I'm under F1/OPT status, has been in the US a little longer than 3 years, and I have been freelancing since graduation with my OPT status in New York City, What form should I file for 2012? Do I need to file both Federal and state taxes? What is the difference? Can I use services like Turbo Tax? And Where can I find the tax treaty that I could use between the US and China?

(Also, I'm marrying to a citizen this February, and applying for a green card afterwards, some people say we should file the taxes together, but should I do that for next year?)

From what you mentioned, you should be a nonresident alien for 2012. F1 students are generally nonresident aliens for 5 calendar years.

Services like TurboTax do not work for nonresident aliens. Many schools offer their international students a service like Cintax / Glacier, but I am not sure it would be available to you since you've graduated.

If you are getting married this year (2013), then it will affect your 2013 taxes but has no effect on your 2012 taxes.

You need to file federal and probably state taxes. I am not sure about the rules for New York, but usually if you are below a certain income you do not have to file state taxes. But it might be good to fill it out anyway, to see if you have any refund.

You can see the U.S.-China tax treaty here: http://www.irs.gov/file_source/pub/irs-trty/china.pdf
And the technical explanation here: http://www.irs.gov/file_source/pub/i...y/chintech.pdf

Under the treaty, section 20(c) you have $5000 of income exempt from income tax every year you are under student status.

While on OPT, you are still considered to be a student for treaty purposes.

Note that freelance work in addition to your OPT job violates your visa, so you should STOP doing that until you get your green card.

If you believe that you will need professional help filing this year, this IS what I do. Please double-click on my name (Atlanta Tax Expert) above to access my profile. You will find my email address in the signature portion of the profile (scroll down to the BOTTOM of the page).

While I don't have a fulltime or parttime Opt job, I only work from projects to projects, which is freelancing, I don't understand why it violates my visa.

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Originally Posted by natalieinnyc

While I don't have a fulltime or parttime Opt job, I only work from projects to projects, which is freelancing, I don't understand why it violates my visa.

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One of the conditions of your F-1 status is that you may not work, except for on-campus, CPT, OPT, or for hardship.

I know that, but I'm under Opt right now, which gives me work authorization.

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Originally Posted by natalieinnyc

I know that, but I'm under Opt right now, which gives me work authorization.

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If the work you're doing is in your major, then it's okay.

Agreed, but it MUST be related to your field of study.

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Originally Posted by AtlantaTaxExpert

Agreed, but it MUST be related to your field of study.

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Thanks, they are all within my area of study.

Then you should be okay.

I just used Glacier to file federal taxes, do you know if I can use any software to file New York state tax?

I recommend the state tax software for TaxAct