F-1 student OPT and FICA tax refund
Thanks for taking the time to help out.
I am a student on an F-1 student visa, currently on OPT and planning on filing for an OPT extension under the STEM rule. Under OPT, both social security and medicare taxes have been withheld. I have been in the US since 2001 as a non-resident alien, although I am now considered a "resident alien" for tax purposes by the Substantial Presence Test.
My question is, am I entitled to get a refund on withheld social security and medicare? I read on the Internal Revenue Service website under "Foreign student liability for social security and medicare taxes" that...
"...the Code provides one exemption from social security/Medicare taxes for foreign students and it provides another exemption from social security/Medicare taxes for all students, American and foreign. This is the so-called "student FICA exemption", and it may operate to exempt a foreign student from social security/Medicare taxes even though he has already become a RESIDENT ALIEN."
click here for link.
Given my status as a F-1 visa bearing foreign student in the US for over 5 years, now on OPT, nonresident by the USCIS but "resident" for tax purposes, am I able to claim a social security refund?
Thanks in advance for all your help.