claiming tax treaty benefits as a resident alien

[taba]

I have been a J1 researcher from April 2017 to Jan 2020. The 2019 taxes is the first year the substantial presence test is active and I have become resident for tax purposes. The two years before I could fill out form 1040NR and tax exemption was easy to report. I have a W2 form with my wages. My taxes were not withheld for Jan-March of 2019, but were withheld starting April 2019. How do I claim my last 3 months of US-German tax treaty? Can I do this with TurboTax free edition? Do I need form 8833?

[pk]

@taba  do you still need help?

Please look at your W-2  because I suspect that your employer would have adjusted the line 1, line 3 and line 5 for the situation-- as long as they were aware of the treaty situation  ( form your post they appear to have been ).

If that is not true then you do have to prepare a form 8833 and therefore use  file-by-mail.  You can prepare the return based on adjusted return i.e excluding the J-1 period income and attach a copy of the W-2 and 8833.