New Green Card Holder - Filling Jointly with US Spouse?

[LarryyTax]

Hi,

Before I ask my question I thought I'd just outline my situation.

- I immigrated to the US in March 2020 on a Green Card (Spouse visa).

- I have an American wife who has been living and working in the US for all of 2020.

- I have had a steady US income since June 2020, and foreign income up until April 2020.

Now for my questions.

-- Am I considered a resident alien for the full year (2020) when it comes to taxes?

-- Is it possible for my wife and I to file as married filing jointly? (Depends on the above question if I am not mistaken?)

-- Is it possible to avoid paying double taxes on my foreign income? (I've already paid taxes on the foreign income in my former home country)

I have already looked through Publication 519 -  U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens, but it's not crystal clear.

[pk]

@LarryyTax , you say you are returning member -- does that imply you filed a return  for tax year 2019 and if so what filing status?  Which country are you from ( citizen/resident prior  to  becoming US resident) ?   Have you been in the USA priorly  and if so when    ( generally we need to consider  days present  for each of the years  2020,2019 and 2018 ) for any reason ?

Generally, a green card implies you are  resident for year -- the question is when does the year begin  ( generally the first day you are present in the USA , but    the answers to above questions may modify this  )

[LarryyTax]

Hi @pk,

No. I have only lived in the US since March 2020. So I have not filed taxes for 2019 in the US. I moved from Denmark. 

I am finding it hard to figure out if I can be considered a resident alien for the full year of 2020, and if I am eligible to file as married filling jointly with my wife who's American and have been living and working here for all of 2020. 

Thank you,

[pk]

@LarryyTax  if this is your first entry/stay in the USA, then  you can  (a) start your year from the day you entered the USA i.e. your passport got stamped and your Green Card became effective --- this would mean  for the year 2020, you report ONLY your world earnings from March on wards and your US earnings for the whole  year.   You can file  jointly with your American spouse;  (b) report your world income for the whole year including Danish earnings  for the first three months  ( till you entered  USA) and then ask for tax credit against  taxes paid on earnings to Demmark;  and  thirdly (c) for the year 2020 you file as married filing Sep reporting  essentially as a  dual status --- Resident for the period  March through end of the year and not recognize Danish income earned before entering the USA  ( note delayed payments for work  prior to entering USA) is foreign sourced income that was earned ( not  when received -- depends on treaty conditions ) prior to becoming a resident and hence not taxable. 

Is there more I can do for  you

You can PM me if the  information you provide gets  specific to only your case and not of interest to the general TurboTax users

pk