TurboTax incorrectly prepares statement claiming dual-status alien was a nonresident at end of the year

[sam172]

I'm a resident alien and my spouse is a dual-status alien for the 2024 tax year; she was a non-resident for the first part of the year, but a resident for the latter part. We want to be treated as residents for the entire tax year in the joint return. I checked the boxes to mention that she is a "non-resident alien or dual-status alien" but the statement prepared as an attachment by Turbotax (when viewed through the print center), incorrectly mentions that my spouse "was a nonresident alien as of the last day of the tax year ended 12/31/2024", which is not true.

This seems like a bug in TurboTax where it asks "non-resident alien or dual-status alien" but always prepares the statement assuming the spouse is a non-resident alien at the end of the year.

Am I missing some option to clarify that my spouse is a dual-status alien? If not, do I have any option to e-file by amending the statement, or is my only option to paper file?

[DaveF1006]

If your wife spent more than 183 days, she's a resident alien regardless. if she files as a dual-status alien, it means that she wouldn't qualify as a US resident but can make the election to qualify as a Dual-Status Citizen for tax reporting purposes.

Now to address your concern, even though the language doesn't mention Dual-Status citizens, it's irrelevant in the context of this form. It assumes that if your wife is a nonresident citizen who'll be treated as a resident alien for tax reporting purposes. In fact, on the bottom of the form it mentions that the spouse is either a nonresident or a dual-status resident and makes no distinction on her status. See the screenshot i have included below.

[sam172]

> If your wife spent more than 183 days, she's a resident alien regardless

Yes, but the start date of residency matters when considering whether she was a resident alien for the full calendar year or not. She was actually granted a green card in the middle of 2024, so she met both the substantial presence test and the green card test. However, IRS mentions that

"If you meet both the substantial presence test and the green card test, your residency starting date is the earlier of the first day during the year you are present in the United States under the substantial presence test or as a lawful permanent resident."

In her case, this would the first date under the substantial presence test, which is late January, 2024 (in the first part of her stay in 2024, her status was "Exempt" from being counted for the substantial presence test). So she would have been a non-resident alien for the first part of January, and resident alien for the rest of the year (hence, dual-status alien). 

> even though the language doesn't mention Dual-Status citizens, it's irrelevant in the context of this form

My concern is not regarding the TurboTax input form itself -- it is regarding a statement prepared by TurboTax as an attachment to the return (visible in your screenshot). It explicitly mentions that she "was a nonresident alien as of the last day of the tax year ended 12/31/2024", which is factually incorrect in my spouse's case. This is a signed statement being provisioned to the IRS, hence my concern. 

In IRS Pub 519, the two cases of "Dual-Status Aliens" and "Nonresident Spouse Treated as a Resident" are separately mentioned, with advise on how to prepare the statement for each case. I believe TurboTax is making an error by lumping these together, and only following the instructions for the "Nonresident Spouse Treated as a Resident" case.

[DaveF1006]

It may be true that the language may not be factually correct, but changing this at this late stage is impossible. It isn't serious enough to raise the eyebrows of the IRS and shouldn't cause any problems for you.

 If you feel though that this is an issue, you may attach your own written statement to your return, and then mail your return rather than file electronically.  Here's the filing procedure.

1. Prepare your return in Turbo Tax and choose Married Filing Jointly as your filing status.  
2. When you get to the Let’s get ready to e-file screen, select File by Mail.
3. Attach a statement to your return, signed by each of you that states that one of you is a U.S. citizen and the other is a nonresident alien or Dual-status and that you’re electing to both be treated as U.S. residents for tax purposes. Here you can factually report your wife is a Dual-Status Alien.
4. Include the full name, address and Social Security number (or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number) of each spouse.  
5. Mail the return to the address on the instruction sheet that prints with the return.

@sam172