I worked in Boston, Massachusetts for first half of year 2008 as H1B VISA employee. For the rest of year 2008, I was a full time student on F1 VISA in Syracuse, New York.

Thus I have two W2 forms - one from my previous employer, and one from Syracuse University (student employee).

I am in USA since November 2006, so I filed as a resident in Massachusetts in 2007 after I completed certain days of USA residence. Similarly, now when I will file for H1-B (which was in MA) I will have to file as a resident. But for the time I have been in NY, I have always been a student on F1.

How do I file taxes? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

You will report your H1-B income to MA and your F1 income to NY. For both the states you are part year resident.
Read: Your U.S. Tax Return: Working or Living in Two or More states

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Originally Posted by MukatA

You will report your H1-B income to MA and your F1 income to NY. For both the states you are part year resident.
Read: Your U.S. Tax Return: Working or Living in Two or More states

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MukatA, thanks a lot for your quick response. That is helpful indeed. But being a novice at this, I may need some more details. How should I go about Federal returns? I understand that I may have to file a part year MA resident for 2008 for H1B, and part year NY resident for F1 VISA. Is your answer in regards to state returns only?

Thanks again, you were really a great help.

About federal return, when did you start on H1-B? Are you married?

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Originally Posted by MukatA

About federal return, when did you start on H1-B? Are you married?

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I am single, and I came to USA in November 2006. Then I went back to my home country in March 2008 for one month and I came back to Massachusetts. All this was on H1B VISA.

My F1 started on 1st July 2008. As you might have guessed. I changed from H1 to F1 within USA (by filing change of status).

You will file resident tax return.

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Originally Posted by MukatA

You will file resident tax return.

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So for federal returns, I can just use the software my school gives me? And, for state, should I have to file part-year resident for MA and part-year for NY?

Thanks again a lot!

I have figured out almost everything. Thanks to MukatA's valuable answers. Just a couple of more questions before I can share this information for future users with similar situation

a) All the time I was in MA, I was on H1-B (started in November 2006)

b) All the time I was in NY, I was on F1 (started in August 2008)

For Federal Tax Purpose, I am a "RESIDENT ALIEN" and thus only need to file FORM 1040EZ (single). I do NOT have to file FORM 8843 because I pass the substantial presence test for Federal purpose.

For MA State Tax Purpose, I am a "PART YEAR RESIDENT ALIEN" because I lived in MA until August 2008 before I moved out. I file "Form 1-NR/PY Mass. Nonresident/Part-Year Resident Tax Return"



Now, my question is, for NY State Tax Purpose, should I file as "PART YEAR RESIDENT ALIEN" or "NONRESIDENT ALIEN"? The instructions say that in nearly all cases, your Federal status is going to be your State status. But I don't qualify for NY State residency test (presence test). How do I go about this?

All right, so I figured the whole thing out and got all my refunds today. I am sharing it for future users.

1) When you move from one state to another during the same year, you automatically become the part-year resident for both the states. So I filed Part Year resident for Massachusetts and part year resident for New York.

2) When you go from H1-B to F1, you can file electronically, and the five year presence treaty benefit rule does not apply to you. What applies to you at the federal level is the substantial presence test. So for 2008, I obviously was a resident at Federal Level. I am single, so I filed 1040A. The reason I did not file 1040EZ is that I can take tuition credits (I paid for my tuition on my own to accredited USA graduate school). You can take tuition credits at federal level only through form 1040A. You will need form 1098-T in order to file for tuition credits. Your college gives you that form.

3) I filed both state and federal taxes through taxact dot com.

That's exactly what MukatA had told me in the first two answers. You can ignore my last two responses because I was figuring it out and could have given you irrelevant things.

I would have told you to file as a dual-status alien for 2008, but an argument could be made that you were a resident alien for 2008.

However, for 2009, you are a non-resident alien at best and a dual-status alien at worst (if you switch back to H-1B).