Taxes for F1 to EAD/AP

[chmstr]

Hi,

I used to be on F1 OPT. Then in August 2017 I entered the US using my AP/EAD card from my green card application (Employment based).

I know that by doing this I am no longer FICA exempt.

My question now is: Does that make me a resident for tax purposes from August - December 2017?

I actually went to a company for them to handle the taxes for me, but unfortunately they don't seem to know what to do with this situation.

Thank you.

[newacct]

Hi,

I used to be on F1 OPT. Then in August 2017 I entered the US using my AP/EAD card from my green card application (Employment based).

I know that by doing this I am no longer FICA exempt.

My question now is: Does that make me a resident for tax purposes from August - December 2017?

I actually went to a company for them to handle the taxes for me, but unfortunately they don't seem to know what to do with this situation.

Thank you.

No. Assuming this is still within your first 5 calendar years of F1 (i.e. you entered in 2013 or later), your days of presence that counts toward the Substantial Presence Test are not enough to meet the Substantial Presence Test for 2017. So you are a nonresident alien for all of 2017.

There is a way you could become a dual-status alien (resident from August) if you want -- you could use First-Year Choice, but this is a really complicated process (you would have to wait until you meet the Substantial Presence Test for 2018 before you can do it, so you would probably have to file for an extension for your 2017 taxes), and being dual-status generally doesn't provide much benefits over being nonresident anyway, if you are single. (If you are married, it's possible to make both of you resident for the whole year if you want.)