Income tax filing requirement
January 1 through April 15 is “Tax Season” in the United States. During this period, U.S. citizens, permanent residents and many non-immigrants must file income tax returns and other tax forms. The ISSS Office provide guidance and information on this process, but cannot provide tax advice or assistance in the completion of the forms. For this purpose, we offer TAX WORKSHOPS and this page with information. Please attend one of the workshops and read this page to make sure you have the most accurate information.
By law, every individual in F-1, F-2, J-1 and J-2 status must file certain tax forms, even if they have not worked in the U.S. All international students, scholars and their dependents (F-1, F-2, J-1 and J-2 who have been in the United States the previous calendar year) who are non-residents for tax purposes MUST file tax Form 8843 regardless of whether they worked or not.
ISSS has partnered with Sprintax, a tax preparation service designed specifically for international students, scholars, and nonresidents.Sprintax will guide you through every step of your tax filing. Their tax experts will help you prepare the necessary documents and even check if you’re eligible for a tax refund.
FIU students receive a $5 discount on the cost of federal tax-filing. Simply enter the discount code 5F25FIU2000 when you begin filing.
Once you complete the preparation process in the Sprintax software, you may need to print, sign and mail your documents to the IRS. Depending on your circumstances, you may be able to E-file your federal tax return. However, this will depend on certain eligibility criteria.
If you have a state filing requirement, you must also mail this to the tax authorities. Finally, if you only need to file Form 8843, this will also need to be mailed to the IRS. You can also check out the extensive Sprintax Knowledge Base, that answers many of the questions the Sprintax team receives from nonresidents in the US.
Please review the following resources: