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Taxes for International Students

Taxes for International Students

As an International student on an F-1/J-1 visa, you and your dependents must file taxes each year you are in the U.S., whether you earned income or not.

  • Students with no earned income will fill out the IRS Form 8843.
  • Students with scholarships, grants, wages/compensation, salaries, or tips must fill out the IRS Form 1040-NR, U.S. Nonresident Alien Income Tax Return.

Note: In addition to federal taxes, you may have to pay state and local taxes as well. The state of North Carolina does have an income tax.

DISCLAIMER: The Pulliam Center for International Education and its staff are not tax professionals and cannot give tax advice. We can only provide general guidance for filing taxes. Students should contact a certified accountant who specializes in non-resident aliens (NRA taxes) for further assistance.

Online Solution for Tax Prep

Queens has partnered with Sprintax to assist our international students with their tax filing needs.

Residency

The first step in filing your taxes in the U.S. is to take a Substantial Presence Test or Residency Test through Sprintax Calculus.

The IRS states that F-1 students who have been in the U.S. for five years or less are considered nonresidents for taxes because the IRS code exempts students from the Substantial Presence Test for the first five years the student is in the U.S.

Students who have been in the U.S. for five years or more are considered residents for tax filing purposes. Note: Residency for tax purposes does not equate to residency for immigration status.

For students with complex residency situations, please review the Tax Residency Status Examples provided by the Internal Revenue Service. Sprintax Calculus will apply the Substantial Presence Test and determine if you are a non-resident or resident for tax purposes.

  • Nonresident status: Queens has partnered with Sprintax to help you prepare and file your tax documents.
  • Resident status: You may use most online tax preparation providers, such as TurboTax or H&R Block. If Sprintax determines you are a resident for tax purposes, they will direct you to their partner for resident taxes, TurboTax.

Helpful Videos

More About Sprintax

Free Webinars – Sprintax, post annual calendars of free webinars. Students may sign up and view the tax webinars alone, or with the Pulliam Center for International Education during tax season. NOTE: All webinar registrants are sent a link to the recorded information session after each webinar.

24/7 Support – Students can contact the Sprintax Support Team via the following:

Common Tax Forms

There are several forms you may receive at the beginning of each calendar year. Each contains important information that Sprintax will use to generate your tax filing forms.

This form is mailed to you by January 31st of each calendar year and reports how much income you received in wages/salary from your employer during the entire year. It also lists any amounts withheld from your income for taxes, etc. Employers may offer you an opportunity to receive the W-2 document electronically.

The Queens Office of Student Accounts generates a 1042-Sfor all students that receive scholarship funding above the cost of tuition. Queens submits the 1042-S to the IRS and uploads a copy to each respective student’s Sprintax account. Students may then log into their Sprintax account to access the form for tax filing purposes.

Note: For access, it is important to log in using your Queens University credentials/email.

This form is used by nonresident alien individuals, estates, and trusts to file a U.S. income tax return. Sprintax will generate your 1040-NR and you will be able to download and print this form when it’s time to file your taxes.

Form W-7 is used to apply for an IRS individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN). You can also use this form to renew an existing ITIN that is expiring or that has already expired. Sprintax will generate a W-7 for all students that have a tax liability and no social security number.

What is an ITIN? An ITIN is a 9-digit number issued by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to individuals who are required for U.S. federal tax purposes to have a U.S. taxpayer identification number but who do not have and are not eligible to get a social security number (SSN).

The W-8 BEN, also known as a “certificate of foreign status” for short, reaffirms that the filer is a nonresident. The W-8 BEN is requested by Queens University whether or not you are claiming a reduced rate of, or exemption from, withholding. Failure to submit this form could result in students being subject to withholding of U.S. taxes at a 30% tax rate on payment amounts. By filing a W-8BEN, you can claim a U.S. tax reduction if your usual country of residence has an income tax treaty.

The 1098-T (Tuition Statement) is a summary of all of the fees that you have paid to the university during the tax year. For most international students, the 1098-T is not a form you can use for filing your taxes. It can only be used by international students with resident status to claim educational tax credits when filing a tax return. Please refer to the Residency section to determine if you are a resident or nonresident for tax filing purposes.

Resources

Helpful Websites

Be Aware of IRS Scams

  • The IRS contacts people by mail. NOT by phone or email.
  • The IRS does NOT ask for payment of taxes via wire transfers, pre-paid debit cards, or money orders
  • If anyone calls you and claims to the IRS and demands payment hang up the phone.
  • Never give anyone who calls you your social security number or other personal information.
  • The IRS will NOT ask for credit card information over the phone.
  • The IRS does NOT request personal information via email, social media, or text messaging.
  • For more information, please visit the IRS website.