F1 OPT tax on overseas income/gifts

tehanu · #1 Feb 11, 2007, 08:52 PM

Hi, I am sorry if this post appears twice, but I don't think my first one came through.

Anyway: This is my fifth year as an F-1. I am currently on OPT, focusing mainly on producing creative work, which I have not been earning money for. My current employment gives me a small income, and my parents who live overseas, have generously agreed to support me in the States.

But my parents thought it best to give the money to me through my US relatives, and so I get the money on a nearly daily, sometimes weekly basis. But I have read that gifts and overseas income also gets taxed in the States. This makes me a bit nervous, because I have not declared any such income on my 1040NR when my parents helped me out while I was studying. Does this money my parents give me (through my relatives in the US) count as income? Does my status as a non-resident, therefore filing 1040-NR, exempt me from that?

Also, this year will be my sixth year in the States. Assuming that I will still be needing support from my family, do I have to declare that support in the 1040 when I file next year?

Thank you.

tehanu · Feb 12, 2007, 08:45 PM

Thanks, Atlanta Tax Expert.

Should I tell my parents overseas that they will be paying taxes in the US then? Or will my relatives cover that? The situation is they give the money to relatives for safe-keeping, and then the money comes to me in small amounts at a time (I asked that because I did not want to spend all my money at once!). Now I am worried I put my relatives in a situation where they pay taxes just for holding my money from overseas...

Thank you.



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