Start from your situation
New to the United States
Arriving to work, study or join family? Your first US tax year has rules most people born there never face.
1. Your tax status isn't your visa
The tax code has its own test for who is a resident: a green card, or a day count (31 days this year and a weighted 183 over three years). See § 7701(b). Students and some researchers don't count their days for the first years. Many workers on visas become tax residents in their first year.
2. Residents are taxed on worldwide income
Once you're a resident, the US taxes your income from everywhere, including salary, rent or interest from your home country (§ 61). Tax paid abroad can usually be credited (§ 901), and a tax treaty may change the result.
3. Your first year may be "dual-status"
If you arrived mid-year, you may be a nonresident for part of the year and a resident for the rest. The return is more complex. There are elections that let some people be treated as residents for the whole year (§ 6013(g) for married couples, and the first-year election in § 7701(b)(4)).
4. Get the right ID number
- Social Security number (SSN): if you're authorized to work. It's needed for the child tax credit, the EITC, and the new tips and overtime deductions.
- ITIN: an IRS number, applied for with Form W-7, for people who must file but can't get an SSN. It lets you file and pay, but it doesn't unlock the credits above.
5. Report foreign accounts
Residents with foreign bank and investment accounts often have extra information filings. These aren't taxes, but the penalties for missing them are severe:
- FBAR (FinCEN Form 114): if your foreign accounts added together exceeded $10,000 at any time in the year. This rule sits in the banking law, Title 31, not the tax code.
- Form 8938: if your foreign financial assets exceed the thresholds in § 6038D, starting at $50,000.