Resident alien

sajib056 — Thu, 20 Jan 2022 18:28:50 GMT

My wife and I came in the USA in 2016 and have been staying same number of days. I am on F1 and she is on F2. As per SPT, I am a resident alien. Does it matter If I declare her resident alien or not? If I declare her non resident alien then I can file tax as a head of household and get some extra previlages.

Re: Resident alien

pk — Fri, 28 Jan 2022 04:19:45 GMT

@sajib056 , from your post it appears that :

(a) you came in as F-1 in 2016 and therefore ( assuming this was your first entry into the USA ), your exempt status was completed on 12/31/2020. So 2021 you counted your "days present" towards SPT and became a resident for tax purposes for the year 2021.

(b) your spouse whom also entered the USA on a dependent visa ( F-2 ) in 2016 , also became a resident for tax purposes in 2021.

(c) So for 2021 tax year , you can either file as MFJ ( Married Filing Joint ) or MFS ( Married Filing Separate ). You cannot claim to be HoH ( Head of Household ) , even if your spouse lived separate from you for the last six months of the year unless you have a qualifying dependent -- you need qualifying dependent AND considered unmarried.

I hope I am understanding your case properly --- what are you trying to achieve ?

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Resident alien

Re: Resident alien