I am an international student on a fellowship.
There is a treaty between my country Romania and US that says for the first 5 years the fellowships are non-taxable.

However, here at the U of I you have to make an appointment to sign the treaty and they schedule you when they are available, of course.

It turned out that they couldn't schedule me until October and the first stipend received was in September. For that they have withheld (a lot) of taxes. When I told them that there was the treaty that was exempting me of any tax on the fellowship, they said: "it's okay, you can claim that money when you do your taxes". In Jan. they sent me two 1042S: one for the first stipend with the tax withheld, one for the next stipends with no tax withheld.

After I signed the treaty, they did not withhold any more taxes for the stipends for Oct. Nov. and Dec.

But now, I have no idea how to claim that money withheld on my STATE taxes. The university gave us access to an online software that does the federal taxes.

I would highly appreciate if anyone can give me any advice.
I have contacted the local IRS office and they told me they don't know anything about the state taxes and I should call some numbers. Those numbers gave me some other numbers, but I have been unsuccessful in reaching them because of the 1h+ wait line.

I have also tried to email the IRS of IL, but after more than one week they have not replied.

In a nutshell this is the question:
Does anyone know how to claim money withheld on 1042S when filling state forms for non-residents?

Thank you very much!
S.

You will file your nonresident tax return and Form 8843. Read: Your U.S. Tax Return: U.S. Tax Filing Requirements for Non-Residents

If you are a degree candidate and if the financial aid (includes scholarship and fellowship) is for tuition fee, other fees, books, supplies and equipment, then it is not taxable. Read scholarship and fellowship grants, Your U.S. Tax Return: The U.S. Income Tax Topics 1