Hey,

A lot of my friends and myself are under the impression that international students on J1 / F1 get a full tax refund. I am not sure if this is completely true. I am from India on J1 and under academic training and hence giving a lot of taxes.

Also, if you have used any professional / paid help for taxes, please share your experiences.

Thanks

AtlantaTaxExpert

Whether you are completely exempt from taxes depends on the type of training you get. One J-1 visa holder who is doing non-profit research would be completely tax exempt, while another J-1 visa holder who is doing research for a for-profit company would pay income taxes, but probably not Social Security and Medicare taxes.

F-1 visa holders are generally exempt from Social Security and Medicare taxes, but only for five years. On the the sixth year, they are treated and tax like U.S. citizens.

jainonj1

Thanks Man,

I know that I have to pay income taxes but how much of that do you generally get back as the refund?

AtlantaTaxExpert

I cannot say. It depends on how much you have withheld, how much money you earned, which country you are from (different treaties in effect), the nature of your work, and whether you have family with you.

mura2020

I am researcher from India. I am in J1 visa. I am having same question. First 2 years I had tax exempt. Now my salary is ~2166 USD/MONTH. I am in 3rd year. Starting this year, I have been taxed every month ~537USD ( with hold). I want to know that how much I can get refund next If I file the tax return. I am single. I am a post doc., researcher in University. Whether I will have tax exempt under "doing non-profit research would be completely tax exempt". Thanks for the answers.

MukatA

After two years, you days in the U.S. are not exempt from residency. You must pay all the taxes like the U.S. citizens and residents.
Only for first two years, you must file nonresident tax return Form 1040NR or 1040NR-EZ with Form 8843.