I am in h1b & my wife is in h4 EAD (holding ssn). She left to our country on mid of January 2022 and since she is there. Am i still eligible to file as Married and Joint?

[DaveF1006]

Yes, you can file jointly with your wife but she will need to report her worldwide income in your return. Here is how to report.

 Treat your spouse as a resident alien for tax purposes.   If you do this, you will need to include your spouse's worldwide income in your US tax return and it will be subject to US taxes.  

To do this follow these steps.

   1. Attach a statement to your tax return, signed by both spouses, that states that one spouse is a nonresident alien and the other is a U.S. citizen or resident alien, and you are choosing to both be treated as US residents for the tax year.

   2. List the name, address and Social Security number (or Individual Taxpayer Identification number) of each spouse on the statement.

   3. For the first year you make the choice, you have to file a joint return. In later years you can file joint or separate returns. Married Filing Jointly will give you a higher standard deduction and has other benefits that are not available using a married filing separately status, but you do have to include your spouse’s worldwide income in joint income.

  4. Since the statement has to be attached to your return, you will need to mail this return in accordance   

  Turbo Tax will provide you.

Here is another option that you might consider.

 Treat your spouse as a nonresident alien for tax purposes. You will not have to include your spouse's non-US income on your U.S. tax return. You will have to use the filing status of Married Filing Separately. This return may be filed electronically since your spouse has a SSN. 

[Bimalesh]

Thanks Dave for your valuable suggestion.

I have a question based on your first approach.

She didn't earned anything for year 2022, so i don't have any way to show her earning for the year from my home country.

Now i am not sure, what to do.

[ErnieS0]

You can still file with your spouse even if she did not have any income, assuming you met the substantial presence test to file as a U.S. resident.

If she had $0 worldwide income, filing together will be a benefit. You can use a larger standard deduction and the tax rate will be lower.

Should you get audited you will just have to show she did not earn anything. It’s hard to prove that, but you can show bank records and other financial statements showing no income received.

See Nonresident Spouse.

[Bimalesh]

Thanks for the suggestion.