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ghomsid · Mar 19, 2011, 02:02 PM

Hi all,

I graduated from college last May and have been working since then (I was an international student and currently working on OPT). I'm totally confused about how to file my 2010 taxes (because I was a student and then been working since I graduated). I was a scholarship recipient in college and so I got a 1042-S form from my school. I tried using turbotax to file my taxes, but I couldn't enter my 1042-S info on there.

Any ideas how to file my taxes? What are my options? Thanks so much you!

crazee85 · Mar 19, 2011, 05:34 PM

Since you are still working on OPT, you can exclude all the days in 2010 from substantial presence test. Hence, you will still file as a non-resident alien for 2010.

ghomsid · Mar 19, 2011, 05:43 PM

Thanks crazee85. So how do I go about that? I don't think I can file as non-resident alien on turbotax or any of those online softwares for that matter. Any way of doing this apart from hiring an accountant? Thanks!

crazee85 · Mar 19, 2011, 05:50 PM

If your university provides access to CINTAX software, you can use that. Otherwise, you will have to pretty much do it yourself.

If you have filed your tax returns for 2009 in the same status and received a 1042-S form that year also; the tax return should be pretty similar. Otherwise may be some senior can help here. I am not sure of how scholarships get taxed, and what would be the effect of tax treaties with your country of citizenship.

PS: I forgot to mention that you will be a non-resident alien for the year 2010 only if you haven't been in US for more than 5 years under F-1 status.

ghomsid · Mar 19, 2011, 06:38 PM

OK, I started college in 2006, so technically 2010 was my 4th year in the US. My Uni provided us with a software called windstar, which I tried using to file my 2010 taxes. However, I couldn't enter all the info on the W2 provided by my current employer on there.

How do I go about doing it myself? Do you mean like paper filing?

crazee85 · Mar 19, 2011, 06:44 PM

So you will file as a non-resident alien, since you haven't yet completed your 5 years. It looks like Windstar is also a non-resident alien tax software, so technically it should work. You are right that you will have to do paper filing as a non-resident alien; it can't be e-filed.