報稅身份辨析

在銀行賬戶申請的細則裡（比如最近大熱的 Discover Checking Account），經常會見到一些詞讓大家一頭霧水，例如 “Under penalties of perjury, I certify that: I am a U.S. citizen or other U.S. person.”。什麼是 U.S. Person？什麼是 Resident Alien？跟 Permanent Resident 有什麼區別？這些詞語在報稅的意義下，都是有嚴格定義的，我們將在此文中按照 IRS (Internal Revenue Service) 給的官方說明向大家儘量解釋清楚這些身份之間的區別與聯絡。注意本文談論的是信用卡/銀行賬戶相關的定義，因此討論的其實是W9/W8表格中的定義，即聯邦稅，州稅的resident定義有所不同，大家在報州稅的時候請不要參考本文。

幾種身份的關係示意圖

1. U.S. Citizen（美國公民）

這個我想不太需要解釋，自己是否是美國公民大家應該都很清楚。需要強調的一點是，如果你並非美國公民，而在辦信用卡/銀行賬戶的時候勾選上了我是美國公民的選項，是嚴重的謊報身份，可能會影響到綠卡的申請，大家一定要謹慎。

2. Lawful Permanent Resident (Green Card Holder) （綠卡持有者）

這幾個詞都是綠卡的意思，自己是否持有綠卡我想大家也都很清楚。

3. Alien

只要不是 U.S. Citizen，你就是 Alien。Alien 分為兩種：Resident Alien 和 Non-resident Alien。

4. Resident Alien

若你是綠卡持有者，或者滿足以下條件（substantial presence test），你就是 Resident Alien：

31 days during the current year, and

183 days during the 3-year period that includes the current year and the 2 years immediately before that, counting:

All the days you were present in the current year, and

1/3 of the days you were present in the first year before the current year, and

1/6 of the days you were present in the second year before the current year.

重要的是上述判據要排除掉一些情況：

Definition of Exempt Individual

Foreign Government Related Individual

Employee of Foreign Government

Employee of International Organization

Usually on A or G visa;

Teacher, Professor, Trainee, Researcher on J or Q visa;

Does NOT include students on J or Q visas;

Does include any alien on a J or Q visa who is not a student (physicians, au pairs, summer camp workers, etc.);

must wait 2 years before counting 183 days; however if the J or Q alien has been present in the U.S. during any part of 2 of the prior 6 calendar years in F, J, M, or Q status, then he is not an exempt individual for the current year, and he must count days in the current year toward the substantial presence test;

Quality of being an Exempt Individual applies also to spouse and child on J-2 or Q-3 visa;

Student on F, J, M or Q visa;

must wait 5 calendar years before counting 183 days;

the 5 calendar years need not be consecutive; and once a cumulative total of 5 calendar years is reached during the student’s lifetime after 1984 he may never be an exempt individual as a student ever again during his lifetime;

Quality of being an Exempt Individual applies also to spouse and child on F-2, J-2, M-2, or Q-3 visa;

Professional athlete temporarily present in United States to compete in a CHARITABLE sports event.