Hello,
my name is Emmanuel, here my background and questions:
I come to the US as a research scholar (J-1 visa 2-year rule) from Dec 2015 to Dec 2016, I worked at the university as a Research technician to complement my budget (starting at Jan 2016 to Nov 2016), I filled my tax return for 2016 on a 1040 NR.
Later, I completed my Ph.D. back in my country (Mexico) and come again to the US as a postdoctoral Researcher (J-1 no 2-year rule) in March 2019, I got married in July 2019 in Mexico and my wife joined me in Sept 2019 with aJ-2 Visa here at the US.
I have my SSN since 2016, my wife don't have either SSN or ITIN
so here are my questions:
can I fill 2020 tax as a resident or as a non-resident alien?
If I can file my tax as a resident alien,
can I Fille married filling jointly and request the ITIN for my wife on 2020 tax return?
I have read a lot of tax law and seems really confusing, also, TAC office n my city is closed so I'm unable to check that with IRS directly.
Thanks in advance,
Emmanuel
You are required to file Form 1040-NR as J1 Visa holder. Your wife is also required to file Form 1040-NR as a J2 Visa holder. She can apply for her ITIN with a Form W7 attached to her 2020 Form 1040-NR. You can get further information and assistance from Sprintax who specializes in nonresident tax support.
Hello,
Thank You for your quick answer,
I just opened the account on spring tax and entered the information that I described here (my in-out of US on J-1 visa status as a research scholar) and got this from the system:
Step 1 - Residency
Based on the information you provided, you are deemed a US resident for tax purposes, which means Sprintax software isn’t suitable for you. Sprintax facilitates non-resident tax return preparation only.
Any Idea on what I need to do?
Best,
Emmanuel
You will be considered as US resident in 2020 for tax purposes. You will use the Look-Back rule for J-visa holder. Since you were a nonresident ( exempt ) for more than two years out of the past six years ( 2014-2019), you are a resident in 2020.
Since you are a resident, you can file jointly return with your nonresident wife. You can also file an ITIN for your wife. This also explains why Sprintax advised you to file as a resident.
To see a similar discussion of look back rule, click here: Look back rule
To prepare your tax return in the program, here are the steps:
@Vazquezme