Generally, international students come to the United States for the first five years of Nonresident Alien. International students who have been in the United States for more than five years and students who have converted to H1B belong to Resident Alien, but the year of F1 to H1B can still be reported according to Nonresident Alien. In addition, if a foreign student marries a Resident Alien in the United States, you can file a tax return as a Resident Alien together. The US tax season generally starts in January and ends in mid-April.
Do international student need to file a tax return?
The answer is yes!
According to the rules of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), since 1993, foreign students holding F, J, M visas, or foreign scholars holding J, Q visas, regardless of whether they have a job or income, as long as they are temporary Residents in the United States must report their tax status to the IRS.
What are the risks of not reporting or being late?
- if foreign students and scholars working legally in the United States or with scholarship income are reporting taxes, they are likely to receive varying amounts of tax refunds and become an annual "red envelope".
- the United States and other countries have different terms of international student income tax agreements. Eligible international students and scholars are likely to obtain additional benefits in the tax return process through agreements between their mother country and the United States.
- in the United States, tax reporting is a legal obligation, and late or non-tax reporting will have the consequences of fines and even legal penalties.
- both international students and visiting scholars can legally stay in the United States for study and research because they have obtained a valid visa. Prompt filing of taxes can help international students and scholars maintain good tax records; in other words, poor tax records can seriously affect a person's visa status.
- avoid filing additional taxes on overseas income. For example, international students and scholars who hold F, J, M, and Q visas in the United States must fill in Form 8843 when filing tax returns, which will indicate the time when the individual was not in the United States in the last tax year (such as returning to vacation, visiting relatives, etc.). Etc.) This part of the time outside the United States does not need to pay taxes, which in turn has won some benefits for international taxpayers.
Tax reporting steps
- 1. Request Forms: Tax Forms (e.g. 1040NR), Instructions for Forms (e.g .: Instructions for Form 1040NR), Taxation Manuals (Publications, such as: Foreigner Taxation Instructions (Publication 519), Taxation and Tax Exempt Income (Publications 525), Federal Income Tax Notice (Publication172) can be obtained through the following channels:
- School library or local public library;
- IRS offices (Federal buildings);
- Toll-free 1-800-TAX-FORM (1-800-829-3676) Request;
- Download from IRS website.
- 2. Fill in the items one by one: The main items of the tax form include personal information (name, address, social security number or ITIN, marital status, nationality), and income (general income including RA and TA income will be listed in W-2) Salary income statement, while scholarship income is listed on the 1042S income statement), personal deductions (the amount will be adjusted every year, you can ask professional tax returners, student consultants, or check the IRS website information), the deductions are itemized Part (For non-residents, only a few items can be filled in, such as: withholding tax in advance, charitable donations, accidental loss or theft, and certain expenses related to schoolwork, etc., but all must be filled out to explain the expenses the reason).
- 3. Checking and depositing: The attached sheet of the tax form also contains information on the residence of the person filling in the form, such as the planned residence time, or whether there is a source of foreign income, etc. For issues that are not relevant to you, you can write N / A ( Not Applicable), after completing this item, even if you have completed the filling of the form; of course, the most important task is to check all the relevant documents and attach them one by one, so as not to increase the trouble of re-posting later. Finally, don't forget to make a copy of all the form files for your own reference for future reference or in case of any queries from the IRS.
- 4. Deadline: The deadline for filing tax returns is April 15th, but if you send them out early, you can receive your tax refund check as soon as possible (within about ten weeks). If you cannot complete your tax return by April 15th, you can use Form 4868 to extend your tax return period by four months before April 15. For tax returners who do not have any income, their 1040NR tax forms and information cards need only be mailed before June 15.
More information: w-2表格解读、留学生报税、1099报税流程、1099报税、中美tax treaty
