Hi all,
I first entered the US on 31 July, 2017 on an F1 visa. I started working on an OPT on July 15, 2019. My H1B was approved in 2019 but I did not make the switch from F1 to H1B until 16th February 2020, when I reentered the country on an H1B visa.
Based on the above dates and my current understanding of the calculations for the Substantial Presence Test (SPT), I can be considered a resident alien for tax purposes. This is based on the following calculations:
- Number of days spent in US in 2020 on H1B visa: These are the number of days from Feb 16th 2020 to November 25th 2020 which end up being 283 days. I was out of the country between January 1 2020 and February 15 2020, and November 26 2020 and December 31 2020.
- Number of days spent in US in 2019 on H1B visa: 0 days.
Therefore, the total number of days spent on H1B according to the rules set out by IRS are 283 days, which is greater than the 183 days threshold and so I qualify as a resident alien for tax purposes. Note that I did not count the days I was on F1. This is my current understanding.
However, this is where the confusion is: I was told by a tax consultant that I am exempt from counting all of the above days towards my SPT because I first entered the US on an F1 visa. According to them, my exempted days would finish after the F1's 5-year exemption period ends. This applies to me for all tax years between 2017-2022 (ignoring the exact dates for now) even if I made the switch from an F1 visa to an H1B visa during that time. Is this really the case? Or should I be using the days on H1B towards the SBT and file as a resident?
