Tax residency country of someone who moved to USA recently from non-citizenship country

yoya

Hi

I am a citizen of India.

I had been living in Israel for the last two years (+two months) on A/2 visa. I get a postdoctoral fellowship in Israel which is completely tax-exempt and I do not have any tax identification number in Israel. I do not file any tax return in Israel.

I am considered a non-resident for tax purposes in India. I pay taxes in India for any income originating in India (e.g. interests, stock market profits etc.). I file my tax return as a non-resident citizen in India every year.

I have recently come to Illinois, USA for a three months visiting position (J-1, Short-term Scholar). I will be paid here a living stipend while I am also getting my fellowship in Isarel.

I need to declare my country of tax residency prior to coming here (for assessing tax treaty benefits) to my institute here.

I would appreciate any help regarding this.
What do you think my country of tax residency is, as per USA/IRS rules?

kiarab

Hello Yoya,

You will need to figure out if you are a resident alien (They file a 1040) or a non-resident alien (they file a 1040-NR).

To be considered a resident alien, you need to pass either the Substantial Presence test or the Green Card test. I'm going to include a link that goes over the test. It gets fairly specific, so I cannot say based on your situation what I think applies to you.

https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc851

We only support the 1040 form for US citizens and US resident aliens. So if you need to file a 1040-NR, you will need prepare your return elsewhere. You may also want to find someone who deals specifically in foreign situations like yourself.