US Tax Return for Newcomers: Your First-Year Filing Guide

Your first US tax return for newcomers is the one where residency rules, foreign income and treaty questions all meet at once. Whether you landed in Aurora on an H-1B from Pune, crossed over from Toronto on a TN visa, started an F-1 program or received a green card, the sequence is the same: decide your tax status for the year, pick the right form, report the right income, and add the foreign-asset disclosures most newcomers overlook.

Who has to file in the first year?

The IRS starts from a simple default: a non-citizen is a nonresident alien unless the green card test or the substantial presence test is met. The filing duty then depends on the group you land in.

• Resident aliens file Form 1040 once gross income reaches the filing threshold. For 2025 that threshold was $15,750 for a single filer and $31,500 for married filing jointly (under age 65).
• Nonresident aliens engaged in a US trade or business must file Form 1040-NR, and that includes anyone who performed services as an employee in the United States. You file even if a treaty exempts the income.
• Nonresidents with US income not fully taxed by withholding must file.
• Anyone owed a refund of over-withheld tax should file.

Some people can skip the return. An F, J, M or Q student, teacher or trainee with no taxable income does not file Form 1040-NR but still sends Form 8843. A single student from India under Article 21(2) of the US-India treaty with gross income of $15,750 or less for 2025 also qualifies. The old rule excusing small wages for other nonresidents is gone.

How to file your US tax return for newcomers, step by step

1. Count your US days in 2025, 2024 and 2023, leaving out "exempt individual" days such as student days on F or J visas. The test is 31 days this year and a weighted 183 days over three years.
2. Pick your category. Use the table below.
3. Get a taxpayer ID. If you can work in the United States you apply for a Social Security number. If you cannot, and you still must file, you apply for an ITIN with Form W-7. See our SSN and ITIN guide.
4. Collect and convert income. Gather W-2s, 1042-S and 1099 forms, plus Indian and Canadian statements such as Form 16, bank interest certificates, T4 and T5 slips. Convert amounts to US dollars using a consistent, documented rate.
5. Choose deductions. Residents take the standard deduction ($15,750 single, $31,500 joint for 2025) or itemize. Dual-status and nonresident filers cannot, apart from a narrow exception for qualifying Indian students and apprentices.
6. Add credits and disclosures. Claim the foreign tax credit on Form 1116 where it applies, answer the foreign account questions on Schedule B Part III, and attach Form 8938 if you meet the threshold.
7. File. Resident returns can be e-filed. For 2025, dual-status returns could not be e-filed and had to be mailed.
8. Pay and keep records. Pay by the original due date even if you extend, and keep foreign statements for at least five years.

Documents and information you need

• Passport, visa, I-94 record, I-20 or DS-2019, EAD or green card
• A day-by-day travel log for the last three years
• W-2, 1042-S, 1099 forms and any 1098-T for tuition
• Indian Form 16, bank interest certificates and capital gains statements; Canadian T4, T5 and T3 slips and RRSP or TFSA statements
• The highest balance during the year for every foreign account, in local currency

Deadlines and penalties

For 2026 returns the same dates fall in April and June 2027. Per IRS Publication 519, for 2025 returns failure to file is generally 5% of unpaid tax per month up to 25%; a return more than 60 days late carries a minimum penalty of the smaller of $525 or 100% of the tax; failure to pay is 0.5% a month up to 25%; a missing required taxpayer ID can cost $50 per failure. A nonresident can also lose deductions and credits unless the return is filed within 16 months of the due date.

Country and local notes

Illinois has its own return, Form IL-1040, with part-year rules for people who move to or from the state. See the Illinois income tax guide.

Worked example: Ananya, H-1B, Pune to Aurora

Ananya arrives on April 6, 2025, and stays all year. She counts 270 days in 2025 (April 6 through December 31), so she meets the substantial presence test. Her residency starting date is April 6, 2025.

• She is a nonresident January 1 to April 5 and a resident April 6 to December 31, so 2025 is a dual-status year.
• She is a resident on December 31, so she files Form 1040, writes "Dual-Status Return" at the top and attaches a Form 1040-NR statement for the nonresident part.
• Her Indian salary paid before April 6 is foreign-source income received as a nonresident, so it is not US taxable. Her $84,000 of Aurora wages and $1,200 of Indian bank interest received after April 6 are taxable.
• She cannot take the standard deduction in a dual-status year, so she itemizes. She files on paper.
• She answers the foreign account question on Schedule B and files an FBAR if her Indian accounts together topped $10,000 at any time in 2025.

Mistakes to avoid

• Assuming a work visa makes you a lifelong nonresident. H-1B and L-1 time counts toward the 183-day formula.
• Filing Form 1040-NR when you were actually a resident, or the reverse. Fix it with Form 1040-X.
• Forgetting Form 8843 as a student or scholar.
• Applying for an ITIN when you qualify for an SSN. A nonresident with a US work visa qualifies for an SSN.
• Missing Indian accounts on the FBAR because they earn little.

How we can help

Our firm in the Aurora and Fox Valley area prepares the US side of first-year returns for newcomers from India and Canada, including dual-status returns, treaty statements and foreign account reporting. We coordinate with your Canadian CPA or Indian CA so your three filings agree. See our individual returns for newcomers and NRIs, relocation and immigration tax planning and foreign account and asset reporting services. We do not give legal or immigration advice.

Frequently asked questions

General information only. It is not tax, legal, accounting or immigration advice for your situation, and rules change; confirm the current rules with the official source or a licensed professional in the relevant country.