I was in F1- OPT from feb 1 of 2005 and got employed by a firm in NJ and am working as a IT tech support for a client in Nashville ,TN. I have been living in TN for about an year now. I have been paying the federal tax (15%) and also the NJ state tax till date. From August I have transferred to an H1 visa after which I've been paying the other required taxes too.
I would like to know :
1.if I have to pay all the 15% fedtax during the OPT period since I'm a student and also since I'm from india do I get the std deduction? If so what amt? I haven't left us in 2005.
2. can I claim a full /partial refund for the NJ tax as as I was physically working and staying in TN though my source is from NJ.
3. or do I have to pay tax for both states i.e. state of source of income and state of residence and work.
Any help would be highly apprciated. Thank you.

Zathura:

1) You must file a tax return to settle your taxes. If you check several other postings, you will be able to review the three options available to you:
- File as a non-resident alien (for 1040NR)
- File as a dual status alien (Form 1040 with 1040NR attached as a statement).
- File as a resident alien (Form 1040) sometime in March.

Regardless of which way you choose, you can claim the standard deduction of $5,000.

2 & 3) Because you worked and lived only in Tennessee, you owe zero NJ tax. Instruct your employer to stop withholding NJ tax. File a NJ tax return as a non-resident to claim a refund of all taxes withheld. Since TN has no income tax, no state taxes should be withheld henceforth.