Mid-Year Departure From the US question

[msgsergei]

I'm looking for guidance on how to file our 2025 federal and Illinois tax returns given my situation. I just want to understand what my options might be.

My wife arrived in the US in 2022, and I arrived in 2023.
In 2024, we filed our taxes as Married Filing Jointly.

2025 is different

• My wife was a full-year U.S. resident in Illinois.
• I was an Illinois resident from 01/01/2025 to 08/15/2025.
• I left the US and currently live in Portugal. I had no income after leaving the U.S.
• Our income for 2025 is fairly simple: W-2 forms only.

Just looking for some guidance. Maybe I need to find a CPA with this type of expertise, or maybe everything is much simpler than I think, and we can just file Married Filing Jointly since I was a tax resident for almost nine months.

[pk]

@msgsergei ,  before one can offer any suggestion(s) , need to understand the situation --

(a) What date and with which visa did your spouse enter US ?

(b) Is your spouse still in the US

(c) Spouse's  US immigration status ( citizen/ GreenCard ) ?

(d) What date and with which visa did you enter the USA ?

(e)  When exactly did you leave the USA ?

(f) Did your work visa expire  or  you just decided to leave the US for Portugal ?

(g) Are you a citizen of Portugal or are you a greenCard living in Portugal ?

(h) What are your longer term plans --- i.e. is this a temporary situation or  what ?

(i) What are your financial or other connections to the USA ?  Do you own home and/or significant  financial connections  in the USA ?

Please answer my questions and I will indeed circle back once I hear from you  ( you will need the same answers for  any tax professional doing your taxes for you  ).

If you do not wish to discuss  in this public forum, you are quite welcome to PM me  ( just NO PII -- Personally Identifiable Information ) and  the discussion will not be visible to the posters here.

Look forward to hearing from you 

[msgsergei]

(a) What date and with which visa did your spouse enter US ?
My spouse entered the US under the Ukrainian Humanitarian Parole (UHP) program in September 2022.

(b) Is your spouse still in the US
Yes, she is. She has been in the US since September 2022.

(c) Spouse's US immigration status ( citizen/ GreenCard ) ?
None of these. She has:
- Ukrainian Humanitarian Parole (UHP)
- Temporary Protected Status

(d) What date and with which visa did you enter the USA ?
I did the same and entered the US under the Ukrainian Humanitarian Parole (UHP) program on August 15, 2023.

(e) When exactly did you leave the USA ?
08/15/2025

(f) Did your work visa expire or you just decided to leave the US for Portugal ?
Was granted parole for two years and did not receive approval to stay longer.

(g) Are you a citizen of Portugal or are you a greenCard living in Portugal ?
None of these options.
Same as in the US I have a European analogue of Temporary Protection.

(h) What are your longer term plans --- i.e. is this a temporary situation or what ?
Not sure if it's relevant to my taxes, but I can't answer this question because just I don't know.
I might return to the US this year, or I might not - have no idea.

(i) What are your financial or other connections to the USA ? Do you own home and/or significant financial connections in the USA ?
I have nothing in the US

[pk]

@msgsergei , thank you very much for your quick reply to my questions.

(a) you said you filed MFJ ( Married Filing Joint ) for 2024  -- resident for tax purposes.

(b) for 2025 , since you left the US on 08/15/2025 and counting the days present  during 2023, 2024 and 2025, you would be a Resident for Tax purposes .  However because your  TPS had expired  and you had to leave the country, your filing status would be dual status.

(c) Because your spouse  has a valid legal status  and continued to stay for the whole calendar year  ( 2025 ), she  continues to be a  Resident for Tax purposes .

(d)  Thus  my suggestion would be :

            Spouse/ Wife files as  MFS -- Married Filing Separately, uses standard deduction and uses form 1040  ( supported by TurboTax)  for world income

            You / Husband  being dual status files   MFS, uses form 1040 for the period  01/01/2025 through 08/15/2025, Itemized deduction  ,  using TurboTax ( because it supports ONLY 1040 ) covering world income  for the period; then either using downloaded , ( or using a service like SprinTax ), fill out form 1040-NR covering any US sourced/connected  income ONLY.  Thereafter, print, sign, date and file by mail both the 1040 and 1040-NR to the IRS and the State.  Note  that the form 1040  must be labeled  ( on top ) 'DUAL STATUS FILER ".

My assumption here is that you have no dependent/children living with you in the USA and you have no significant financial interests in the US

Is there more I can do for you ?

[msgsergei]

Out of curiosity, why can’t I just file one Married Filing Jointly return? I thought I could be treated as a resident for the 2025 tax year because I met the substantial presence test in 2025.

[pk]

@msgsergei ,  because you meet the SPT, you are indeed a Resident for the tax year. However, because you are not present in the country  by reason of  expiry of visa, you became  NRA for the period of 08/16/2025 through 12/31/2025. 

See this page from the IRS -->  Residency starting and ending dates | Internal Revenue Service

If your visa to stay was valid ( i.e. you had right to be in the USA ) but you were abroad  for personal/ employment etc. reasons and/or maintained a close connection to the USA etc. ,  you could  argue that you are still a resident.  But in your case , I do not see how you could argue that  ( except  for the fact that there is familial connection -- your wife is still in the USA ). and win.  Perhaps, she  ( a tax resident) can argue that  you a NRA should be treated as a resident for the whole year , even if your tax home is abroad for the second period (08/16 through 12/31 ).   If you choose to proceed  that way  then  you have to file MFJ and  both sign a request for you to be treated  as a resident for the whole year ( and of course expose your world income to US taxes ).  What I don't know is how the IRS will view this considering that you are a resident of Europe since departing  US.

Sorry , I could not be more hopeful in this situation.

Is there anything else I can do for you ?