What is a dual-status US tax return when moving from Canada to the US?

If you move from Canada to the US mid-year and become a US tax resident under the Substantial Presence Test or Green Card Test during that year, you are a "dual-status alien" for that calendar year (IRS Publication 519): a non-resident alien for the part of the year before your residency start date (reporting only US-source income on a Form 1040-NR statement) and a resident alien for the rest of the year (reporting worldwide income on Form 1040).

Can a dual-status taxpayer claim the US standard deduction or file Married Filing Jointly?

No. Under IRC Sections 63(c)(6)(B) and 6013(a)(1), a dual-status taxpayer cannot claim the federal standard deduction and cannot file a joint return, unless married to a US citizen or full-year US resident (or after making a First-Year Choice under IRC s.7701(b)(4)) and making an explicit election under IRC Section 6013(g) or 6013(h) to be treated as full-year US residents on worldwide income.

Dual-Status Tax Year: Filing Your First Year in the US (or Last Year in Canada)

~8 min read·Updated November 2026

Checklist:Your Action Items: see your personalized cross-border filing deadlines and forms based on your accounts.

Unless you happen to move across the border at midnight on December 31, the calendar year you relocate between Canada and the US is split into two distinct tax periods. In Canada, you file a part-year Emigrant (or Immigrant) T1 return stamped with your exact departure or arrival date. In the US, if you pass the Substantial Presence Test (or receive a Green Card) during your arrival year, your default filing status is Dual-Status Alien under IRS Publication 519: a status with strict rules that take away the standard deduction and Married Filing Jointly brackets unless you qualify for a full-year election.

How the two countries split the calendar year

In an ideal move, your Canadian residency ends on Day X and your US residency begins on Day X+1:

January 1 to your departure date (Canadian Resident / US Non-Resident): Canada taxes your worldwide income for this period on your part-year T1 return (and triggers the departure tax deemed disposition on the day you leave). For this same stretch of the year, the US treats you as a non-resident alien, taxing only US-source income (if any).
After your arrival date to December 31 (Canadian Non-Resident / US Resident): The US taxes your worldwide income for the remainder of the year on Form 1040, while Canada taxes only Canadian-source income (normally via Part XIII non-resident withholding).

Notice what happens if you moved early in the year or took pre-move house-hunting trips to the US: under IRC §7701(b)(2)(A), your US residency start date under the Substantial Presence Test is the first day you were physically present in the US during the calendar year (ignoring up to 10 de minimis days under §7701(b)(2)(C) if your closer connection was still in Canada). If your US start date lands before the date you severed Canadian residential ties, use the Article IV treaty tie-breaker rules (and Form 8833) to align the split date.

What a Dual-Status US return actually looks like

When you are a US resident on December 31 of your arrival year, your dual-status filing package consists of Form 1040 as the main return (covering your resident period from arrival through December 31) with Form 1040-NR attached as an informational statement labeled "Dual-Status Statement" (reporting any US-source income from the pre-arrival period).

⚠️Two big disadvantages of a default Dual-Status return

Under IRS Publication 519, a dual-status filer: (1) cannot claim the federal standard deduction ($16,100 single / $32,200 MFJ in 2026) and can only claim limited itemized deductions (such as charitable contributions and state/local taxes up to the SALT cap), and (2) cannot file Married Filing Jointly, forcing married couples onto the much steeper Married Filing Separately tax brackets.

When electing Full-Year US Residency beats Dual-Status (and when it backfires)

The Internal Revenue Code provides an escape hatch for married couples who move to the US:

First-Year Choice (IRC §7701(b)(4)): If you move to the US in the second half of the year (say, September) and spend fewer than 183 days in the US in Year 1, you would normally be a non-resident alien for all of Year 1. Under the First-Year Choice, once you meet the Substantial Presence Test in Year 2 (by waiting on an extension until ~June of Year 2), you can elect to be treated as a US resident starting from your Year 1 arrival date.
Section 6013(h) / 6013(g) Joint Return Election: If you are married and at least one spouse is a US citizen or US resident at the end of the year (including via the First-Year Choice above), both spouses can elect under IRC §6013(h) (or §6013(g)) to be treated as full-year US residents for the entire calendar year.

The tradeoff of a Section 6013(h) full-year election

What you gain: The full Married Filing Jointly standard deduction and the wide MFJ tax brackets on your US salary for the arrival year.

What it costs: You must report your pre-move Canadian income from January 1 up to your move date on your joint US Form 1040 (offset by Form 1116 foreign tax credits for the Canadian tax you paid on that pre-move salary or departure tax), and you bring your pre-move Canadian accounts (including any TFSA sales or PFIC holdings disposed of Earlier in that calendar year!) into the IRS's full-year net.

📋Never make a full-year §6013(h) election if you sold a TFSA, PFIC, or Canadian home earlier that year

If you liquidated Canadian ETFs (PFICs), closed a TFSA with gains, or sold a Canadian home with more than US$500,000 of gain in the spring before moving to the US in the summer, keeping your Dual-Status split date means those pre-arrival sales happened while you were a non-resident alien and are completely invisible to the IRS. Making a full-year §6013(h) election pulls January 1 through your move date onto your US return and makes those pre-move sales taxable by the IRS!

Dual-status return vs. full-year 6013(g)/(h) election

Feature	Dual-Status Return (1040 + 1040-NR)	Full-Year Joint Election (IRC §6013(g)/(h))
Pre-Move Canadian Income	Excluded from US tax (unless US-sourced).	Included in US worldwide income (offset via Form 1116 or Form 2555).
US Standard Deduction	Not permitted; limited to itemized deductions (Schedule A).	Full Married Filing Jointly standard deduction allowed ($30,000+ in 2026).
Married Filing Jointly Brackets	No; taxed under Married Filing Separately / Single brackets.	Yes; full MFJ bracket widths apply to US post-arrival salary.
FBAR / Form 8938 Scope	Applies for the resident portion of the year.	Applies across the entire calendar year for both spouses.

Not tax, legal, or immigration advice: a cross-border CPA should always run your arrival year both ways (Dual-Status vs. §6013(h) Joint Election) before filing. Check your departure-year tax exposure on the Departure Tax Estimator and review your personalized checklist on Your Action Items.