I am a citizen of the Peoples’ Republic of China (PRC) and was living and working in Switzerland for 5 years before I came to the United States as a researcher. Can I claim a treaty benefit for my compensation based on the treaty with China?
- Income tax treaty benefits are based on tax residency a specific treaty country.
- Generally, the IRS
presumes that you were a tax resident in your prior country of residence
if you lived there at least 183 days regardless of your country of citizenship. Based on your 5 years in
Switzerland, you were tax resident in Switzerland when you came to the
United States.
- You would not be able to claim the treaty with China but you may be able to claim the treaty with Switzerland.