How to file jointly when wife doesn't live with me?

[rash805115]

I got married in Jan 2021 in India and because of Covid my wife didn't come to USA till Jan 2022. Now I am filing taxes for year 2021 and I am filing jointly. But since my wife never stayed in the same state/country as me for the whole last year, she does not pass the residency test.

I am not sure what status I should be legally filing in for?

She is on H4 dependent Visa, and I am on H1B Visa.

There is another issue. She does not have a SSN or an ITIN. She applied for her EAD and SSN but that hasn't arrived yet.

I got this question asked in TurboTax,

Tell us the state(s) your spouse lived in

My spouse's state of residence (on December 31, 2021)

Date your spouse became a resident of Foreign or U.S. Possession

[LoganathanB]

If your spouse is a nonresident alien, you have three options when you file your taxes. 

Married Filing jointly(MFJ)

Married Filing separately(MFS)

Head of household

You can choose to wait for her Social Security Number to file as MFJ and file an extension for filing the tax return beyond

April 18, 2022. You will get time till October 15, 2022.

You can elect to treat your wife as a resident if she does have SSN even though she was not in the USA in 2021.

Treat nonresident spouse as resident

TurboTax allows you to efile your tax return married filing separately even if your spouse does not have SSN. If you check the box no to want to file jointly with your spouse. An error will still pop up about SSN but continue anyway till you get to transmit button. 

Choose My spouse was a non-resident alien at any time during 2021 in that screen.

You will be able to file your tax return as married filing separately.

Nonresident Spouse

[Critter-3]

@LoganathanB 

For a MFS without a SS# or ITIN for the spouse there will NEVER be a transmit button ... you CANNOT efile a return without one of those numbers  EVER EVER EVER.   The instructions you posted in the link even says the return must be mailed.   Please be more accurate with your answers if you are being posted as an  employee tax expert.

[LoganathanB]

@Critter-3

Thank you 

This is a new feature available in the TurboTax this year.

The option is available in TTO also and the option is available only for Married filing separately tax returns to efile without an SSN for the spouse.

[rash805115]

@LoganathanB I want to file MFJ because of the tax returns I get.

I am not clear on how to proceed when I was married for year 2021 but my spouse did not live with me in my state, VA. She wasn't even in the country.

So does my wife not living with me forces me to file separately? 

[Critter-3 · Accepted solution]

@rash805115 

You can file jointly even if your spouse lived on the moon ... read the prior posts for all the info you need or read the IRS info here:    https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/nonresident-spouse

[rash805115]

@Critter-3 Awesome!! I can treat her as resident as per the guidelines.

@LoganathanB TurboTax is asking for the exact date when spouse became resident, so based on above answer I can choose 1 Jan 2021 or any random date. Is that right for turbo tax?

[DianeW777]

Yes, you can choose any date you like as her 'Date your spouse became a resident of Foreign or U.S. Possession'.  

@rash805115