I am a Canadian citizen who had been in university for 3 years under an F1 visa, then moved to Optional Practical Training in July, 2007. I made less than $1000 in 2007, but had full taxes, social security, medicare, etc. deductions taken from my checks.

1) Do I need to file taxes in the U.S. for 2007?
2) Can I get the money paid for taxes back?
3) Does anyone know of someone who can prepare both my Canadian and U.S. tax returns at the same time?

Thank you.

C

1. On F1/OPT you are nonresident for 5-years. You must file your tax return if you income is $3,400 or more. So you are not required to file, but you should file to get refund of income taxes withheld.

2. Your income is also exempt from Social security and Medicare taxes. You should ask your employer to refund you these taxes and make sure that they don't deduct the taxes any further. For 2007, if you don't get taxes back from employer, you need to file Form 843 to get the refund.
Read about filing Form 843: Your U.S. Tax Return: Social Security and Medicare (FICA) Taxes for Non-resident Exempt Individual (http://taxipay.blogspot.com/2008/03/non-resident-exempt-individual-social.html)

3. No Idea.