I came to DC in summer of '05,
graduated in Dec. of '06, and have been working since Jan. 07 on OPT, F-1 status.

However, I am going to go back to South Korea in Oct. of '07 before my OPT runs out.

To sum up, I have been in DC for about 2 years now and I'm a non-resident alien for tax filing purposes- hence, I only had to hand in Form 8843 for 2006 tax period in May (?) of this year.

However, since I have been earning wages from my employer since Jan. of '07, I realize I have to pay taxes. My employer has not been witholding any portion of my wages, but I have no idea how much I am supposed to be putting aside for taxes, no less, how to actually go about filing these taxes.

I am not sure if there is a way I could get this done before I leave in October, and what forms I would have to fill. I have a dreaded feeling that I may have to wait till the tax filing period come March-April '08, but I want to get this over and done with before I leave!

Any advice/help would be much appreciated!

I don't have an answer for your question. But, I care that your question gets answered. By my posting a reply now, your question will get moved more towards the top of the list of questions needing answers. Hopefully, someone will come along soon with the expertise to answer your question.

We have some excellent tax experts on this site. I am hopeful that one of them will come along to answer your question.

RiceBubble:

I can help you now and in the upcoming tax season.

Make sure your employer has your address in South Korea, so that he can send you the W-2. Also, keep your U.S. bank account open (see below).

Once you have the W-2, you can email or fax me a copy of it. I will prepare the tax return (Form 1040NR-EZ) for you, then mail it to you for signature. You will sign it and mail it to the IRS from Korea. If you owe taxes, you can enclose a check with the return. If you are entitled to a refund, you can have direct deposited into your U.S. bank account. All this can be done very easily in the 3.5 months you have to file your 2007 tax return.

Once you receive the refund, you can close the account and have the bank mail you or wire you the funds.

Now, you will NOT owe Social Security or Medicare taxes, because, being a F-1 student on OPT, y0u are exempt from these taxes.

You WILL owe some federal income tax. Talk with your employer's payroll department about doing some extra witholding from your paycheck between now and when you leave to cover your tax liability. If you tell me how much you will have made by the time you leave (you can send that information to me by email to the email address below), I can calculate approximately what your tax bill will be.

You MAY owe DC income tax as well; I will have to research that.

I look forward to working with you. You will find my fee for this service to be very reasonable.