My favorite programming language sustains a maxim: easy things should be easy, and hard things should be possible. In that spirit, I'm trying to get clear on nonresident alien taxation in the U.S., at least at the "easy" level.
Suppose foreign citizen, single with no dependents, makes clean break: first 2/3rds of tax year, reside in and income in foreign country only; last 1/3rd of year, live and work in U.S. on H-type visa with no foreign income. No special treaty provisions apply. No application for residency during the tax year, everything simple as can be. W-2 is very straight-forward, wouldn't even know it was for a nonresident by looking at it.
1) Is 1040NR required, or can an election be made for a dual status tax year by filing 1040 with a statement regarding 1040NR (statement details to be determined)? In the following year (year after the tax year in question), permanent residency application may or may not be made.2) Is the tax result all the same either way under (1), or is it correct that a nonresident alien can only itemize deductions, no standard deduction available? IOW, by filing as a resident, a full standard deduction would apply, whereas otherwise it would not?
3) While it is clear that only U.S. source income is taxable in this case, is the tax rate determined solely by such income, or does the method apply where you combine all income, even if not locally taxed, to determine the tax rate? The calculations on the form indicate the former.-Mark Bole