F1 Suspension

[yuhis911]

Hi,

I wanted to ask if I am a resident for tax purposes in 2023.

I was issued an F1 visa in 2018 through 2023, but I went back due to COVID during 2020.

That meant I was not attending school at all at that time, and my I-20 was terminated.

I came back in January of 2022 with a new I-20.

Would I count 2021 as one of the years for an exempt individual for SPT? I haven't stepped on soil in 2021.

Let me know if there is any COVID exemptions in determining SPT exemption as well.

[Anonymous_]

@pk

[pk]

@yuhis911 , very generally, once your five calendar year of exempt status starts , it continues to the original five years span, unless  your status is adjusted to a different one.  With new I-20 / F-1 your old clock still runs and as far as I know ( I will take the time research the statutes a little bit more  ) .  Thus your Exempt status ( from counting days  present in the USA towards satisfying SPT ) is valid from 01/01/2018 through 12/31/2022.   From Jan 1, 2023 you start counting days present  ( for any purpose ) towards SPT.  This means for 2022 you still file a form 1040-NR but for 2023 you file a form 1040 --- you would be resident for tax purposes -- and be taxed on your world income.   For most students , it  does not change anything  ( unless there are treaty conditions to be asserted ).  Therefor , please tell me which country were you a resident ( and currently citizen of ) of just prior to entering USA.

I will circle back once I hear from you more on your situation -- facts and circumstances do matter 

pk

[yuhis911]

@pk Thanks for the response. Whether it was online (back in the times where things were necessary), or in-person, if you were at school I could consider it as a calendar year towards my status. I think everybody agrees on that. The issue is that I wasn't attending school from Fall 2020 and came back on Spring 2022, which means my I-20 status was out during that time. The validity of the F-1 was still in force though (although technically it can't be valid without a valid I-20). From my understanding it would all go down to how you define "calendar years" determined by the IRS, but let me know your thoughts.

[pk]

@yuhis911 , I hear your logic, except  for the fact that I-20 is issued by the CIS under its laws,  your exemption  from counting days is based on IRS rules and statutes.  Since  very often students are here for five calendar  years and I-20 mostly is valid for that length unless  contravening circumstances  occur  ( abandoned / cancelled  etc. ).  Therefore IRS allows exemption for F-1 for a lifetime amount of FIVE Calendar years from when originally issued.   One could make an argument that  the school closed  and/or prevented the student from studying, then  the unused portion ( calendar years  counting the  period absent through no fault of the student) but from   your post you voluntarily left the country  ( you felt it necessary )  and so  I would think that  your five year started from the calendar you entered and will  have finished five calendar years from then.

Why are you , a student so concerned about exempt status ---- it has nothing to do with your exemption from FICA as long as you are a student / trainee  ( FICA exception ).

A calendar year is defined as  01/01/XX to 12/31/XX

Does that help?

Do you need refs to actual statutes ?

pk

[yuhis911]

@pk Sounds good, I think I got the point.

I was just wondering because I had a very rare scenario of suspending school due to COVID (and not attending school for more than one overlapping year), and yes 2023 was the break-even point of that five year exemption from SPT.

It is quite straightforward prior to 2022 and beyond 2024, and I wanted to clarify what the issue was in 2023.

Thanks for helping out, and I hope there won't be anything happening that is similar to what happened in 2020.