Not sure how strict US customs are but when I travel to other countries, including those that I have resident visas to, none of them actually look at the forms
ZKBN and Commissioner of Taxation [2013] AATA 604 (27 August 2013)
As a Aussie, tick the resident box the tax man considers you to be a resident and you need pay Aussie tax. Someone took this to court and the tax man lost but this is one of the things examined. (See point 23 on link)
Medicare is only for Aussie residents and need to pay Aussie tax (please let me know if any cases where this is not true).
In Australia for 183 days, pay Aussie tax. See point 22 on link
No one test is definitive but they all add up against you. If you are not earning, you still need to put in a tax
The above is based on my readings and is not advice and may not be correct. Please do your own risk assessment.
They did look at the form once in my case. I had marked visitor, but listed $400 worth of items, they pointed out I was only qualified for $100, but let it go.
Probably they would not notice or seriously care if you marked resident. Of course, technically that’s wrong, and it could bite you in the butt if they challenged your IRS Form 2555 declaration in the future, but that is extremely unlikely…
p.s. Not a lawyer, nor an expert - bucket of coarse salt for wounds provided on request.
I am in Taiwan now and while at the HK airport duty free I saw they had one box of Montecristo #4 and from my research this is the one I want so I bought it. When I get back to HK I'll mail it to him. I'll take the chance I don't get pulled aside exiting the airport.