Amending taxes after spouse comes to USA

[Edddie&Beatrice 64]

Has anyone amended taxes and received a refund after their spouse joined them in the USA. 

We have amended from single to married filling jointly. 

 

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Edited November 26, 2021 by Kor2USA

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*** Moved to the "Tax and Finances During US Immigration" section of the forum.

VJ Moderation

[Merica-n 65]

When did you become married and what year are you amending?

 

Did your fiance have income during the year you are amending?

 

If you can amend to MFJ, then you should not be eligible to file as single and your return is incorrect, but which filing status you should choose depends on some different factors.

[Edddie&Beatrice 64]

On 11/27/2021 at 11:01 AM, Merica-n said:

When did you become married and what year are you amending?

 

Did your fiance have income during the year you are amending?

 

If you can amend to MFJ, then you should not be eligible to file as single and your return is incorrect, but which filing status you should choose depends on some different factors.

I already filed single for 2 yrs now that she is here in USA and has SSN I am amending to married filling jointly. 

Asking if there is anyone who has amended and received a refund

Edited November 28, 2021 by Edddie&Beatrice

[Merica-n 65]

16 minutes ago, Edddie&Beatrice said:

Asking if there is anyone has amended and received a refund

Sorry, I didn't realize all the dates were in your timeline.  You should be able to amend 2019 and 2020 to MFJ by filing a joint return election in 2019.  You must include any income she received during these years on the 2019 and 2020 tax returns, and consider the foreign asset filing requirements if she has any large assets.  You should amend the return though as you are not entitled to file as single during those years.

 

If there are any dependents or credits on the return, be mindful that many credits require her TIN (SSN or ITIN) or the dependents TIN (SSN or ITIN) to have been issued before the filing deadline to be eligible of the credit.  Be mindful of this if credits appear, because software doesn't always pick this up.

 

If you are due a refund which is likely if she has little to no income, because you will get the benefits of a higher standard deduction and better income tax brackets, you will definitely receive the refund.  No need to worry about it.  If you are not due a refund, you should calculate your return as Married Filing Separately to see if that filing status if more favorable.

 

Here are some instructions on how to make the joint return election:  https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/nonresident-spouse

Edited November 28, 2021 by Merica-n

[Edddie&Beatrice 64]

23 hours ago, Merica-n said:

Sorry, I didn't realize all the dates were in your timeline.  You should be able to amend 2019 and 2020 to MFJ by filing a joint return election in 2019.  You must include any income she received during these years on the 2019 and 2020 tax returns, and consider the foreign asset filing requirements if she has any large assets.  You should amend the return though as you are not entitled to file as single during those years.

 

If there are any dependents or credits on the return, be mindful that many credits require her TIN (SSN or ITIN) or the dependents TIN (SSN or ITIN) to have been issued before the filing deadline to be eligible of the credit.  Be mindful of this if credits appear, because software doesn't always pick this up.

 

If you are due a refund which is likely if she has little to no income, because you will get the benefits of a higher standard deduction and better income tax brackets, you will definitely receive the refund.  No need to worry about it.  If you are not due a refund, you should calculate your return as Married Filing Separately to see if that filing status if more favorable.

 

Here are some instructions on how to make the joint return election:  https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/nonresident-spouse

Thank you for the information. 

[Edddie&Beatrice 64]

Update, our tax amendment was successful, and we got more tax refund. We waited for about one year for the tax refund but it was worth.