Hi I am on H1B (resident alien) and my wife is on F1 for the entire 2017. How do I file taxes? I have been told that I cannot file electronically.

[RK5]

When I chose married filing jointly, my wife will be treated as resident alien and she has to pay FICA taxes but F1 students are exempted from that. Someone informed that I have to paper file my taxes and include declaration. What is the declaration? Please advise.

[JulieH1]

Since you are married, your filing status choices are Married Filing Jointly (MFJ) or Married Filing Separately (MFS).

If you choose to file as MFJ – (Your wife will need a Social Security or – if not eligible to get one - an ITIN number), You are making a choice to treat your wife as resident alien for tax purposes; you will get exemption for your wife but worldwide income (yours and hers) is reported on your tax return. You may report her education expenses in Deductions & Credits section.

If you choose to file as MFS – you are making a choice to treat your wife as a nonresident alien for tax purposes.  You may be able to claim an exemption for your wife only if she has no income from U.S. sources and cannot be claimed as a dependent on anyone else’s tax return. SS number or ITIN is also required. You cannot report her tuition expenses on your tax return.

You will have to do a paper return because you have to make an election from the choices above that has to be signed.

See this IRS link on how to make the election.

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/nonresident-alien-spouse

[RK5]

So can I use TurboTax??

[LBODDY]

Was a solution to this ever provided?

What happens if you are in this situation and have already filed jointly through TurboTax, but never sent a declaration? Are previous returns not valid?