Hi Atlanta tax expert,

Here is my situation. I lived in California from Sep, 2006 to 1,July,2009 with H1 visa. I moved out of states on 30-June-2009 to Canada due to job relocation. For this year's tax return, can I still use 1040A&540 2ez(Which I normally use)? Am I resident or non-resident? Or dual-status?

Thanks!
Tsetseg

Tsetseg:

You have a choice:

1) You can file a dual-status return, filing BOTH Forms 1040 and 1040NR-EZ and paying taxes ONLY on your U.S.-sourced income and claiming NO standard deduction.

OR

2) You can file as a resident alien, filing Form 1040 and paying taxes on ALL world-wide income (U.S and Canadian in your case), and claiming the Foreign Tax Credit (Form 1116) for the Canadian income taxes paid on your Canadian income.

In either case, you will file California Form 540NR and file as a part-year resident.

Also, in either case, you must send a Residency Termination Letter to the IRS center in Austin, Texas to let them know you are terminating your U.S. residency. The required contents of that letter can be found in IRS Pub 519.