[hakuna-matata]

"Dear Experts,"

Greetings from just another non-resident alien who has gotten himself into a tax mess. I came to the United States in 2005 on an F-1 visa to begin my undergraduate education. (I graduate this coming May, hooray!! )

My country of citizenship is Germany. My country of residency is Kenya.

Time has come to file taxes and usually this is a very happy time of the year for me as in the past, I have always gotten most of my taxes back. In fact, one year I got more money back than I had paid in taxes thanks to George W.'s generous economic stimulus check.

This year however, things are quite different. I have come to the grave realisation that I have been filing for taxes using the 1040 EZ form instead of the 1040 NR / NR EZ and as a result, I probably owe the IRS a lot of money.

I would like to make amends to my situation, preferably before an IRS agent shows up at my doorstep. (unless he's the IRS agent from the movie "Seven Pounds")

As far as I The Goldfish can remember, here is a list of my "tax frauds":
Tax Year 2005 : Worked, did not file taxes.
Tax Year 2006 : Unsure if I worked and even if I did, highly unlikely that I filed file taxes.
Tax Year 2007 : Worked, filed taxes online using form 1040 EZ via H&R block, no state tax in FL, forgot to mail W-2 to IRS. The IRS then sent me a letter to mail in my W-2 but I was like "ughh.. whatever." This was also the year I wrongfully received a $300 stimulus check.
Tax Year 2008 : Worked, filed taxes online using form 1040 EZ via H&R block, filled out another form for MN state tax, mailed W-2 to IRS.
Tax Year 2008 : Worked, yet to file taxes. This is the part where you tell me what I must do to correct all my wrong doings.

I am desperate for help/advice so a quick response will be much appreciated.

Thank you and as always, hakuna matata! :-)

[MukatA]

On F1 you are exempt from residency for 5-years. You must file non-resident tax return Form 1040NR or 1040NR-EZ and Form 8843. Your income is not subject to FICA taxes. You filed resident tax return for past years, which was a mistake.

You may file amended tax return Form 1040X along with properly done non-resident tax return.

You need to check if the employer is withholding SS tax and Medicare tax from your income. If you have been paying FICA taxes, then after about 12 weeks of filing amended return, you can file Form 843 for refund of FICA taxes.

Also you have to find out what tax treaty applies in your case-- U.S. and Germany or U.S. and Kenya. If U.S. and Germany, you get $9000 of treaty deduction for 4-years (if you do not stay more than 4 years). U.S. and Kenya does not have tax treaty.
Your U.S. Tax Return: U.S. Tax Filing Requirements for Non-Residents
Your U.S. Tax Return: Social Security and Medicare (FICA) Taxes for Non-resident Exempt Individual