Before you start

An SSN or ITIN
Form W-4 with your employer for federal withholding
Records of foreign income and foreign financial accounts
No state withholding form — Tennessee has none

Step-by-step

1
Complete the W-4 on day one
This sets federal withholding and in Tennessee it is the only withholding form you will ever file. Getting it wrong is the most common cause of a surprise April bill, particularly in a two-income household where both forms are completed independently.
Via employerWho: YouFirst week of employment
2
Determine your US tax residency
The substantial presence test counts weighted days across three years to decide whether the US taxes your worldwide income or only US-source income. Certain students and scholars are exempt from counting days for a period. Your visa category does not settle this.
OnlineWho: You
3
Check for an applicable tax treaty
The US has income tax treaties with around 70 countries that can reduce or exempt particular income, especially for students, researchers and short assignments. Treaty benefits are claimed on your return rather than granted automatically, and with no state return there is no second layer to worry about.
OnlineWho: You
4
File your federal return by 15 April
The tax year is the calendar year and there is no Tennessee return to file. An extension moves the filing date, not the payment date — a distinction that catches a large number of first-year filers.
OnlineWho: YouBy 15 April annually
5
Check whether you owe the professional privilege tax
Tennessee repealed this $400 annual tax for most professions in 2020 but kept it for lawyers, lobbyists, securities agents and investment advisers licensed in the state. If you hold one of those licences it is your own obligation, due 1 June each year, and nobody will withhold it for you.
OnlineWho: YouBy 1 June annually, if applicable
6
File an FBAR if foreign accounts exceed $10,000
Aggregate foreign financial account balances above $10,000 at any point in the year trigger a FinCEN filing, separate from your tax return. An ordinary current account at home is often enough to cross it.
OnlineWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Form W-2 from each employer, issued by 31 January
Form 1099s for freelance, interest and investment income
Passport and travel history for the substantial presence day count
Foreign account statements for FBAR reporting
Property tax notice from the Metro Trustee, if you own

Things most newcomers don’t know

The 25% assessment ratio is the missing number in every Nashville property tax conversation.

Tennessee assesses residential property at 25% of appraised value and commercial at 40%. So the Urban Services District rate of $2.814 per $100 applies to a quarter of what the house is worth — an effective rate around 0.7% of market value, roughly a third of what the same house pays in Dallas or Houston. Newcomers see the headline rate, panic, and never learn the ratio.

Source: Metro Nashville Trustee — calculate property taxes

Tennessee taxes groceries, which almost no other state with high sales tax does.

Food for home consumption is taxed at a reduced state rate plus the full local rate, so a Nashville grocery bill carries several percent that a Portland or Phoenix one does not. Combined with 9.75% on everything else, the sales tax system falls hardest on households that spend most of what they earn — which is the mirror image of Oregon's arrangement and worth modelling before assuming 'no income tax' means 'cheaper'.

Source: Tennessee Department of Revenue — sales and use tax

Four professions still pay a $400 annual privilege tax and nobody tells them.

Tennessee repealed the professional privilege tax for most licensed professions in 2020, but retained it for attorneys, lobbyists, securities agents and investment advisers. It is $400 a year, due 1 June, self-assessed, and there is no withholding. A lawyer relocating from another state can go a year without knowing it exists, and penalties accrue.

Source: Tennessee Department of Revenue — professional privilege tax

There is no general homestead exemption in Tennessee.

Texas, Florida and many other states reduce the taxable value of a primary residence for everyone. Tennessee does not — its property tax relief is targeted at homeowners over 65, disabled homeowners and disabled veterans, plus a tax freeze programme for qualifying older owners in participating counties. Newcomers from Texas go looking for the exemption form and there is not one.

Source: Tennessee Comptroller — property tax relief

Common mistakes to avoid

Assuming 'no income tax' makes Tennessee cheap without modelling 9.75% sales tax including groceries.
Reading the headline property tax rate without applying the 25% residential assessment ratio.
Holding a Tennessee law, securities or investment adviser licence and never paying the $400 privilege tax.
Looking for a homestead exemption that does not exist in Tennessee.
Believing a filing extension also extends the payment deadline — it does not.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.