topic Can I file tax along with my spouse - I was in USA till Mar-2019 and got married Jul-2019 and returned back with my spouse on Jan-2020. Am I eligible to filealong wife in Get your taxes done using TurboTax

Can I file tax along with my spouse - I was in USA till Mar-2019 and got married Jul-2019 and returned back with my spouse on Jan-2020. Am I eligible to filealong wife

gnanameee88 — Fri, 31 Jan 2020 00:50:42 GMT

I was in USA from Oct 2016 to March 2019. I returned back to my country after my VISA extension got rejected. I got married on Jul 2019. I came to USA with my spouse on Jan-2020. Am I eligible to file along with my wife?

Re: Can I file tax along with my spouse - I was in USA till Mar-2019 and got married Jul-2019 and...

CatinaT1 — Fri, 31 Jan 2020 01:30:43 GMT

Your filing status is based on your marital status as of December 31 of the tax year, so yes, you are able to file jointly.

Re: Can I file tax along with my spouse - I was in USA till Mar-2019 and got married Jul-2019 and...

gnanameee88 — Fri, 31 Jan 2020 02:39:57 GMT

Thanks for the reply. She didn’t live with me in USA . Is it fine to file tax along with her ?

Re: Can I file tax along with my spouse - I was in USA till Mar-2019 and got married Jul-2019 and...

DavidS127 — Fri, 31 Jan 2020 19:24:31 GMT

It depends on whether you were a legal resident on December 31, 2019.

Your ability to be treated as a resident for U.S. tax purposes may have terminated on when you left the U.S. in March 2019. See the IRS Publication 519 section on "Last Year of Residency" for information regarding when your resident status terminates.

If you were not a U.S resident for tax purposes on December 31, 2019 you cannot file Form 1040 for the period of time after you were a resident.

If, however, you met the Substantial Presence test for 2019 and your residency was not terminated, you are eligible to file a Form 1040, and have the option to treat your nonresident spouse as a resident for tax purposes. See this text from IRS Publication 519 about the option to treat a Nonresident Spouse as a Resident :

"If, at the end of your tax year, you are married and one spouse is a U.S. citizen or a resident alien and the other spouse is a nonresident alien, you can choose to treat the nonresident spouse as a U.S. resident. This includes situations in which one spouse is a nonresident alien at the beginning of the tax year, but a resident alien at the end of the year, and the other spouse is a nonresident alien at the end of the year."