Franklin Hall 306, 601 East Kirkwood Avenue. Bloomington, Indiana 47405
Phone: (812) 855-9086 | Fax: (812) 855-4418 | Email: intlserv@indiana.edu
Monday, November 30
1:00pm–3:00pm
Monday, November 30
4:15pm–5:15pm
Monday, November 30
7:00pm–8:00pm
Monday, November 30
7:00pm–8:30pm
Tuesday, December 1
5:30pm–6:30pm
⇒ Student & Scholar Advising ⇒ Living in the US ⇒ Tax Requirements for F-1 and J-1 Students
In general, nonresident aliens must file tax returns if they engage in any trade or business in the US (Studying, teaching and performing research are all considered to be activities in which the taxpayer is engaged in a trade or business.)
Nonresident aliens who are students, teachers, or trainees and are temporarily present in the US under a F or J visa, must file a return if they have income that is subject to withholding, even if no tax is withheld. However, a form 8843 must be filed regardless if income was earned or not.
Resident aliens for tax purposes are taxed like US Citizens. Generally, students are nonresident aliens for tax purposes for five years and after five years, become resident aliens for tax purposes. Generally, scholars are nonresident aliens for tax purposes for two years and after two years, become resident aliens for tax purposes. Since resident aliens and nonresident aliens are taxed differently, it is important for you to determine your status. You are considered a nonresident alien for any period that you are neither a US citizen nor a US resident alien, unless you make a first-year choice to be treated as a resident alien. You are considered a resident alien if you meet one of two tests for the calendar year. For specific information, refer to Tax Topic 851, Resident and Nonresident Aliens.
Nonresident aliens cannot file joint Federal or state tax returns.
If you did not have any US earned income, or did not receive a scholarship or fellowship grant, then you do not have to file taxes. However, you still need to file Form 8843. If you are filing Form 8843 only, the due date is June 15.
If you do not have tax liability, the IRS will not penalize students and scholars for not filing (although they must still file Form 8843). However, students and scholars need to stay in compliance with all laws in the US, including income tax filing. If you want to apply for residency at a later date, you may be asked to show proof of tax compliance.
Instructions on how to file the form 8843.
If you will not be in the US when taxes are due, then you can file outside the US. Make sure that your employer knows your new address so that they can send you a W-2 form. IU has purchased software that you can use while you are outside the US that will assist you with completing mandatory federal forms and instructions for the state forms will be available in mid-February at our website.
If you are an International student or scholar and have never filed US tax forms/returns before, then it is strongly recommend that you attend one of the VITA tax help sessions on campus. VITA is a National Program to assist foreign students in the completion of their Federal and state tax returns. These free tax help sessions are held mostly in the evenings and weekends starting in March and continuing until April 15th. Each tax help session lasts for two hours. There will be a maximum of 30 people per session. You may sign up for a tax help session online through iStart services starting in mid-February. Please note that tax forms/returns must be postmarked by April 15! If you are filing Form 8843 only, the due date is June 15.
The VITA program assists persons on F, J, M, or Q visas as well as H-1B visa holders who presented in the US for less than 183 days in 2007.
The W-2 form is a statement from your employer that indicates how much money you were paid in the year and how much money was withheld from you in federal, state, and local taxes.
The 1042-S is a form used by the University to report non-employee type earnings (such as a grant or scholarship) of a non-resident alien for tax purposes, many of whom are claiming an exemption due to a US Tax Treaty.
If you have received a scholarship or a grant that is not a part of your employment and that did not go to cover your tuition or other “qualified” expenses, you will receive a 1042-S. In some cases the 1042-S will show the amount of funds that are exempt from tax withholding due to a tax treaty.
Income in the form of a scholarship or fellowship is treated in one of three ways:
You should keep it with your tax records, but you do not need to send it with your return or mention it on the return. The purpose of the form is to let you know that you were a student of the college or university that issued it. It usually contains information on how much tuition and fees you paid.
These are Federal Tax forms. OIS has purchased software that will help you to complete your taxes. This software should be available in mid-February. Tax filers can also download the forms from the IRS website.
These are the Indiana State Tax forms. For individual who lived off campus and paid rent during their study/teaching in Indiana should also file Schedule D. Individual who is a resident of Indiana and received income from Indiana and other state(s) should file Schedule E. Individual who was a resident of an Indiana county that had adopted a county income should file Schedule CT-40PNR. Indiana tax forms for Part-Year Residents and Full-Year Nonresidents can be found at the Indiana Department of Revenue website.
For those who need to file other state(s)’s tax returns, please download the tax forms from the respective state government website. Please click here for state tax directory.
Most nonresident students and scholars cannot claim family members as dependents, even if the dependents are US citizens. Any family member who can be claimed as a dependent must have a Social Security Number (SSN) or Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN).
Exceptions apply to persons from Canada, Mexico, South Korea, and India, as follows:
Dependents can be claimed if they meet the five general tests for dependency listed in Publication 678, VITA Assistor’s Guide, and Publication 17, Your Federal Income Tax Guide.
Dependents must live with the nonresident in the US at least part of the year. The dependency exemption will need to be prorated if the nonresident has both US and foreign source income.
Dependents can be claimed if they were not admitted to the US on a F-2, J-2, or M-2 visa. They must also meet the five tests for dependency listed in Publication 678, VITA Assistor’s Guide, and Publication 17, Your Federal Income Tax Guide.
F-2s are not eligible for SSN numbers and J-2s are eligible only if they have applied for one and received employment authorization from the USCIS. Those dependents not eligible for SSN must file Form W-7 to apply for an Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN). You can obtain form W-7 by visiting www.irs.gov or by calling 1-800-TAX-FORM (1-800-829-3676). The W-7 form needs to be attached with the taxpayer’s tax return.
Generally, no. Nonresidents from Canada, Mexico, Korea, or India may be able to claim an exemption for their spouse. (This is not the same as claiming their spouse as a dependent. The term “dependent” is reserved for family members other than the spouse). The following rules apply:
Residents of Canada or Mexico can claim a personal exemption for a spouse if the spouse had no gross income for US tax purposes and was not a dependent on another US return.
Residents of South Korea may be able to claim a personal exemption for a spouse. The spouse must live with the taxpayer. If the student or scholar also has income from outside the US, the exemption will have to be prorated. See IRS Publication 519 for more information.
Some nonresidents from India are eligible to claim a personal exemption for a spouse. The deduction applies only to students and business apprentices. A student can claim an exemption for a spouse if the spouse had no gross income during the year and cannot be claimed on someone else’s US return. When completing the form, the spouse’s information goes on line 7c of Form 1040NR.
Not all treaties include benefits for all types of income. Please refer to Publication 901 on the IRS website. For a current list of countries that have tax treaties with the US see the IBFD website.
Then you should file taxes for the state that you worked in. Chances are that you can find these NON-Resident Individual tax forms on the State Government websites. If you worked in Indiana as well, then you can claim a credit on Schedule E for certain states that you paid taxes to. Please click here for state tax directory.
Many students and scholars who are required to file returns either don’t file, or file incorrectly. Many of them would be eligible for a refund if they filed the required forms.
If you had no tax liablility, the IRS will not penalize you for not filing (although you must still file form 8843). However, the terms of students’ and scholars’ visas require that they stay in compliance with all laws of the US, including income tax filing. If you forgot to file in the past, you can still file from previous years using old forms found at the IRS website.
Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, (812) 855-9086
Last updated October 8, 2009.
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