Tax amend because of obtaining GC

[Almo2]

I am here in US since yearly 2020, I used to be on F1 visa and my wife joined me on 2021 on F2 visa.

as a a student we cannot claim dependent for the first 5 years so I was filling taxes as single til last year.

my wife got here GC and SSN last year, can I amend the prev year taxes to change the status to married file jointly!?

and if yes how many years I can go back!

[pk]

@Almo2  As I understand the situation,

(a) you ( Husband ) entered the USA with F-1 in 2020.  Thus absent any other contravening facts, your  "exempt" status runs for five years  from 2020 through 12/31/2024. Hence you recognized your  US sourced income on form 1040-NR filing as "Married"  ( from the  year you got married ).

(b) For 2025  you are no longer  exempt from counting days present and therefore will be resident for the tax year 2025 , filing form 1040.  ( corrected previous error of 2024)

(c) Your spouse ( wife ) entered US with a dependent visa ( F-2) in 2022 and thus had the same immigration status as the primary holder .  Thus if she was allowed to work, her income would have been  recognized on form 1040-NR and again filing as "Married"

(d) Your spouse had a status adjustment  to  "GreenCard" in 2024  ( please confirm ) and thus  she would have an independent immigration status and tax status as  Resident / US Person  for the year.   Note that her start of the resident year would be the first day she was present legally in the US in that year  ( excluding any days as an exempt  person).   Since she was on dependent visa till the date of adjustment  ( / admitted with GC), her start of the year will be the date of adjustment --- just like a F-1 student whose status was adjusted to GC during the calendar year.  Thus her tax filing is that of a dual status person ---  US income from 01/01/2024 till the date of adjustment reported on form 1040-NR and world income post the adjustment date reported on form 1040.  Also depending on the country she is from ( and assuming a valid treaty ), she may be eligible to use standard deduction for the  tax year.

(e) Depending on the exact date of adjustment, 2024 amended return  ( i.e. one requesting that an NRA spouse be treated as a resident for tax purposes) may not yield sufficient benefit to worth the trouble.  If you choose to follow that path  and depending on exact facts and circumstances, you perhaps should consider using the services of a tax professional  familiar with taxing of internationals.

(g) For the tax year 2025, you are no longer an exempt person and thus you two can indeed file together as Tax resident , MFJ and standard deduction etc.

Is there more I can do for you ?

[Opus 17]

@pk 

Is that a typo?

"(b) For 2025  you are no longer  exempt from counting days present and therefore will be resident for the tax year 2024 , filing form 1040."

Wouldn't the taxpayer be an NR for their 2024 return?

[pk]

@Opus 17  -- yes -- should be 2025.

[Opus 17]

@pk 

@Almo2 

So if I understand correctly and can summarize:

1. The spouse is a dual-status alien for 2024 and by default would file a 1040-NR that only reported US-source income (if any) up to the date of the GC, and a 1040 (as married filing separately) reporting all world-wide income after the date of the GC. 

2. The taxpayer could file (or amend) for 2024 as married filing jointly by making the election to treat the spouse as a resident for the whole year.  The taxpayer would have to test whether this actually benefits them in their situation.

3. The taxpayer can't amend to joint filing earlier years (2023 and back).

4. They can file jointly under the normal rules for 2025 and future. 

[pk]

@Opus 17 , generally correct.  Don't see any issues with your  (very much to the point) summarization.  I have kept the answer general because  of missing details  ( date of adjustment, country of citizenship etc. ).

pk