The Office of the General Counsel of the INS has stated in a recent legal opinion that filing a non-resident tax return raises the presumption that a green card holder has abandoned his or her permanent residency status. The opinion went on to state that in most cases, an alien would be able to overcome this presumption only by presenting evidence tending to show that the alien filed the nonresident alien tax return fraudulently, an admission that could bring criminal penalties. Persons wishing to avoid US taxes on some or all of their income by filing under this category should be extremely cautious about taking such a step.
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