What about the first-year choice?
Dear Atlanta Tax Expert,
I saw in other threads that you write that one cannot claim residency status if the H1B started after the 3rd of July. But what about the first-year choice (see publication 519)? It says that one can file for extension and wait until the substantial presence test is meet in 2005 to file the 2004 tax as a resident.
Therefore, one does not need to spend 183 days in the US in 2004 to file as a resident, if the test will be met in 2005.
Please advise.