Taxes

All international students, scholars, and their dependents present in the US at any time in 2021 are responsible for filing annual tax forms, called tax returns. This is a requirement for all F and J visa holders even if you did not earn any income in the US.

We are not tax experts. The information we provide is not a substitute for advice from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or a qualified tax professional. We cannot address any personal tax questions or file your taxes for you. But, we have purchased Sprintax, a tax preparation system to make your tax filing easy.

Preparing and Filing your Taxes

1. Gather your tax documents

You may receive some or all of the forms listed below. It is important to note that you may not receive the same forms received by your friends. Every person's tax situation is different.

These documents contain important information that you’ll enter into Sprintax to complete your tax return. Copies of the forms are submitted to the IRS as part of your tax return.

W-2 (Wage and Tax Statement)

• Issued by your employer(s)
• Must be issued to you by January 31
• Summarizes the total amount of wages earned during the year and the amount of money withheld for any taxes (federal, state, and local).
  

1042-S (Foreign Person's US Source Income Subject to Withholding)

• Issued by RIT
• Must be issued by March 15
• Show taxable scholarship income or employment income that is exempt from tax withholding because of a tax treaty
• If a 1042-S Form has been issued to you, you will receive an email from support@online-tax.net with instructions on how to retrieve it from http://www.online-tax.net.
• If you received such payments from RIT, your 1042-S form will be available to you through the GLACIER system.
  

1099-INE, 1099-DIV (Interest Income)

• Issued by your bank
• Shows income from interest or dividends
• Bank interest is not taxable for nonresident aliens, so you do not need to consider these forms when preparing your tax return.
  

1099-MISC (Miscellaneous Income)

• Issued by an employer
• Used to show "independent contractor" income. Sometimes off-campus jobs for CPT, OPT, or Academic Training use this form to document job income instead of the W-2. If the income shown on the 1099-MISC is very large, you may owe taxes. Taxes are not withheld from "independent contractor" income.

1098-T (Tuition Statement)

• Issued by RIT
• Shows educational expenses for each tax year
• Nonresidents for tax purposes CANNOT use this form when filing a tax return.
  If you receive this form, ISS recommends keeping it for your records.

2. Gather additional documents

• Passport
• I-20 or DS-2019
• Social Security or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number
• US entry and exit dates for current and past visits to the United States. In addition to passport stamps you can review your travel history.

3. Create a Sprintax account

Create an account in Sprintax. Follow the prompts and complete the questionnaire.

4. File your federal taxes

Sprintax will guide you through the tax filing process through a series of questions. It will determine whether you will receive a refund or owe more taxes. It will complete and generate the forms you need to provide to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

With Sprintax, you can file your federal tax forms for free. A Sprintax access code and instructions will be emailed to you. This code will be used when prompted to provide payment. If you are currently on OPT you may request an access code by emailing iss@rit.edu.

If eligible, you may be able to e-file your federal tax returns. Save a copy of these files to your computer.

If not eligible, print, sign, and mail to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Save a copy to your computer.

5. File your state taxes

After you have completed your federal tax forms in Sprintax, you will have the opportunity to fill out your state tax forms. Sprintax fees for state returns start at $44.95 each. If you do not want to pay the fee, you may download the forms and complete them yourself. Please note that you will not be able to complete your state forms until you have finished your federal forms.

State taxes vary by the state and need to be filed separately for each state depending on where you earned your income. For example, if you worked on campus and also did a co-op in a different state you may need to complete two state tax forms. If you’d like to complete your state taxes on your own, these links might be helpful:

• New York State Tax Forms
• Link to All State Tax Forms

6. Submit your form 8843

All international students, scholars, and their dependents present in the US under F-1, F-2, J-1, or J-2 status must file Form 8843. This is the only form you will need to complete if you earned no income or only earned bank interest.

• Form 8843 with IRS instructions
• Link to the Form 8843
• Instruction Version of 2021 Form 8843

Mail the form to:
Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service Center
Austin, TX 73301-0215