Hello,
My friend's H1-B started on October 1, 2008. Till then he was on OPT. He had full time job for complete 2008. He recently filed taxes for 2008 and got the stimulus payment which he did not qualify for in 2008. Based on what i know he did not pass substatial presence test when he filed 2008 taxes in feb 2008. If he cannot pass the test, he is a non-resident alien for tax purposes right? in that case how did he get stimulus payment? Even the "first years choice" is ruled out? He is not showing his forms which were done at CPA. I cannot afford to pay CPA. I want to help my other friends too. Is there any other trick involved here?
Thanks in advance.
RS

May be your friend filed resident tax return for 2008 and had already spent 5 years of F1.

No, he was on F1 for 2 years and OPT for one year.

If your friend was married to another F-1 student, they may have filed jointly. Since they both had SSNs, they qualified for the RRC.

If he was single, then he simply filed incorrectly. you should tell him that it was incorrect and that he needs to fix it, because it could come back to haunt him should he, at some future point in time, apply for a green card.