Hello,

After my engineering college degree, I worked in India for about 2 years. Then, I came here to USA-MA by Aug 2007 with F1 visa. I invested my salaries for this education purpose(Master of Science Degree). I did my masters and I have alrady graduated by Aug 2008. I am still in MA with OPT status. I stayed in Boston from Aug 2008 to Aug 2009. I shifted my res address from Boston, MA to Malden,MA from September 2008.

First Question is:
Am I a resident? I mean in terms of federal as well as state ?
Should I file NR-EZ form ?

Second Question is:
As I got my salaries from India(foreign money) for my education purpose (Masters degree - not undergraduation)... can I get Tax Returns for that investment or expense??

I paid $12,600 in Aug/Sep 2007.
Then $19,220 in Jan 18th 2008.

I got tax free (non-profit org - university) scholarship. This is ~ $11,000 and split between 2007 and 2008.

So can I file for tax return for the above ? At least for that $19,220??

Can some one help me on this?

Thanks.

On F1/OPT you are exempt from residency for 5-years. You must file non-resident tax return Form 1040NR or 1040NR-EZ and Form 8843.

Your income is not subject to FICA taxes but you must pay federal and state income taxes. On your income you will get deduction based on tax treaty between the U.S. and your country.

Since you are from India, as per tax treaty, you will claim standard deduction of $5,450 instead of itemized deduction. Read: Your U.S. Tax Return: U.S. Tax Filing Requirements for Non-Residents (http://taxipay.blogspot.com/2008/03/us-tax-filing-requirements-for-non.html)

Thank you. Between, I forgot to mention that I worked as RA in my university(while doing my masters degree). So I don't think I have to file form 8843. Am I right ?

1. From your link, I found another article named "substancial presence test" and from that article I found that I am eligible as resident as I have 183 days of my presence in US along with that 31 days of stay in a single month. So should I still file form 1040 NR or 1040 NR -EZ?

Some of other informations which were missing earlier are:

2. I have earned $2500 in year 2008 as a student in my university. I have w-2 form for that from my univ. So for filing my federal and state tax: what all forms should I fill other than 1040 NR or 1040 NR-EZ(if I am a non-resident) ?

3. I just now came to know that tax refund is not possible for 'tution fee' for graduate student in MA state!
But how about this case? Along with my salaries(thru my prev work ex at India), I got BANK LOAN from an India bank and have taken that foreign money as an investment or expense for my masters degree. Will I get any refund or tax return on this part of tution fee?

1) The time you spent under the F-1 visa is "exempt" from the Substantial Presence Test.

2) Even though you worked, you STILL need to file Form 8843.

3) If the money from the Indian bank loan was used exclusively to pay for tuition and fees, you can deduct the interest on that loan as student loan interest.