Thanks for your reply. I recently transferred from to a new institute where they used the Sprintax system which determined that I am a non-resident for tax purposes (this is contrary to my previous institute's GLACIER system which determined that I am a resident). The Sprintax system gives the following explanation which I don't completely understand:
2009 J1 Scholar –Exempt 1st year
2010 J1 Scholar – Exempt 2nd year
Re-entry on F1 visa 2011-2018 ( 5 year lifetime rule applies) => Starting 2011 F1 Status, the individual exempts 5 years 2009,2010 inclusive. (Exempt years: 2009,2010,2011,2012,2013)
Years on until F1 Status expires - 2014,2015,2016,2017 and 2018 are therefore non-exempt years.
Entry 2018 J1 Scholar (non-exempt year, meets the SPT for 2018 and for the previous years which would not affect future residency as TDS performs SPT for each single year).
2019 Entirely J1 Scholar, 2 out of 6 years rule applies (J holder other than a Student has right to exempt 2 out of 6 prior years for the purpose of determining tax residency)
To determine tax residency for 2019 we look at the 6 prior years to 2019 as follows:
Determining 2019 J1 Scholar residency –
Prior year 1: 2018 – non –Exempt year as described above
Prior year 2: 2017 – non – exempt year as described above
Prior year 3: 2016 – non-exempt year as described above
Prior year 4: 2015 – non-exempt year as described above
Prior year 5: 2014 – non-exempt year as described above
Prior year 6: 2013 - exempt 5th year on F1 status
=> 2019 qualifies as 2nd exempt year as in the preceding 6 prior years, only a single year was exempt (2013)
Determining 2020 as follows:
Prior Year 1: 2019 – Exempt year Number 1
Prior Year 2: 2018 – Non-exempt year
Prior Year 3: 2017 – Non-exempt year
Prior Year 4: 2016 – Non-exempt year
Prior Year 5: 2015 – Non-exempt year
Prior Year 6: 2014 – Non-exempt year
=> 2020 is Exempt year Number 2.
In any exempt year, the days are not counted for the SPT and the individual qualifies as a non-resident
