F-1 student; Resident or Non Resident Alien for Tax Purposes - FICA tax; Tax Treaty

[Zwan]

Hi All,

I currently reside in Virginia. This is my first post here; please feel free to move this thread if it is out of place.

I'm aware that that F1 (and J1) students are non resident alien for tax purposes for the first five years of their stay. But, does these five years have to be on the same visa status. If the type of visa changes, does these five years start all over again - from 0.

I was in US on a J-1 visa from Jan 2009 to July 2012, then I was out of US for over an year - from Aug 2012 to Oct 2013. I came back to US on a F-1 visa starting Oct 8th 2013. Now, I'm not sure if I'm a resident or a non resident alien for tax purposes.

I'm starting a new full time job on Feb 24th 2014. Am I suppose to do a tax return this year, I won't be getting a W2 now, or should I just wait for my next year tax.

Please do let me know if something above doesn't make any sense. And, thanks in anticipation.

Zwan.

 

[LdiJ]

Hi All,

I currently reside in Virginia. This is my first post here; please feel free to move this thread if it is out of place.

I'm aware that that F1 (and J1) students are non resident alien for tax purposes for the first five years of their stay. But, does these five years have to be on the same visa status. If the type of visa changes, does these five years start all over again - from 0.

I was in US on a J-1 visa from Jan 2009 to July 2012, then I was out of US for over an year - from Aug 2012 to Oct 2013. I came back to US on a F-1 visa starting Oct 8th 2013. Now, I'm not sure if I'm a resident or a non resident alien for tax purposes.

I'm starting a new full time job on Feb 24th 2014. Am I suppose to do a tax return this year, I won't be getting a W2 now, or should I just wait for my next year tax.

Please do let me know if something above doesn't make any sense. And, thanks in anticipation.

Zwan.

You definitely do not need to do a tax return this filing season, as you did not have income in the US in 2013. As for as the resident vs non-resident is concerned, I would need to research that and I do not have time to do so right now. Perhaps one of the other tax professionals here would know the answer to that off the top of their head.