Question

As a student overseas in a non-degree program, am I considered a resident of Michigan only for the six months I was here, or for all 12 months in 2018?

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
June 1, 2019
1 reply
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I spent 6 months in Taiwan studying Mandarin at a university language school in 2018. I already have a degree, so it is a non-degree program, not affiliated with any school in the US. My visa was through my school but it was a visitor visa that I had to renew every 3 months, and I knew I would be coming back to Michigan in the summer of 2018.

I did not earn any income while I was overseas. I spent most of 2017 in Taiwan, too, but I was on a different visa since I had a scholarship at the time. After my scholarship ended, I came back to the US for a few months and decided to do a few more terms, then come back to Michigan longer term to work and decide what my next steps would be.

I'm not sure what my residency status on my taxes should be, and it seems like it will make a difference in the tax credit, so I don't want to do it incorrectly. Please let me know if you need any more information to answer my question.

Thanks so much for your assistance!

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DanielV01

Employee

For state filing, you are a full-year Michigan resident. Being a student is considered a temporary absence, and your visa status is good confirmation of this. Michigan also has a similar standard in their residency statutes.

However, if you are claiming any credits based on you being physically in the United States for more than six months, you will need to take into account the time you were away to see if you still qualify for any of those credits.

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