Hello there!
I am working in a hotel in San Francisco as a Sales trainee with a J-1 visa, (official description of the visa program is Agriculture; hospitalty and tourism NTE).

Accounting/HR department are not sure what percent of my income going to be withheld from my paycheck.

In addition to this, yesterday a girl from accounting/HR department came to me and told me that they have to withhold another $110 per pay period which is semimonthly. And they asked me for filing this amount in the 'additional withheld' (row 6) on the W4 form with regards to this information on the link : http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/international/article/0, id=106274,00.html

Besides I am not sure how much is going to be withheld from my paycheck, I am really worried about this issue since this uncertainty is affecting all my plans throughout the year.

Thank you for the responses in advance.

You are EXEMPT from FICA (Social Security and Medicare) taxes due to your J-1 status; make sure that payroll is aware of this fact.

The additional withholding is probably due to the requirement on foreign nationals to make sure enough taxes are withheld to cover your year-end tax liability.

Now, if your J-1 tour is one year or less, you can deduct your daily living expenses (food, rent, utilities, local transportation, incidental costs) using Form 2106 and the Schedule A in the Form 1040NR packet.

When it comes time to file in January, 2011, contact me at [email protected] so I can help you prepare your return.