Dear Sir/Madam,

I am from Hong Kong (HKSAR, China), single, and no dependents. An international student works under F-1 OPT status.

Currently, I’m working near Seattle, Washington State. This is my first official full time employment ever in the US. My employer changed payroll company during the year. So I have two 2013 Form W-2 Wage and Tax statements.

Here is the number on the statements:


Wages, tips, other comp: $ 23914.53
Wages, tips, other comp: $ 17627.67
Total = 41542.20

Federal income tax withheld: $ 3610.97
Federal income tax withheld: $ 2270.07
Total = 5881.04

S.S. tax withheld: $ 1482.70
S.S. tax withheld: $ 1092.91
Total = 2575.61

Medicare Tax withheld: $ 346.76
Medicare Tax withheld: $ 255.60
Total = 602.36

State Income Tax: N/A
State Income Tax: N/A


Country: Hong Kong (HKSAR, China)
Visa status: F-1 (OPT) From March/2013 till now, March/2014
Location: Seattle, Washington State
Marital Status: Single and no other family member.
I do not have other source of income nor investment.

FIY: I do not know if I myself determine as “Resident Aliens” or “Nonresident Aliens.” I started my education as F-1 status since 2006, and hardly went out the US (may be a month oversea vacation every twice years.)

I never do my tax in the US, my questions are:

Q1) What type of tax I have to file as with my F-1 employment status?
Q2) Do I get any tax refund at this point with my F-1 status?
Q3) If not getting any tax refund, how much more tax I may need to pay with my W-2 statements?
Q4) What type of form(s) I need to file my tax as F-1 status?

I am appreciated for your time and effort. I believe your reply could help thousands of F-1 students in their OPT tax matters! Thank You!

Sincerely,

First and foremost, due to your status as an F-1 visa holder, you are EXEMPT from the FICA (Social Security and Medicare) taxes, so go back to your employer and ask for a refund of those taxes.

If the agree, great.

If not, get a refusal letter that states how much in Social Security and Medicare taxes you should get back, and WHY they cannot refund it. This letter, though not absolutely necessary, makes the process of getting the money back from the IRS a WHOLE lot easier.

You will then file Forms 843 and 8316 with a bunch of support documents with the IRS to get the FICA taxes back. Expect the process to take between three months and one year.

For the annual tax return, you will file Forms 1040NR-EZ and 8843. Your federal refund projects to be $1,433. Being Chinese, you are entitled to a $5,000 treaty exemption for students.

If you need professional help for either filing, email me at the email address in my profile.