Budhwani v. Commissioner

70 T.C. 287, 1978 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 118
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedMay 22, 1978
DocketDocket No. 9722-76
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 70 T.C. 287 (Budhwani v. Commissioner) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Tax Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Budhwani v. Commissioner, 70 T.C. 287, 1978 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 118 (tax 1978).

Opinion

Wilbur, Judge:

Respondent determined a deficiency of $1,524.06 in petitioner’s Federal income tax for the calendar year 1974. The sole issue for decision is whether $5,000 of income earned by petitioner in the United States during 1974 is exempt from United States tax under the provisions of the income tax treaty between the United States and Pakistan.

FINDINGS OF FACT

Some of the facts have been stipulated and are found accordingly.

Petitioner maintained his legal residence in Glendale Heights, Ill., at the time he filed the petition in this case. He timely filed his Federal individual income tax return for calendar year 1974, Form 1040 NR: U.S. Nonresident Alien Income Tax Return, with the appropriate Internal Revenue Service Center.

Petitioner is a citizen of Pakistan who arrived in the United States from Pakistan on January 5,1973. Upon his arrival, and until he established his own place of residence, petitioner temporarily stayed with a friend who lived in Chicago. Petitioner’s entry in 1973 was pursuant to an application that he filed with the United States in 1972, on which he stated his reason for coming to this country was to be a student.

Petitioner was granted an entry visa status of “F-l” upon arrival in 1973. A person granted admittance to the United States as a nonimmigrant student under an “F-l” visa is admitted solely for the purpose of pursuing a full course of study at an approved school. Accordingly, it is not anticipated that the student will work off-campus either for wages or for board and lodging. Permission for the student to accept part-time employment may be granted, upon proper application, but only where the student can show that such employment is necessary to maintain himself as a student and that the necessity is due to unforeseen circumstances arising after acquisition of student status. Where employment is permitted, it may not be allowed to interfere with the student’s ability to pursue a full coürse of study, and in no event may such employment exceed 20 hours per week while school is in session.1

Prior to his arrival in the United States, petitioner had received a 2-year degree in Pakistan with a concentration in mechanical technology. Beginning with the 1973 spring semester, petitioner was enrolled as a foreign student in the mechanical engineering program at the Central YMCA Community College in Chicago, Ill. He was considered by the Community College to be enrolled “full time” as a student there during the spring and fall semesters in 1973, and during the summer and fall semesters in 1974. During these 4 semesters, petitioner enrolled in a total of 42 semester credit hours, and successfully completed 27 credit hours. He was not an enrolled student in the Community College program for the spring 1974 semester, nor was he a student at any time during 1975 or 1976. While a student at the Community College, petitioner paid the tuition rates normally paid by students nonresident in Illinois, and made no attempt to qualify for the lower Illinois resident tuition charge because of the school’s knowledge of his entry into the country pursuant to an “F-l” visa.

In June of 1973 petitioner began employment with the Continental Machine Co. (Continental) in Elk Grove Village, Ill. He was employed full time (8 hours a day) by Continental, working the day shift and scheduling classes for the evenings. This employment at Continental was generally related to petitioner’s major area of academic study. Petitioner continued his full-time employment at Continental during the years 1974 and 1975, with the exception of a 2y2 month layoff and 1 week of employment at another company during 1975. The petitioner was in Pakistan from January through May of 1976. He resumed employment at Continental in June 1976, and worked full time there through the end of the year. For the years 1973 and 1974, petitioner paid no income tax to Pakistan on the salary he earned while in the United States.

Petitioner applied for permanent residency status in the United States in March of 1975. Such application was motivated, at least in part, by adverse financial circumstances bankrupting the family business in Pakistan. Before applying for permanent residence, petitioner had planned to return to Pakistan after completion of his studies in this country. Petitioner was granted permanent residence status by the United States on November 26,1975.

On his Federal income tax return for 1974 petitioner claimed an exclusion from gross income in the amount of $5,000. The exclusion claimed was based on provisions of the income tax treaty between the United States and Pakistan relating to the income of Pakistani residents in this country solely as students. Respondent determined that petitioner is not entitled to exclude any amount received as wages in 1974 from gross income.

OPINION

The sole issue for decision is whether $5,000 earned in 1974 by petitioner, a citizen of Pakistan living in the United States, is exempt from U.S. tax under the provisions of the income tax treaty between the United States and Pakistan. To qualify for the treaty exclusion, petitioner must prove: (1) That he was a resident of Pakistan for treaty purposes; and (2) that he was temporarily present in the United States solely as a student during the taxable year 1974.2 Respondent contends that the petitioner failed to meet either of the prerequisites for the exclusion under the treaty. We agree with respondent.

I. Petitioner Not a Resident of Pakistan

Respondent argues that petitioner was not a resident of Pakistan for treaty purposes in 1974, but was a resident alien of the United States, and was therefore not eligible for the $5,000 exclusion under the provisions of the treaty. The treaty defines “resident of Pakistan” as an individual “resident in Pakistan for purposes of Pakistan tax and not resident in the United States for the purposes of the United States tax.” (Emphasis added). Petitioner fails both tests.

First, there is no evidence in the record suggesting that petitioner was a “resident of Pakistan for purposes of Pakistan tax.” Petitioner testified that he paid no Pakistan tax on his compensation from Continental for the years 1973 or 1974. In the absence of any other evidence regarding petitioner’s tax status in Pakistan, we must conclude that petitioner was not subject to the Pakistan income tax in 1974.

Second, we believe petitioner was a resident in the United States in1974 for purposes of the United States tax. Residence is an elusive concept which is undefined by both the Code and the legislative history of section 872.3 See Weible v. United States, 244 F.2d 158, 163 (9th Cir. 1957). A person may acquire a residence for United States tax purposes even though he does not intend to reside permanently and has a domicile elsewhere.4 See Marsman v. Commissioner, 205 F.2d 335, 338 (4th Cir. 1953), affg. on this issue 18 T.C. 1 (1952), cert. denied 348 U.S. 943 (1955); Cooper v. Commissioner, 15 T.C. 757, 763 (1950).

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Related

Quidwai v. Commissioner
1984 T.C. Memo. 42 (U.S. Tax Court, 1984)
Maclean v. Commissioner
73 T.C. 1045 (U.S. Tax Court, 1980)
Siddiqi v. Commissioner
70 T.C. 553 (U.S. Tax Court, 1978)
Budhwani v. Commissioner
70 T.C. 287 (U.S. Tax Court, 1978)

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Bluebook (online)
70 T.C. 287, 1978 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 118, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/budhwani-v-commissioner-tax-1978.