Your first U.S. tax year begins with a residency analysis. An arrival date, visa, U.S. address, or domestic bank account alone does not identify every filing obligation. Before preparing returns, establish the relevant tax status and starting date, then review income, family transfers, and foreign assets.
Colorado Legal helps individuals moving to the United States coordinate these questions. Philip M. Falco, Attorney & CPA, can evaluate the legal and accounting issues together as part of the firm’s International Tax practice.
Schedule a $500 Tax Attorney Consultation. The consultation includes up to one hour of total attorney time for document review, analysis, preparation, and the telephone consultation combined. Return preparation, filings, and ongoing representation require a separate written engagement.
Determine Which Residency Test Applies
Green Card Test
A lawful permanent resident generally meets the green card test. The immigration document and the dates of physical presence matter. A pending application is a different fact from an approved permanent-resident status. See the IRS green card test guidance.
Substantial Presence Test
The usual test requires at least 31 days of U.S. presence in the current year and a weighted total of at least 183 days across three years: all current-year days, one-third of the preceding year’s days, and one-sixth of the second preceding year’s days. Certain days are excluded. See the IRS substantial presence test.
A travel log is useful even if you moved permanently only recently. Prior business trips, holidays, and visits to family can affect the calculation. Some visa categories require an exempt-day analysis; “exempt” in this context does not mean all income is exempt from tax.
Passing a Test and Finding the Starting Date Are Separate Steps
For substantial presence, the residency starting date is generally the first day of U.S. presence in the year the test is met, subject to applicable exceptions. For someone meeting only the green card test, it generally is the first day present in the United States as a lawful permanent resident. The earlier applicable date generally governs when both tests are met. The IRS starting-date guidance also addresses prior-year residency and first-year choices.
Prepare a timeline before classifying the year’s transactions. Put immigration events, travel, changes in account ownership, gift receipt dates, and income payments on that timeline. A wire’s posting date may provide useful evidence, but it does not necessarily identify when ownership originally changed.
Dual-Status Years, Elections, and Treaty Positions
A person can be a resident for one part of the year and a nonresident for another. Resident-period and nonresident-period income can receive different treatment; worldwide income generally matters during the resident period. See the IRS dual-status guidance.
A first-year choice and a married couple’s election to treat a nonresident spouse as a resident are different provisions. An election can change the income-tax return analysis, and its effect on each information-reporting regime must be checked separately. Do not assume that an election or treaty position has identical consequences for Form 3520, Form 8938, and FBAR. The IRS nonresident-spouse guidance explains the joint-return choice; Publication 519 provides broader residency guidance.
Build the Filing Review Around What You Received and Kept
Income and the Income-Tax Return
Gather wages, self-employment income, interest, investment activity, rental receipts, and other income from both countries. A foreign account can generate income even when no money is wired to the United States. Nonresidents can also have U.S. filing obligations; see the IRS nonresident-alien guidance.
Family Money and Foreign Gifts
Identify whether money was a new gift, a loan, a reimbursement, or property you already owned. Review the actual source and the timing against your tax status. Our arrival-year foreign gift article explains the timing questions. The Form 3520 guide covers the form’s reporting rules.
Foreign Accounts and Investments
List accounts and investments retained abroad, including jointly held accounts and accounts over which you have authority. Review FBAR and Form 8938 separately. A bank transfer is only one event in the year; an account closed after the move may still need review.
Foreign investment funds, businesses, and trusts can introduce additional reporting. Bring their documents even if your immediate question concerns only cash. The relevant account balances, ownership percentages, and governing documents often sit outside the U.S. receiving-bank records.
What to Gather Before a First-Year Consultation
- Immigration status documents and permanent-resident dates, where applicable.
- U.S. travel dates for the year under review and the two preceding years.
- Prior returns, filing elections, extension confirmations, and IRS correspondence.
- Income records and complete account statements, including closed accounts.
- A transfer list identifying source owner, purpose, currency, and receipt date.
- Gift, loan, marital-property, business, and trust documents relevant to ownership.
Mark missing records and uncertain dates rather than filling gaps with estimates presented as facts. Keep a separate list of imminent deadlines. Sensitive records should be uploaded through the firm’s designated secure process.
How Colorado Legal Can Help
The consultation can identify the facts needed to determine status, organize the filing questions, and assess whether current compliance or prior-year correction work is needed. A subsequent engagement can define the years, forms, preparation work, and responsibility for deadlines.
For specific transfer questions, read money from a foreign spouse, gifts sent through relatives, and China-to-U.S. transfer documentation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does fewer than 183 days in the current year settle residency?
No. Earlier-year days, permanent-resident status, excluded days, and applicable choices must be reviewed.
Does opening a U.S. bank account make me a resident?
The account does not replace the residency tests. Keep the bank records as transaction evidence and review status separately.
Should I gather documents before choosing how to file?
Yes. A reliable travel and ownership timeline makes it easier to compare filing positions and identify related reports.
Can this consultation include filing every form?
Preparation and filing require a separate engagement defining the work and deadlines.
Discuss your first U.S. tax year with an attorney and CPA.
General information, updated October 9, 2026. Requirements depend on the applicable year, residency rules, transactions, and filing history.