Taxes in the U.S.Center for International and Cultural Education

If you were an F-1 or J-1 student in the U.S. during any part of the year, you are required to file a federal tax return for that year. You may be required to also file a Minnesota State tax return, depending on your circumstances.

Tax workshops.

Check your W-2. If you worked at Gustavus or off-campus, you will have a W-2 statement from each employer. Those W-2s are necessary to complete your tax return. You may get your W-2 statement from Gustavus on Webadvisor. 

Which tax forms to complete? This depends on how many years you have been in the U.S., and how much you earned in 2017. Look at your W-2. Box 1 shows the amount you earned. Box 2 shows the amount of federal taxes withheld. Box 17 shows the state taxes withheld.

Federal Tax Return. Get information and forms from the IRS website.

Form 8843 is required for all non-residents (F-1 students for 5 years or J-1 students for two years), even if you did not work. If you were an F-1 student in the U.S. before 2013 or a J-1 student in the U.S. before 2016, then you may be considered a resident for tax purposes, and would complete the resident tax return instead.

Form 1040NR-EZ is required if you earned more than $4,050, or if you would like to get a refund of the federal taxes withheld. More detailed instructions are available.

Please note that Form 8843 and Form 1040NR-EZ are only for non-residents. If in 2017 you had been in the U.S. for any part of more than 5 calendar years, you may be considered a resident for tax purposes. If you have been in the U.S. for any part of more than 5 calendar years, you would take the Substantial Presence Test. If you have been in the U.S. enough days, you would be considered a resident for tax purposes, and would complete the same tax return as U.S. citizens and permanent residents (1040EZ or 1040).

State Tax Return. If you only worked in Minnesota, get information and forms from the Minnesota Department of Revenue. If you worked in another state, you should find the tax forms from the department of revenue or tax department of that state.

Form M-1 is required if you earned more than $4,050, or if you would like to get a refund of the MN state taxes withheld. Form M-1W should be completed if MN state taxes were withheld.

Deadlines. The IRS requires that your tax return be mailed by April 15. If you only need to file Form 8843, you have until June 15. If you do not owe taxes, there should be no penalty for filing your tax return after April 15, but still best to file by April 15.

Consequences of not filing a tax return. If you owe taxes and do not file, the IRS can assess a penalty and interest and seize U.S. bank assets for repayment. There can also be immigration consequences for failing to file taxes. Applicants for permanent residency “green cards” are frequently asked to show proof of tax filing for previous years in the U.S. On the other hand, if you live outside of the U.S., and you do not owe taxes, there is nothing the IRS can do to make you file a tax return, and realistically they do not have much interest in that unless you owe taxes. If you can envision yourself working or living in the U.S. in the future, I recommend completing the tax return, to avoid any issues in the future.

Refunds. If the IRS or MN Department of Revenue owes you a refund for 2017, you can only get it by filing your tax return. If you live outside of the United States, they will mail your tax refund, in the form of a check, to the address on your 1040NR-EZ or M-1. They will electronically deposit refunds only in U.S. bank accounts.

Resources. GWCarter LTD (a University of Minnesota professor with a Certified Public Accounting firm) provides tax services for a fee and has a free tax guide for foreign nationals that could helpful. If you are unsure if you are a non-resident or resident for tax purposes, this page can help.

If you are currently in graduate school, your school may have tax software or services to help you complete your tax return.

You may find some community assistance tax preparation services, but if you need to file the non-resident tax return, you need to make sure they have expertise with that return.

You may want to hire a professional tax preparer to complete your tax return, but if you need to file the non-resident tax return, you need to make sure the professional has expertise with that tax return. 

If you are still in the area and would like to attend one of our tax workshops, please see the below schedule. Attached is a slideshow with instructions for the tax workshop, that may be helpful.

If you have copies of your tax return from last year, you could refer to that, as it should be helpful.

Please be careful about online tax services such as TurboTax. They may not do non-resident tax returns. You have to make sure that you do the correct tax return, as they may not realize if you are a non-resident and should do the non-resident tax return.