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I was on F1 visa in the US during 2007-2015. After living in the US for 5 years, I filed income taxes as a resident alien for tax purposes for the years 2013, 2014 and 2015. Then I moved out of the US to work in a different country during 2016-2017. After two years, I will now be coming back to the US on J1 visa in March 2018.

Would my status be a resident alien for tax purposes when I am to file taxes in 2019? I am an Indian citizen. I have searched IRS pages for this but I am not sure if I still have correct answers.

-RD

Chris W. Rea
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r2d2
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1 Answers1

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As you are a J1 in anything that is not a student, you are considered a "teacher or trainee". As a "teacher or trainee", you are exempt from the Substantial Presence Test for a given year unless you have been an exempt individual as a teacher, trainee, or student for any part of 2 of the previous 6 calendar years. For tax year 2018, the previous 6 calendar years were 2012-2017; during those 6 years, you were not an exempt individual for any part of any of the years (you shouldn't have been an exempt individual for 2012 since you had already been a student for some part of 5 years). Therefore, you are an exempt individual for all your time on J1 in 2018, and thus you will be a nonresident alien for 2018 (as well as 2019 if you continue on J1).

user102008
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