Tax-return process for international students

Editor’s Note: This is the second in a series about the struggles international students face before and after graduation.

International students who earned income in 2023 must file a tax return by April 15. If they did not earn any income in 2023, they must file Form 8843 with the IRS by the same deadline.

The UTRGV International Student Services offers free access codes to Sprintax to help students with the process on a first-come, first-serve basis. 

Sprintax is an online self-preparation software that guides nonresidents through each part of the tax process. 

International Student Services and UTRGV are not permitted to assist any student/scholar with any IRS tax form preparation or tax-related questions. The information provided is intended for their benefit. 

Sprintax assists international students with preparing their tax returns, gathers necessary documents and determines if they are eligible for a tax refund. 

The Sprintax team is available 24/7 via live chat through its website.

International students who are nonresident aliens for tax purposes must pay tax in the U.S. on wages, salaries, tips, interest, dividends, some scholarships and fellowship grants, as well as prizes and awards.

International students who pass the substantial presence test may be considered residents for tax purposes by the IRS. This means students would need to report their worldwide income, unlike nonresidents who only need to report their U.S.-sourced income.

To meet this test, international students must be physically present in the U.S. for 31 days in the current year and a total of 183 days during the three-year period that includes the current year and the two years immediately before that, according to the IRS website.

Sprintax hosted a free educational tax webinar last Tuesday, where Anna Fitzpatrick, Sprintax account manager, explained what students can do if they have never filed a tax return.

“For anyone who has forgotten to file it for previous years, you can catch a backfile at any stage,” Fitzpatrick said. “And we would recommend that you do so as soon as you can. And the good news there is that if you need help … the Sprintax system can assist with that. So when you log into the system, you’ll see a list of tax years, you’ll select the tax year you need help with. And then we will generate your 8843 or older tax forms for you.”

International students need their W-2 form, Social Security number or the Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, passport and visa status information, according to the webinar.

Students who received a taxable scholarship must submit the 1042-S form. If they earned rental income, investment income or if they worked as an independent contractor, they must submit a 1099 form.

Even if international students did not earn income in 2023, as a nonresident in the U.S., they will still need to file Form 8843, “Statement for Exempt Individuals and Individuals with a Medical Condition,” according to the IRS website.

“So with international students in the United States, we have been told from the federal regulations that anyone who was present in the previous calendar year, even if it’s for, like, one day … have to file taxes,” said UTRGV International Student Adviser Ashley Alvarado.

Alvarado said taxes are a complicated process even for U.S. citizens and residents.

“So we always recommend that students use either a certified tax professional or go through a certified tax agency, kind of like Sprintax,” she said. “And so students would just kind of start that process with reaching out to one of them and seeing where they need to go. Students who work will file a 1040 … and students who didn’t work will file a Form 8843.”

Alvarado said about 70% of international students will get a federal tax refund.

“Everywhere you go, even as citizens, they’ll charge you to prepare your taxes,” she said. “And so just to make the process a little bit easier, because $75 is a lot of money … we help with that process. So we go to Sprintax, we buy codes, and we distribute them to students. And because we buy codes from Sprintax, they have webinars … They go through, like, the most common questions.”

Sprintax will offer its educational tax webinars throughout March and April. Students can email international@utrgv.edu for more information on how to register for a webinar.