PROOF OF FACTS: Deceptive Definition of “Nonresident Alien” on the IRS Website

By ftsig-admin | July 10, 2025

The statutory DESCRIPTION of “nonresident alien” is as follows:

26 U.S. Code § 7701 – Definitions

(b)Definition of resident alien and nonresident alien

(1)In general

(B)Nonresident alien

An individual is a nonresident alien if such individual is neither a citizen of the United States nor a resident of the United States (within the meaning of subparagraph (A)).

The “United States” above is the United StatesJ. The “citizen” or “resident” above are both CIVIL in nature, and they are tied to a DOMICILE at the seat of government in the District of Columbia per 4 U.S.C. §72. We know this because EVERY CIVIL FICTION must have a domicile. This “citizen” is the one in 26 C.F.R. §1.1-1(a) and (b), and not the one in 26 C.F.R. §1.1-1(c).

The IRS website, on the other hand, defines “nonresident alien” as follows:

Nonresident alien

A nonresident alien is an individual who is not a U.S. citizen or a resident alien. A resident of a foreign country under the residence article of an income tax treaty is a nonresident alien individual for purposes of withholding.

Married to U.S. citizen or resident alien. Nonresident alien individuals married to U.S. citizens or residents may choose to be treated as resident aliens for certain income tax purposes. However, these individuals are still subject to the chapter 3 withholding rules that apply to nonresident aliens for all income except wages. Wages paid to these individuals are subject to graduated withholding.

U.S. person

The term “United States person” means:

  • A citizen or resident of the United States,
  • A partnership created or organized in the United States or under the law of the United States or of any State, or the District of Columbia,
  • A corporation created or organized in the United States or under the law of the United States or of any State, or the District of Columbia,
  • Any estate or trust other than a foreign estate or foreign trust. (See Internal Revenue Code section 7701(a)(31) for the definition of a foreign estate and a foreign trust.), or
  • Any other person that is not a foreign person.

U.S. citizen

The term “United States citizen” means:

  • An individual born in the United States,
  • An individual whose parent is a U.S. citizen,
  • A former alien who has been naturalized as a U.S. citizen,
  • An individual born in Puerto Rico,
  • An individual born in Guam, or
  • An individual born in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

[Foreign Persons, IRS Website, Downloaded 20250710; SOURCE: https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/foreign-persons]

Now some facts about the differences between the IRS website and the statutes:

1. The IRS definition of “nonresident alien” is FALSE because they don’t use the 26 C.F.R. §1.1-1(a) citizen in 26 U.S.C. §7701(b)(1)(B), but the citizen in 26 C.F.R. §1.1-1(c).

2. Their definition of “nonresident alien” for all intents and purposes is:

NEITHER a POLITICAL 26 C.F.R. §1.1-1(c) citizen or a CIVIL resident alien. That’s clearly false.

3. They don’t use “U.S. citizen” in the definition of “U.S. person”, but “citizen or resident of the United States”. They only use it in the definition of “nonresident alien”.

4. Based on other language on the page, their definition should read to be consistent with 26 U.S.C. §7701(b)(1)(B):

Nonresident alien

A nonresident alien is an individual who is not a citizen or a resident of the United StatesJ. A resident of a foreign country under the residence article of an income tax treaty is a nonresident alien individual for purposes of withholding.

5. The phrase “U.S. citizen or resident alien” in the IRS definition of “nonresident alien” puts “U.S.” in front of “citizen**+D” to make it LOOK like the POLITICAL 26 C.F.R. §1.1-1(c) “U.S. citizen*” later in the page, even though 26 U.S.C. §7701(b)(1)(B) DEMANDS that it is NOT a the POLITICAL “U.S. citizen*” defined elsewhere on the page.

This is clearly DECEPTIVE at best! They in effect INVENTED THEIR own definition of “nonresident alien” inconsistent with the statutes which replaced the statutory civil “citizen**+D of the United StatesJ” in 26 C.F.R. §1.1-1(a) and (b) with the POLITICAL “citizen” in 26 C.F.R. §1.1-1(c)!

What we have found with the IRS website and pubs is this:

They ALWAYS tell the truth. BUT….they NEVER tell the whole truth and often confuse the CIVIL and POLITICAL context for words.

In this case, the deception is in the grouping and context of words in the phrase “U.S. citizen or resident alien” that confuses the civil and political contexts for the word “citizen”. Putting “U.S.” in front of “citizen” makes it LOOK like a POLITICAL citizen. That’s deception. They could have avoided the deception by saying “citizen**+D of resident of the United StatesJ” like they did under U.S. person.

The following diagram clears up the confusion:

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