Hi;

I am international student in Illinois from August 2007, now I am on OPT, and I do not know much about taxes, during my study I did not work anywhere, each semester I got scholarship from the university so I have to work 20 hours / week so I don't have to pay my tuition, so I did not fill any tax form!! Do I have to fill any forms now??

Next month I will start my job, and I want to make sure the employer will not deduct taxes more that he should! Ehick taxes should the employer deduct and which forms do I have to fill?

Sorry for this long post, and I hope to get answer form you experts

Thanks

AZK83:

You are liable for state and federal income taxes on the income while on OPT. You will file Form 1040NR or 1040NR-EZ PLUS Form 8843.

If you had no tax filing requirement for 2007 and 2008 due to your income level, you STILL had to file Form 8843. You can download the 2007 and 2008 version of this from from Internal Revenue Service and mail it to the following address (better late than never):

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE
AUSTIN, TX 73301

While on OPT, you are exempt from FICA (Social Security and Medicare) taxes. Make sure your employer is aware of this fact to keep you from later asking him to refund these taxes to you.