[luchm]

Hi everyone,

I'm filing my 2009 taxes. I was on F1/OPT from January to Sept 30th, and then on H1B from October 1st. I'm a nonresident alien, and I initially moved to the US in 2005, so this is the 5th return I'm filing.

I've look at past threads on this forum and others, and the consensus seem to be that I can claim the $5000 deduction out of my wages from the OPT period, according to the tax treaty. In my case, the treaty is with France, article 21 (http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/france.pdf).

Yet, in that article, I read:
"(d) The provisions of subparagraph (a) shall not apply to income from research if such research is undertaken not in the public interest but primarily for the private benefit of a specific person or persons."

As I understand it, that would mean that someone on OPT working for, say, a university, would qualify for the deduction, but someone working for a corporation would not.

Do you believe paragraph (d) prevents a student on OPT working full time for a for-profit corporation to claim the $5000 deduction?

[MukatA]

On F-1 you will only get treaty deduction for students. Treaty deduction for research is for J-1 Researchers.

[luchm]

Thanks Mukat.

I called the office of international students at my former university, and they seem to agree to that who you work for on OPT does not matter, and that I am eligible for the treaty deduction. That's good.

[MukatA]

You are eligible for treaty deduction for students (F-1 visa holders).