Go to IRS website and read Publicatin 519
Here is some information that might help youI have filitered out.
You are a resident, for tax purposes, if you are a Lawful Permanent Resident of the United States at any time during the calendar year (however, see Dual Status Alien). This is known as the "green card" test. You are a Lawful Permanent Resident of the United States, at any time, if you have been given the privilege, according to the immigration laws, of residing permanently in the United States as an immigrant. You generally have this status if the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) has issued you an alien registration card, also known as a "green card." You continue to have resident status, under this test, unless you voluntarily renounce and abandon this status in writing to the USCIS, or your immigrant status is administratively terminated by the USCIS, or your immigrant status is judicially terminated by a U.S. federal court. If you meet the green card test at anytime during the calendar year, but do not meet the substantial presence test for that year, your residency starting date is the first day on which you are present in the United States as a Lawful Permanent Resident. However, an alien who has been present in the United States at any time during a calendar year as a Lawful Permanent Resident may choose to be treated as a resident alien for the entire calendar year.
Nonresident Spouse Treated as a Resident
If, at the end of your tax year, you are married and one spouse is a U.S. citizen or a resident alien and the other spouse is a nonresident alien, you can choose to treat the nonresident spouse as a U.S. resident. This includes situations in which one spouse is a nonresident alien at the beginning of the tax year, but a resident alien at the end of the year, and the other spouse is a nonresident alien at the end of the year.
If you make this choice, you and your spouse are treated as residents for your entire tax year for the purpose of your federal individual income tax return, and for the purpose of withholding U.S. federal income tax from your wages. However, for the purpose of Chapter 3 withholding you may still be treated as a nonresident alien. Refer to Withholding of Tax on Nonresident Aliens and Foreign Corporations (Chapter 3 of the IRC) in Tax Withholding Types. In addition, you may still be treated as a nonresident alien for the purpose of withholding Social Security and Medicare tax. Refer to Aliens Employed in the U.S. – Social Security Taxes.
Generally, neither you nor your spouse can claim tax treaty benefits as a resident of a foreign country for a tax year for which the choice is in effect and you are both taxed on worldwide income. However, the exception to the saving clause of a particular tax treaty might allow a resident alien to claim a tax treaty benefit on certain specified income. You must file a joint income tax return for the year you make the choice, but you and your spouse can file joint or separate returns in later years.
CAUTION! If you file a joint return under this provision, the special instructions and restrictions for dual-status taxpayers do not apply to you.
How to Make the Choice
Attach a statement, signed by both spouses, to your joint return for the first tax year for which the choice applies. It should contain the following information:
A declaration that one spouse was a nonresident alien and the other spouse a U.S. citizen or resident alien on the last day of your tax year, and that you choose to be treated as U.S. residents for the entire tax year
The name, address, and identification number of each spouse. (If one spouse died, include the name and address of the person making the choice for the deceased spouse.)
Amended Return
You generally make this choice when you file your joint return. However, you can also make the choice by filing a joint amended return on Form 1040X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return (PDF).
The choice to be treated as a resident alien does not apply to any tax year (after the tax year you made the choice) if neither spouse is a U.S. citizen or resident alien at any time during the tax year.
Suspending or Ending the Choice
Note: This page contains one or more references to the Internal Revenue Code (IRC), Treasury Regulations, court cases, or other official tax guidance. References to these legal authorities are included for the convenience of those who would like to read the technical reference material. To access the applicable IRC sections, Treasury Regulations, or other official tax guidance, visit the Tax Code, Regulations, and Official Guidance page. To access any Tax Court case opinions issued after September 24, 1995, visit the Opinions Search page of the United States Tax Court.
Substantial Presence Test
You will be considered a U.S. resident for tax purposes if you meet the substantial presence test for the calendar year. To meet this test, you must be physically present in the United States on at least:
31 days during the current year, and 183 days during the 3-year period that includes the current year and the 2 years immediately before that, counting:
All the days you were present in the current year, and
⅓ of the days you were present in the first year before the current year, and
⅙ of the days you were present in the second year before the current year.
Example.
You were physically present in the United States on 120 days in each of the years 2003, 2004, and 2005. To determine if you meet the substantial presence test for 2005, count the full 120 days of presence in 2005, 40 days in 2004 (⅓ of 120), and 20 days in 2003 (⅙ of 120). Because the total for the 3-year period is 180 days, you are not considered a resident under the substantial presence test for 2005.
The term United States includes the following areas.
All 50 states and the District of Columbia.
The territorial waters of the United States.
The seabed and subsoil of those submarine areas that are adjacent to U.S. territorial waters and over which the United States has exclusive rights under international law to explore and exploit natural resources.
The term does not include U.S. possessions and territories or U.S. airspace.
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Figure 1-A Nonresident Alien or Resident Alien?
Days of Presence in the United States
You are treated as present in the United States on any day you are physically present in the country at any time during the day. However, there are exceptions to this rule. Do not count the following as days of presence in the United States for the substantial presence test.
Days you commute to work in the United States from a residence in Canada or Mexico if you regularly commute from Canada or Mexico.
Days you are in the United States for less than 24 hours when you are in transit between two places outside the United States.
Days you are in the United States as a crew member of a foreign vessel.
Days you are unable to leave the United States because of a medical condition that arose while you are in the United States.
Days you are an exempt individual.
The specific rules that apply to each of these categories are discussed next.
Regular commuters from Canada or Mexico. Do not count the days on which you commute to work in the United States from your residence in Canada or Mexico if you regularly commute from Canada or Mexico. You are considered to commute regularly if you commute to work in the United States on more than 75% of the workdays during your working period.
For this purpose, “commute” means to travel to work and return to your residence within a 24-hour period. “Workdays” are the days on which you work in the United States or Canada or Mexico. “Working period” means the period beginning with the first day in the current year on which you are physically present in the United States to work and ending on the last day in the current year on which you are physically present in the United States to work. If your work requires you to be present in the United States only on a seasonal or cyclical basis, your working period begins on the first day of the season or cycle on which you are present in the United States to work and ends on the last day of the season or cycle on which you are present in the United States to work. You can have more than one working period in a calendar year, and your working period can begin in one calendar year and end in the following calendar year.
Example.
Maria Perez lives in Mexico and works for Compañía ABC in its office in Mexico. She was assigned to her firm's office in the United States from February 1 through June 1. On June 2, she resumed her employment in Mexico. On 69 days, Maria commuted each morning from her home in Mexico to work in Compañía ABC's U.S. office. She returned to her home in Mexico on each of those evenings. On 7 days, she worked in her firm's Mexico office. For purposes of the substantial presence test, Maria does not count the days she commuted to work in the United States because those days equal more than 75% of the workdays during the working period (69 workdays in the United States divided by 76 workdays in the working period equals 90.8%).
