Hi
I was staying in India until October 2011 and moved to US on H1-B on October 31. I also spent 4 months in US in early 2011 and another 3 months in 2010, but was not drawing a US salary.
Can someone please advise on how I should file my tax returns - do I file the returns as a resident, non resident or dual status residents. What happens to the tax I have already paid in India?

Thanks for any help.

If you are married, you can file EITHER as a non-resident alien OR jointly with your spouse, with you BOTH choosing to be treated as resident aliens for ALL of 2011 and paying taxes on ALL world-wide income. If you file as residents, you must wait until some time in June in order to meet the Substantial Presence Test.

Your overall financial situation would dictate which way is best, so the return has to be modeled BOTH ways.

If you are single, you can file either as a non-resident alien or as a dual-status alien (with the waiting requirement noted above). However, there is virtually NO tax advantage to filing a dual-status return, so it is probably best to file as a non-resident alien.

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I'm single but would I not meet the 183 day criteria for being a resident?

You are RIGHT on the edge for meeting SPT, but if you do, then it only mandates that you to file dual-status WITHOUT having to wait.

In order to file as a resident in the first year, you MUST be in the United States EVERY day of the year in a resident status. If you miss even ONE day, then a dual-status return is mandated.