Tax Information

U.S. FEDERAL TAXES

All F-1 are required to file certain federal tax forms for each year they have been present in the U.S.-- even if they did not earn any income during that year. Federal tax forms for the tax year being reported must be filed no later than April 15 of the following year with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Individuals who for any reason are unable to file their tax forms by April 15 must submit an application for extension of the filing deadline on IRS Form 4868.

Determining Your Federal Tax Status

Your first task is to consider whether you were a resident or nonresident for federal tax purposes during the tax year for which you are now filing your return. Do not confuse the immigration designations of "nonimmigrant" and "immigrant" with the tax designations of "nonresident" and "resident." In many cases, they are not the same--all F-1s hold nonimmigrant status, yet many are residents for federal tax purposes! A nonresident is taxed on income from U.S. sources only, whereas a resident is taxed on worldwide income. Nonresidents may also be exempt from certain types of taxes (such as Social Security tax) whereas residents are not. Nonresidents are more restricted than residents as to the types of tax "exemptions" they can claim. (A "tax exemption" is like a tax credit. Each tax exemption that a taxpayer is eligible to claim reduces the amount of his or her total tax for the year.)

For F-1 the following general guidelines apply:

F-1 students are normally considered nonresidents for federal tax purposes only during the first five calendar years of study. Calculations should include any part of a calendar year within the first five years. For example, a student who arrived in August 2014 should count 2014- as an entire year, even though the student was only in the U.S. for five months of that year.

After five years, F-1 students are presumed to be residents for federal tax purposes by the IRS.

Determining Which Forms You Must File:

Links to each of the nonresident tax forms referred to below, as well as to other IRS forms and publications that you may find useful, are provided at the end of this section.

If you were a resident for federal tax purposes during the tax year for which you are currently filing your tax return, file form 1040 or 1040EZ, and any attachments as appropriate for your situation.

If you were a nonresident for federal tax purposes during the tax year for which you are currently filing your tax return AND

• You were not present in the U.S. during the tax year for which you are currently filing: you do not need to file any tax forms.
• You were present in the U.S. during the tax year for which you are currently filing but did not earn any U.S.-source income at all during that: you only need to file IRS Form 8843 by June 15 of the following year. (Note: An ITIN is not required if you are only filing Form 8843. However, if you have been assigned an ITIN or SSN you must include it on the form.)
• You were present in the U.S. during the tax year for which you are currently filing and earned U.S. source income from on-campus employment: you must file IRS Form 8843 and IRS Form 1040NR EZ or 1040NR by the April 15 deadline. Individuals who are eligible to claim the benefits of a tax treaty and who did not file any treaty claim forms directly with their employer would also need to file Form 8843 and a statement like that provided in Appendix A of IRS Publication 519.

(Note: You may also need to file state taxes in some or all of the states in which you worked. If you worked in New Jersey, you will need to file the appropriate New Jersey tax forms by the April 15 deadline. See below for information on New Jersey taxes.)

Links to IRS Forms and Publications

Complete IRS information, forms, and links related to international students and scholars can be found on the IRS's "Foreign Students and Scholars" webpage.

IRS Publication 519 US Tax Guide for Aliens is also a useful website for tax details and information. Please seek professional tax advice from a qualified tax professional or attorney.