Stimulus for new resident for tax purposes

[DanyP31]

Hello,

I am working in the US since 2018 with a J-1 visa and this year, it is the first year I am considered as resident for tax purposes. I am filling out the Form 1040 U.S. Individual Income Tax Return 2020 using TurboTax and my Form W-2. At the end of the federal part, I got this question "It looks like you qualified for the stimulus, did you get any payments?". I did not get any payments in 2020 because last year when I filled out my form for 2019 I was not considered as resident so my question is: I became resident for tax purposes for the wages I got in 2020, so should I put "$0" for the stimulus part and then get them as federal refund this year, or "$1200" and "$600" so as not to get them as federal refund?

Thank you very much in advance,

Best regards,

[ThomasM125 · Accepted solution]

You should enter $0, since you qualify for the stimulus payments based on your 2020 tax return. Payments were sent out based on information on the 2019 tax returns, but they were just advance payments, the amount due you is from the information listed on your 2020 tax return.