F1 husband, wife recently got job and is on H1B

[zerohour]

We have been in Arizona since 2015 and I have filed taxes as an individual since I am on an F1 visa. My wife started working since October 2019 and has her own H1B. She was my dependent earlier. How should we file taxes this year?

[LinaJ2020 · Accepted solution]

It depends. 

Technically, you are a non-resident for the year 2019 and required to file a Form 1040-NR.  On Form 1040-NR, you only need to report US-sourced income.  

However, you have another option.  

If she anticipates she will be staying in the US for at least 183 days in the year 2020 or meet the Substantial Presence Test SPT, she can make an election to treat herself as a resident from October to December 2019, to file as a dual-alien alien. Please see FirstYearChoice- Residency Starting Date under the First-Year Choice. 

If she meets the requirements, for the year 2019, she will be filing as a non-resident for the first nine months and a resident for the rest of the year. To read more about the pros and cons on dual status, click here: Dual status

If your wife decides to file as dual-status, she can make an election to claim you from a non-resident to a resident, click here: Nonresident to resident.  This way, you both can file as a resident.  You can use TurboTax to file.  Due to the attached documents, you cannot e-file but only paper-file. 

If she decides to file as a non-resident for the whole year, as TurboTax does not support any nonresident tax forms, you are advised to contact Sprintax to file your 2019 taxes.