I was only in the US for 50 days in 2021 but had income from interest and tax from stock trading and crypto trading. Do i need to file tax return for 2021?

[DoninGA]

No. You report the income from the trades and interest on your home country tax return.

[gdua24]

Thanks, the only reason i want to be sure is that my trading account was in the US. I was trading in the accounts while i was physically not in the US. I have 1099- INT, 1099- DIV and 1099 crypto. Should i not report these and file the federal tax?

[DoninGA]

If your were in the US for only 50 days there should be no reason why you would be required to file a nonresident tax return Form 1040NR.

However, I will page one of our tax experts who may be of assistance.

@pk

[pk]

@gdua24  while generally agreeing with @DoninGA  ( based on your original post ), subsequent clarifications  by you suggest that 

(a) you were in the USA earlier  ( when to when ? what visa ? )

(b) you had  ( or have ) valid SSN -- when did you leave the country

(c) Should we assume that you are not a US person ( not a citizen / Green Card/ expired work-visa ) ?

If you are not a US citizen, which country are you a citizen of ( or a resident of )? 

The fact that you have 1099-INT / DIV etc. suggests that these accounts were  set up  ( by you ? ) while you were present in USA  ( was this during these 50 days that you were here  or what ?). 

We need to establish whether you are a  US resident or a Non-Resident.  If a No-Resident  Alien  then US sourced / connected income ( only ) will be taxed by the IRS at a flat 30% rate ( unless impacted by tax treaty -- hence we need info on your current residency and citizenship info.

Please provide answers and I will circle back

pk

[gdua24]

Hi, Thank you again for your help in this regard:

a) i was in USA till May 2019, I filed my 1040NR for 2019. I left USA for UK in June 2019 and returned back  in Nov 2021. I do hold  valid SSN. Although i was in UK from June 2019 to Nov 2021, i am a citizen of India (not a green card or US citizen) and paid all my  taxes on wages earned in UK during that time period

b)The 1099 INT/DIV etc were issued as i was actively holding all my bank and trading accounts in the US while i was in UK  and these accounts were set up  while i was in USA

so on short:

> Approx 150 days in US in 2019 (Jan-May)

> 0 days in USA in 2020

> 50 days in USA in 2021 (Mid Nov and Dec). Only income from 1099 INT/Div. No Income from wages (no W2)

> Paid all my due taxes from wages while i was in UK in 2021

Approx 

[pk]

@gdua24  thank you for your response

1. " i was in USA till May 2019, I filed my 1040NR for 2019. I left USA for UK in June 2019 and returned back  in Nov 2021. I do hold  valid SSN. Although i was in UK from June 2019 to Nov 2021, i am a citizen of India (not a green card or US citizen) and paid all my  taxes on wages earned in UK during that time period"

Were you in the USA earlier  or  were you here in the USA only for the period Jan through May in 2019 with NO earlier presence ( for any reason)?  Was this presence with H-1B visa or what?  Can you provide the exact dates?  If there were earlier presences  then please can you provide some details.

Why were you here in the USA during 2021 ? was this with a work visa or was sent  here to the USA by your employer in the UK  ( i.e. with NIL work visa )? or what?

Please  bear with me -- I am just trying to understand the whole situation -- please 

Namaste ji

pk

[gdua24]

Hi PK, thank you for your help on this

I was here in the US from 2013 to May 2019  on H1B visa- before i went to UK for an International assignement. i was not getting any wages during this period in the US and was getting paid. in UK where i paid all the taxes as well

I returned back to the US  in Nov 2021 after my assignment got over in UK and this time i came on L2 dependent visa. I did not work in US in Nov/Dec 21 and hence did not have any W2. My only income in 2021 was from 1099 INT/DIV/Crypto (as all my bank and trading accounts were active in the US while i was on International assignment in UK

I wont be sure that i need to file taxes as i want to keep everything transparent

Regards

[pk]

@gdua24 , now I understand:

(A) you were a Resident for Tax purposes when you left mid year , 2019  ( H-1B visa). 

(B) so for 2019 you filed a dual status ( ? )  resident for Jan through  May and Non-Resident for the rest of the year;

(C)  no presence for year 2020 and hence only a 1040-NR filing covering US sourced earnings  -- the flat 30% -- Non-Resident Alien  with NO presence 

(D) you re-entered US in Nov 2021 and there fore are a Non-Resident for the year 2021    ( 50 days in 2021 plus 0 days in 2020 and  25  days in 2019 -- 1/6th. of actual days present ).  This will mean you file as a Non-Resident for the year 2021 -- being taxed only on US sourced/connected income.

(E) you can also , if you want to because it may be tax advantageous  ( dependent -L2 implies that your spouse  is L1 and joint filing may be useful ),  request to be treated as a resident for the tax year ----  1. you were not a resident in 2020, 2. using the  test period of Nov 16th ( the first full day after the day you entered US ), you meet both at least 31 days present and 75% of the days in the test  period  and 3. you will be resident for tax purposes in 2022. 

Does this help ?

Is there more I can do for you ?

pk