Filing jointly as Married or Single

[kirancherian]

I stayed in the US from Sept 5th 2017 to Feb 19th 2018 and during which I received income in the US from my US employer. My spouse who is employed with a different entity in India, had taken a "Loss of Pay" leave, and visited US from Nov 27th, 2017 to Feb 19th, 2018. I had come on an L1 -B Visa and my spouse as a dependent in the L2 Visa. My spouse did not work during the period of her stay in the US, hence did not earn any income. Since my wife had come for a short period, she did not apply for a SSN or a Tax Identification Number.

Can i file jointly as Married?

Is it possible to file for my spouse through she does not have a tax identification number or an SSN?

If i can, should I change the martial status as Married in my W2 as my it is currently indicated as Single?

Appreciate your answers. Thanks in advance.

[TaxGuyBill]

If you are no longer working in the US, there is no need to change your W-4 (withholding) for your W-2.  However, as a Nonresident Alien, claiming "Single" on the W-4 was correct (but you still need to file as Married on your actual tax return).

[kirancherian]

Thank you TaxGuyBill. Appreciate your response

[DS30 · Accepted solution]

Since you were not in the US for more than 183 days in 2017, you will not meet the substantial presence test  and will be considered a nonresident alien for US income tax purposes. (You will also be a nonresident for next year's US income tax filing.)

Since you do not meet the substantial presence test for the first year in the USA, you will be considered a nonresident alien and will file a Form 1040NR which is not supported by TurboTax. Here is a link to the IRS website for Form 1040NR, U.S. Nonresident Alien Income Tax Return. In this situation, you will only report your US sourced income on your Form 1040NR.

You will not be able to file jointly on a Form 1040NR.