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THE MEANING OF
THE
WORD "RESIDENT"
Many people assume that common words appearing in our laws have the commonly accepted meaning of those words; however, that is not necessarily the case. For example, most probably assume that the word "person" means every human being. But from the founding of this country, Congress has quite often used the word "person" to designate only an alien. The below list provides the citation of various laws found in the U.S. Statutes at Large and links to the PDF images of these pages from the Statutes at Large. The pages listed below are a variety of laws wherein the word "person" is used to clearly mean an alien, distinct from a citizen: The word "resident" also quite often only means an alien. The origin of this definition is a work several hundred years old. Long ago, a writer on the subject of international law, Emmerich de Vattel, wrote an important work titled The Law of Nations. In this book, Vattel gave definitions of the word "resident" as follows: "Residents, as distinguished from citizens, are aliens who are permitted to take up a permanent abode in the country."According to Vattel, a "resident" is an alien. Following the pattern established by Vattel, Congress has frequently used the word "resident" to only mean an alien as shown by the following list of various pages from the U.S. Statutes at Large: See also this list
of various state laws using the
word "resident" to mean an alien.
This distinction between the words "citizen" and "resident" appears very clearly in the federal income tax laws. In the Revenue Act of 1916, phrases that include the words "citizen" and "resident" appear at 39 Stat. 756, 759 and 770. In the Revenue Act of 1917, these phrases appear at 40 Stat. 301, 304, 307, 331, 333, 335, and 338. In the Revenue Act of 1918, these phrases appear at 40 Stat. 1062, 1067, 1072, 1073, and 1087. In the Revenue Act of 1921, these phrases appear at 40 Stat. 233 and 248. In the Revenue Act of 1924, these phrases appear at 43 Stat. 264 and 278. In the Revenue Act of 1926, these phrases appear at 44 Stat. 21 and 35. In the Revenue Act of 1928, this phrase appears at 45 Stat. 834. In the Revenue Act of 1932, these phrases appear at 47 Stat. 215, 247 and 284. In the Revenue Act of 1934, these phrases appear at 48 Stat. 723 and 753. In the Revenue Act of 1936, this phrase appears at 49 Stat. 1701. In the Revenue Act of 1938, these phrases appear at 52 Stat. 511, 546 and 549. In the 1939 IRC, these phrases appear at 53 Stat. part I, at pages 61, 93, 96, 119, 120, 123, 126, 141, 143, 147, and 172. See also the 1954 Internal Revenue Code, where this phrase appears on pages 193, 195, 359, 365, 373, 401, 406, 410 and 412, among others. Vattel's definition of "resident" has not only influenced federal laws, and in particular federal income tax laws, but also the federal income tax regulations. Below, please find references to old federal income tax regulations and various sections thereof which defined the word "resident" as only meaning an "alien": (1) Regulations No. 45 for Revenue Act of 1918, Treasury Decision 2831: "Art. 312. Who is a nonresident alien individual.—‘Nonresident alien individual' means an individual (a) whose residence is not within the United States and (b) who is not a citizen of the United States. Any alien living in the United States who is not a mere transient is a resident of the United States for purposes of the income tax. Whether he is a transient or not is determined by his intentions with regard to his stay. If he lives in the United States and has no definite intention as to his stay, he is a resident."(2) Regulations No. 62 for Revenue Act of 1924, Treasury Decision 3295: "Art. 311. Definition.—A ‘nonresident alien individual' means an individual (a) whose residence is not within the United States and (b) who is not a citizen of the United States. An alien actually present in the United States who is not a mere transient or sojourner is a resident of the United States for purposes of the income tax. Whether he is a transient or not is determined by his intentions with regard to the length and nature of his stay. A mere floating intention, indefinite as to time, to return to another country is not sufficient to constitute him a transient. If he lives in the United States and has no definite intention as to his stay, he is a resident * * *."(3) Regulations No. 65 for Revenue Act of 1926, Treasury Decision 3640:
"Art.
311. Definition.—A
‘nonresident alien individual' means an individual
(a) whose residence is not within the United States and (b) who is not a citizen of the United States. An alien actually present in the United States who is not a mere transient or sojourner is a resident of the United States for purposes of the income tax. Whether he is a transient or not is determined by his intentions with regard to the length and nature of his stay. A mere floating intention, indefinite as to time, to return to another country is not sufficient to constitute him a transient. If he lives in the United States and has no definite intention as to his stay, he is a resident * * *." (4) Regulations No. 69 for Revenue Act of 1926, Treasury Decision 3922: "Art. 311. Definition.—A ‘nonresident alien individual' means an individual—(5) Regulations No. 74 for Revenue Act of 1928: "ART. 1022. Definition.—A ‘nonresident alien individual' means an individual—(6) Regulations 77 for Revenue Act of 1932: "ART. 1022. Definition.—A ‘nonresident alien individual' means an individual—(7) Regulations 86 for Revenue Act of 1934: "ART. 211-1. Definition.—A ‘nonresident alien individual' means an individual—(8) Regulations 94 for Revenue Act of 1936: "ART. 211-1. Definition.—A ‘nonresident alien individual' means an individual—(9) Regulations No. 101 for Revenue Act of 1938: "ART. 211-2. Definition.—A ‘nonresident alien individual' means an individual—(10) Regulations 103 for 1939 Internal Revenue Code: "SEC. 19.211-2. Definition.—A ‘nonresident alien individual' means an individual—(11) Regulations No. 111 for 1939 Internal Revenue Code (1943 edition): "SEC. 29.211-2. Definition.—A ‘nonresident alien individual' means an individual—See also 26 U.S.C. § 7701(b). It is therefore clear that the word "resident" only means an "alien" in the federal income tax laws. See Bowring v. Bowers, 24 F.2d 918 (2nd Cir. 1928). |