

dac10012 — Sat, 17 Jan 2026 18:50:58 GMT

I am a US citizen and we will be filing married, jointly. Her brokerage is giving her a 1040-S and refuses to issue a 1099 even though she became a permanent resident during the middle of last year. Her employer is only reporting her income after she became a resident and we intend to report her investment income starting on that date too. I don't believe her 125 days as a permanent resident meets the 183 day threshold required for the entire year tax liability. We can agree to disagree. We intend to follow this advice for reporting investments: "To report interest/dividends as a resident alien without a 1099, you must manually calculate the amounts from bank/brokerage statements for the period after you became a resident, report them on Schedule B (Form 1040) if over $1,500 total, and use Form 1040 for your U.S. return, understanding that you report all income from the date you became a U.S. resident for tax purposes."

My original question was how do we report capital gains and interest and dividend income only earned after the date she got her Green Card and became liable for US income taxes? My initial approach, since the brokerage refuses to give us a 1099 from August to December, is to take a corresponding percentage of interest, dividends and capital gains from the year end statement and input them into TurboTax. Or, if the numbers for the entire year are very low, just use what's on the statement. What do you think? Thanks.

Re: resident alien partial year interest and dividends

pk — Sat, 17 Jan 2026 19:06:56 GMT

@dac10012 , while I digest your full response, please tell me when she actually entered the US , when she was admitted ( shown on the GreenCard -- what I remember from time back in 1967 ). Please

Re: resident alien partial year interest and dividends

dac10012 — Sat, 17 Jan 2026 19:40:09 GMT

It only says she became a permanent resident in August, as I said. We are getting off topic. Do you have any opinion on my posted question re reporting investment income for partial year residence? Thanks.

Re: resident alien partial year interest and dividends

pk — Sun, 18 Jan 2026 18:00:39 GMT

@dac10012 , just for your information

(a) Standard deduction is available ONLY when a full calendar year income is reported/recognized

(b) MFJ with one spouse on a partial year income ( part-year residency ) is not practical and /or allowed.

(c) The tax residency ( i.e. by SPT and/or GreenCard ) is generally for the whole tax year except that the start date of the residency is generally first day of legal presence in the year under consideration with some "ands" , "ifs" and "buts". See this --> Residency starting and ending dates | Internal Revenue Service

Therefore my repeated request to you for her status prior to admission as GC.

(d) Note that as an NRA, one is still taxed by the US on all US sourced / connected income while world income becomes taxable to US as a US person ( citizen/GreenCard/Resident for Tax purposes. Also Tax Treaty benefits are generally not applicable for US person with a US tax-home and on US sourced/connected income.

(e) you posted --"how do we report capital gains and interest and dividend income only earned after the date she got her Green Card and became liable for US income taxes". For US Tax Purposes, NRA taxation is limited to US sourced/connected income ( of any type ) while a US person is taxed on world income. Thus during the NRA period of your spouse all her US sourced income is taxable to US ( absent a Tax Treaty condition/assertion/ limitation ).

Foreign source passive incomes ( capital gain/interest/dividend) are generally effective ( i.e. recognizable/reportable ) on the date they were constructively received by US person ( as part of world income and taxes paid to a foreign tax admin. may be eligible for FTC treatment.

As mentioned above, US sourced passive income is taxable US income whether one is NRA or a US person all the time.

Does this make sense ? Is there more I can do for you ?

Re: resident alien partial year wages (as reported to us), entire year realized capital gains, interest and dividends

dac10012 — Mon, 19 Jan 2026 22:53:31 GMT

She is a Chinese citizen and has been here for many years. Her international employer is giving her a statement of taxable earnings that begins when she became a permanent resident in August, but I don't think it will say partial year. We have decided to report whatever the investments 1042-S says for income in Box 2 as realized capital gains but there is no Schedule K-1s, so I guess we don't have to report interest or dividends? We are taking the standard deduction because we have negligible itemized deductions.

Re: resident alien partial year wages (as reported to us), entire year realized capital gains, interest and dividends

dac10012 — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 13:56:26 GMT

I am reading there is no Schedule K-1s for regular investments and she should receive a 1099 - INT and 1099-DIV for reporting stock interest and dividends but the brokerage is not issuing any 1099 to her, so it seems we don't report those?

Also, I am considering filing an amended 1040 for 2024, to change the filing from Married Filing Separate to Married Filing Jointly because her only income was investments and her employer says she had no income in 2024 and there is no Statement of Taxable Earnings from them. So, there is only a negligible amount of income from investments on her 2024 1042-S, and instead of the considerable amount of income taxes I paid for Married Filing Separate, I should receive a refund. However, I don't want to open a can of worms by reporting no wages for her for 2024. What do you think? Thanks.

Re: resident alien partial year wages (as reported to us), entire year realized capital gains, interest and dividends

dac10012 — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 15:21:08 GMT

If You Receive Form 1042-S, Does That Mean You Have U.S. Tax Obligations?

"No, this does not trigger automatic U.S. filing requirements. As mentioned above, certain types of income received are passive in nature and are subject to a flat tax corresponding to the statutory 30% withholding. If that constitutes the entirety of your US-sourced income, you likely do not have a filing requirement, since IRS already has their money. " Does this mean I can leave out her 2024-S income when filing the amended MFJ 1040 for 2024? Also, I see there are multiple 1042-S from her brokerage for 2024, including 2 on 3-7 and 3 on 3-12. So, I am anticipating multiple 1042-S on different dates for 2025, which we will report because of her wages. Do we report all 1042-S income for all dates? Thanks.

Re: resident alien partial year wages (as reported to us), entire year realized capital gains, interest and dividends

pk — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 16:50:06 GMT

@dac10012 ,

What I get from your multiple posts ( thank you ) is :

(a) you a US person is married to an NRA adjusted to US person ( GreenCard) in Aug 2025.

(b) you were married in 2024

(d) for 2025 you wish/plan to file MFJ

(e)Spouse was ( for 2024) and is ( for 2025 ) employed by an international organization, wages not taxed by the US and treated as NRA till status adjustment in Aug 2025

(f) Spouse has personal investment income ( for 2024 and 2025 ) and generally reported on 1042-S.

Assuming above is substantially correct ( or correct me , if I mis-understood ) :

1. Take on board the following -- > Employees of foreign governments or international organizations | Internal Revenue Service

and --> Employees of a foreign government or international organization - How to report compensation | Internal Revenue Service

2. Note that the "exemption" covers only compensation i.e. active earnings and NOT personal investment / passive incomes. NRAs are taxed on US sourced income while US persons are taxed on world income. There is however one nuance --- NRA's US tax-home file form 1040-NR and generally are taxed just like normal --- the 30% flat fee on passive income is mostly applicable for purposes of form 1042-S but not necessarily for actual tax return -- depends on actual facts and circumstances.

3. Since spouse had personal income prior to becoming Resident ( GreenCard) -- US sourced -- these are still subject to US taxes. Thus I see no reason / justification to recognize ONLY those personal incomes actually taking place post status adjustment --- recognize all non-wages / passive and US sourced income for the whole calendar year and Wages only post status adjustment.

4. SE taxes are due on wages earned as Resident.

5. Absent a request ( signed by both of you ) to treat spouse as Resident for the whole calendar year ( and thus exposing ALL wages for the whole year to US taxes ), there is no way to file MFJ and thereby use the standard deduction for the whole year. My sense is that you would be better served ( tax liability wise ) to file MFS for the 2025 and from 2026 go the MFJ route. However, I would also suggest that you try it out both ways to see which gives you the better outcome.

Does this make sense ?

Is there more I can do for you ?

Re: resident alien partial year wages (as reported to us), entire year realized capital gains, interest and dividends

dac10012 — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 17:26:44 GMT

Thank you for all your deliberation, research and advice. The fact remains that the only wages we can report for her are those reported on her employer generated Statement of Taxable Earnings which are for August to December, so the point of reporting for the preceding months is moot. Perhaps I shouldn't have mentioned that, because it changes the focus of my other questions.

So, here are my (hopefully) remaining questions:

1. Since she is a resident, why would I need to write a note asking that she be classified as a resident in order to file MFJ?

2. She received multiple 1042-S as a nonresident alien last year, 3 on 3-7-25 and 2 on 3-12-25. We are filing an amended 1040 for 2024 and need to know which realized capital gain to show: all of the 5 amounts, or does the more recent 3-12-25 1042-S supersede the older 3-7-25 form? Also, according to the below, since she had no other income than investments (there is no 2024 Statement of Taxable Earnings from her employer), perhaps we don't need to show any investment capital gains? Thanks.

If You Receive Form 1042-S, Does That Mean You Have U.S. Tax Obligations?

Letter requesting resident status for NRA, for income tax purposes, in order to file MFJ

dac10012 — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 17:33:48 GMT

OK, I think I need the letter for the amended 2024 1040, as she was NRA that whole year, but now that she is a resident, I don't think I would need such a letter for the 2025 return and going forward. What do you think?

Re: resident alien partial year wages (as reported to us), entire year realized capital gains, interest and dividends

dac10012 — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 18:17:03 GMT

UPDATE. I neglected to say my spouse had a G-4 visa, so was exempt from US income taxes. So, I can report all her income for 2024 and 2025 and we are good for MFJ and the standard deduction. But my last two questions remain concerning requesting resident status for 2024 and/or 25 and which 1042-S forms to get her capital gains from. The idea of not reporting her investment earnings for 2024 is now moot because we will be reporting her wages, although they are not taxable. Thanks for your continued interest.

UPDATE 2

dac10012 — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 21:26:10 GMT

My wife's colleagues have only reported what the Statement of Taxable Earnings says, so we have decided to report nothing for 2024 (per G-4 status and no Statement) and the 4 months wages in the Statement for 2025. Reporting investments does not appear to be necessary for 2024, per the advisory stated above but we will report the 1024-S box 2 income as realized gains for 2025 (because there are also wages earned as a resident) and going forward. We have also decided to forego the note requesting resident status for income tax filing purposes for the 2024 amended filing, per her colleagues' example, and not necessary now, as she is a resident. Thanks.

Re: UPDATE 2 - Turbotax email says "delivery incomplete"

dac10012 — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 02:38:08 GMT

Re: UPDATE 2 - Turbotax email says "delivery incomplete"

pk — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 01:20:09 GMT

@dac10012 ,

I don't know if I can help you anymore -- you appear to be looking for tax law answers that support your aim.

Before I go,

(a) Please familiarize yourself with the references that I have provided;

(b) Just because others may be following a path may not make it correct -- you are the only one whom has to defend your return/filing and you are signing your return as true

(c)For US tax purposes --- MFJ requires both filers to be US Persons ( citizen/GreenCard/Resident for Tax purposes ) which includes a NRA whom wishes/requests to be treated as a resident ; for the year in which a status adjustment occurs, one can be a resident ( if eligible and request such ) for the whole year or be a dual status person -- filing 1040 ( resident return covering post adjustment ) and 1040-NR ( for the rest of the year ) but is limited to itemized deduction unless a resident for the whole calendar year; for an NRA ( i.e. filing 1040-NR ) there is no MFS/MFJ -- it is just single ( but can be "married" denoted ); Diplomatic staff/ international org. employees are immune from federal taxes ( if NRA) but not if a US Person; International Org. or foreign embassy/ consulates do not generally issue W-2 or 1099s -- just a statement of earnings; Personal income (Section 6109 incomes ) of diplomatic / International org. employees ( NRA or US persons ) is NOT immune from US taxes ( these are generally reported on 1042-S for NRA persons ) and generally should be recognized by filing a form 1040-NR.

(c) Based on your posts ( here and in others ), I would very strongly suggest the use / services of a tax professional familiar with international taxation.

I hope this puts this matter to rest