You are not a full year resident for tax purposes in the US. You are a dual status taxpayer in 2019, part year nonresident and part year resident.
If you are married, you can make an election with your spouse to file a full year married filing jointly tax return and both declare your worldwide income for calendar year 2019. To read about the choice to file married filing jointly please see page 8 of Publication 519. The benefit of filing a full year resident return is that you can use the standard deduction of $24,400 unless your itemized deductions are higher.
If you changed from an F-1 visa to a HIB visa in 2019, and you are not a green card holder, you are considered a dual status taxpayer (part year nonresident and part year resident). Dual status returns are not easy but we can walk you through it. You will not be able to use the standard deduction on your resident part of your return, and if you are married, you will need to file married filing separately. If not, you will file as single.
If you are married, you can make an election with your spouse to file a full year married filing jointly tax return and both declare your worldwide income for calendar year 2019. To read about the choice to file married filing jointly please see page 8 of Publication 519. The benefit of filing a full year resident return is that you can use the standard deduction of $24,400 unless your itemized deductions are higher.
If you want to file a dual status tax return, you will be considered a nonresident of the US until your first day of your change in visa in the US. Then the remainder of the calendar year you are considered a resident.
You will need to complete a nonresident return for the part of the year you were on an F1 visa. You can use Sprintax. You will need to print out your nonresident return. It must be filed with your resident return.
Write on the top of the 1st page of the 1040NR, Dual Statement.
Form 1040NR
Then for the resident part of the return you prepare in TurboTax, you are not allowed to use the standard deduction, only itemized deductions if you are filing a dual status return. Also, you can either file single (if you are single) or married filing separately.
You must suppress the standard deduction. Instructions for this are below.
When your resident part of the return is finished in TurboTax, print the return and write on top of the return, Dual Return.
Put the 1040 on top of 1040NR nonresident return and staple and mail to the IRS. You must sign the 1040 before mailing. You do not need to sign the 1040NR statement.
Mail to the following address:
If you are not enclosing a payment then use this address...
Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service
Austin, TX 73301-0215
USA
If you are enclosing a payment then use this address...
Internal Revenue Service
P. O. Box 1303
Charlotte, NC 28201-1303
USA
Please see more help on dual status returns see page 7 of Pub 519.
Publication 519
You must choose itemized deductions. Please follow the below instructions to switch to itemized deductions after entering all your income and deductions from the resident part of the year.
TurboTax Online instructions for how to change from standard deduction to iteimized deductions.
First, sign in and make sure your return is open. You should see 2019 TAXES in your left-hand menu (if not, tap or click the upper-left corner to expand the menu or select Take me to my return).
Once your return is open:
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From the left-hand menu, select Federal (on mobile devices, you might need to scroll down).
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Now select Deductions & Credits near the top of your screen.
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Scroll all the way down to the to the bottom of the screen and Click on Wrap up tax breaks (if you don't see this button, select Skip to see all tax breaks, then scroll down again).
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Continue through the interview until you see The Standard [or Itemized] Deduction is Right for You,
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On that screen, check the box Change my deduction to see the dollar amount for each deduction.
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Select Continue to keep the itemized deductions. When you switch to the itemized deductions, you may be prompted to upgrade.
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