Filing your U.S. Taxes

F-1 & J-1 students – Generally, international students in F-1 and J-1 status are considered nonresidents for tax purposes for their first five calendar years in the U.S. F-1 and J-1 students usually become resident aliens for tax purposes after being present in the U.S. for five calendar years.

J-1 exchange visitors & scholars – Most international scholars and researchers in J-1 status are considered nonresidents for tax purposes for the first two calendar years in the U.S. J-1 scholars usually become residents for federal tax purposes after being present in the U.S. for two (out of the past six) calendar years, including any prior time spent as an F-1 or J-1 visa holder.

If you hold an immigration status other than F-1 or J-1, or if you’ve been in the U.S. for longer than five years (for F-1/J-1 students) or two years (for J-1 scholars), the Substantial Presence Test will determine your tax residency.

Your tax filing status may change over time, so it is a good idea to review these guidelines each time you complete your taxes. For more information about nonresident aliens for tax purposes, visit the IRS website.

Yes! A nonimmigrant or an immigrant visa status under U.S. immigration law is different from U.S. tax residency status under U.S. tax law. Terms nonresident alien or resident alien usually refer to tax residency status and tax purposes, while terms such as permanent resident (e.g., LPR or green card holder) refer to immigration status.

Yes! WashU has partnered with Sprintax, a tax preparation software designed for international students and scholars.

After you create your Sprintax account and log in, the first thing you will do is answer a series of questions, which will determine your tax residency status. You will answer questions about the time you have been in the U.S. over a period of several years, as well as the types of visas you have used to enter the U.S. Sprintax will then determine your tax status.

If the software determines that you are a nonresident alien for tax purposes, you can continue to use Sprintax to prepare your federal (and state) tax returns. Sprintax will ask a series of questions to help you fill out the appropriate tax return forms and will complete and generate the tax forms you need to send to the IRS (and state department of revenue office). In general, nonresidents are taxed only on income that is considered U.S. sourced.

If Sprintax determines you are a resident alien for federal tax purposes, you will not be able to use Sprintax to prepare your tax return. You will be directed to other resources to prepare your tax return. In general, residents are taxed on worldwide income.

No, OISS staff are not tax experts and cannot provide tax advice beyond the information provided on our website.

Yes. If you were physically present in the U.S. and/or received U.S. income during the previous calendar year, you need to file taxes even if you have returned home and are not in the U.S. currently.

Foreign nationals can prepare their tax return from outside the U.S. and mail it to the IRS from abroad. Foreign nationals who are nonresident aliens (NRAs) for tax purposes can use Sprintax to prepare their tax return from abroad. Log in to Sprintax with your WUSTL Key to prepare and print your tax return, including all forms and instructions for submitting your forms to the IRS and state department of revenue offices. Students can continue to use their WUSTL Key after graduating.

See our Tax Document page.

Nonresident aliens who receive stipends from a WashU stipend, scholarship or fellowship, but will not be employed, such as a graduate assistantship or fellowship will not be eligible for a Social Security Number (SSN) and must instead apply for an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN). Students who receive an ITIN and later become eligible for an SSN must apply for an SSN and cancel their ITIN.

If you already have an SSN, you will use that number to file your taxes and you do NOT need an ITIN.

For full information, please consult the Social Security Number & Individual Tax Identification Number pages on the OISS website.

Form 8843 is not a U.S. income tax return. It is an informational statement required by the IRS for nonresidents for tax purposes. It should be filled out for every nonresident alien present in the U.S. in the previous year, including spouses, partners and children.

If you are not sure whether you are a nonresident for tax purposes, please read the section above about determining tax residency status.

Nonresident Tax Filers

• If you are a nonresident tax filer with U.S. source income and are using Sprintax to file your tax return, your Form 8843 will be included in the forms that Sprintax generates for filing.
• If you are filing your 1040NR form yourself, you must also include Form 8843.

Resident Tax Filers

• If you are considered a resident for tax purposes, you are not required to file Form 8843.

If you are a nonresident tax filer, and have NO U.S. source income in the tax year for which you are filing, you only need to complete and file Form 8843 with the IRS to fulfill your federal tax filing obligation.

Not having any U.S. source income means that you did not receive wages, salary, awards, prizes, or taxable stipends, scholarships or fellowships (i.e., the amount of scholarship or fellowship that exceeds the amount of your tuition) from a U.S. institution, organization or company. Financial support, (such as sabbatical salary or a scholarship) from your home country or an organization outside the U.S. is not considered U.S. source income.

Note: If you are a nonresident tax filer with U.S. source income and are using Sprintax to file your tax return, your Form 8843 will be included in the forms that Sprintax generates for filing.

• Form W-2 reports your wage earnings if you worked during the tax year.
• If you had more than one employer, you should get a W-2 from each employer.
• W-2s are issued by the end of January for the previous calendar year.
• Make sure all employers from last year have an up-to-date address for you. If you have not received this document by January 31, be sure to contact your employer right away to request it.
• If you did NOT work, you will not receive a W-2.

W-2s are available as of January 31 for the previous year. View step-by-step instructions on how to find your W-2 form in Workday.

Form 1042-S is used to report income paid to a nonresident, including income covered by a tax treaty, or income from a stipend, scholarship or fellowship grant. A nonresident employee could potentially receive both a Form 1042-S and a Form W-2 or only a Form W-2 if they did not claim a tax treaty allowance.

1042-S forms from WashU will be available in FNIS (Foreign National Information System) no later than March 15th. For more information about Form 1042-S, please see Tax Documents.

Form 1040-NR (U.S. Nonresident Alien Income Tax Return) is the income tax return form that nonresident aliens in the U.S. must file if they had any income from U.S. sources throughout the year.

Those considered resident aliens for tax filing purposes and U.S. citizens file Form 1040.

You can file taxes for previous years, but you should do so as soon as possible as there are penalties for filing late. You can download prior year tax return forms at IRS.gov and complete the returns yourself, or you can use Sprintax (if you are considered a nonresident alien for tax purposes) to prepare the tax returns for previous years. Contact the WashU Tax Office with questions about your tax documents from the university for previous years.