Taxes

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Carefully review the information on this page to help you understand your tax obligations while studying as an international student here in the U.S.

All international students who were in the U.S. for one or more days in 2024 are required to fill out certain tax forms. Even if you did not work or receive income in the U.S., you are still required to file Form 8843 with the IRS each tax year.

Meanwhile, if you earned any taxable U.S. source income, you may need to file a federal tax return with the IRS. Depending on your individual circumstances, you may also need to file a state tax return(s).

Both federal AND state taxes must be postmarked by April 15, 2025.

*International students at Concordia College will receive an email from Global Learning before February of each year about tax obligations.

DISCLAIMER: International Community and Concordia College are NOT permitted to assist any student/scholar with any IRS tax form preparation or specific tax-related questions. The information provided is intended for your benefit. Any questions or concerns should be directed to Sprintax, a certified tax preparer, or a local IRS field office.

Important Information

April 15, 2025, is the last day for residents and nonresidents who earned U.S. income to file federal tax returns for the 2024 tax year.

Generally, most international students and scholars who are on F, J, M, or Q visas are considered nonresidents for tax purposes. International students on J-1 and F-1 visas are automatically considered nonresident for their first five calendar years in the U.S., while scholars/researchers on J visas are automatically considered nonresidents for two out of the last six calendar years in the U.S.

If you have been in the U.S. for longer than the five-year period (F-1 and J-1 students) or the two-year period (J-1 scholars/researchers), review the Substantial Presence Test. This "test" will confirm your tax residency. If you are a "U.S. resident" for tax purposes, you may use another software such as Turbo Tax to prepare your documents.

We have teamed up with Sprintax to provide you with an easy-to-use tax preparation software designed for filing federal taxes for nonresident students and scholars in the U.S. We provide this service free of charge to our international students. You are not required to use Sprintax — it is simply one method of preparing your taxes.

We (and all other college staff) are not qualified or allowed to provide individual tax advice.

  • If you wish to use Sprintax, after you log in, you will be asked a series of questions about the time you have spent in the U.S. during recent years.
  • Sprintax will then determine your tax status.
  • If it determines that you are a “nonresident alien” (NR) for federal tax purposes, you can continue to use the software and respond to a series of guided questions. Sprintax will then complete and generate the tax forms you must send to the tax authorities.

However, if Sprintax determines that you are a resident alien for federal tax purposes, you won’t be able to continue using the software.

State Tax Return Information

Sprintax also offers to file your state tax return; however, this cost will be your responsibility. If you choose not to file your state tax return with Sprintax, you may use other methods. Again, the cost of these state tax filing options is your responsibility, regardless if you use Sprintax or not.

NRVTAP — NonResident Volunteer Tax Assistance Program

NRVTAP is a free resource for nonresidents working on their taxes.

Overview of Sprintax

To help you file this year, Concordia has secured access through Sprintax to provide free-of-charge tax software where you will find an online, extensive, searchable, content library and tax preparation software for understanding your nonresident alien tax obligations and completing the tax return.

Sprintax was used by more than 200,000 international students, scholars, and nonresidents last year, and the average federal refund received by eligible students was more than $900. Sprintax’s software will guide you through the tax preparation process, help you arrange the necessary documents, and check if you are due a tax refund.

Global Learning will provide you with an access code to use the software.

Sprintax Resources

For help, you also may access the Sprintax YouTube account where there are a number of educational videos on nonresident taxes. These will provide further clarity on nonresident tax and how to use Sprintax. Sprintax also offers a range of useful content on its blog to help you file your return.

Sprintax Free Educational Tax Webinars

Topics will include who must file, tax residency, FICA, state returns, implications of misfiling, as well as how to use Sprintax to prepare a compliant tax return.

Even if you do not actually use Sprintax to prepare your documents, this webinar can be very helpful to get familiar with US tax requirements. There are many options for webinars from now until April — we recommend every student attend one of these webinars.

*Information about webinars is posted below in our Step-by-Step Guide for Using Sprintax.

Need More Sprintax Support?

If you need help while using Sprintax, you can contact their support team using the options below:

Step-by-Step Guide for Using Sprintax

It is important that you carefully read through all the steps below if you wish to utilize Sprintax to prepare documents to file your federal taxes. Remember, it is free to use Sprintax for preparing your federal taxes, but if you use it for state taxes, there will be a fee. Costs vary by state and your particular situation, so we are unable to post the specific cost here.

Below you will find a list of the free, educational tax webinars that Sprintax will be making available to nonresidents prior to and during the U.S. tax filing season. You may register for a session, using the registration links below, selecting a time and date that works for you. 
*Please note that the times below are in the Eastern time zone.

Sprintax Nonresident Tax Webinar — Overview for all nonresident tax filers

In these tax webinars, international students, scholars, and professionals will be run through everything they need to know about nonresident tax for the 2024 tax season. Topics will include who must file, tax residency, FICA, state returns, implications of misfiling, as well as how to use Sprintax to prepare a compliant tax return.

Wednesday, January 22 @ 3 p.m. ET — Register here
Thursday, February 6 @ 1 p.m. ET — Register here
Tuesday, February 18 @ noon ET — Register here
Tuesday, March 4 @ 4 p.m. ET — Register here
Wednesday, March 19 @ 2 p.m. ET — Register here
Wednesday, March 26 @ 1 p.m. ET — Register here
Thursday, April 3 @ 3 p.m. ET— Register here
Thursday, April 10 @ noon ET — Register here
Monday, April 14 @ 1 p.m. ET — Register here

Special overview webinar for CPT/OPT

Topics covered will include residency for tax purposes, tax liabilities when on OPT/CPT, and pre-employment tax forms when on OPT/CPT. The Sprintax team will also provide an overview of Sprintax forms that can be used to prepare your pre-OPT/CPT employment tax documents.

No dates currently offered for CPT/OPT session

Document  Description
Passport   

Visa/Immigration information, including form I-20 (F status) or form DS-2019 (J status)

  
Social Security or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (if you have one) This is not needed if you had no income and the 8843   is the only form you have to file.

W-2

This form reports your wage earnings if you worked. 

If you had more than one employer, you should get a W-2 from each employer. It is issued by the end of January for the previous year. Make sure all employers from last year have up-to-date addresses for you.

1042-S

This form is used to report:
1. Stipend, scholarship, fellowship income, and travel grants (not tuition reduction or exemption)

2. Income covered by a tax treaty

3. Payment for other types of services (e.g., by the semester as a notetaker)

If you received this type of income, the 1042-S will be emailed to you by March 15 by the payer.

Note: Only Nonresident Aliens receive this form. If your tax status changes to a Resident Alien, you will not get a 1042-S. Log in to Sprintax to check your tax status if you're not sure.
U.S. entry and exit dates for current and past visits to the U.S. In addition to passport stamps, you can review or print your U.S. travel history here.
1099 This form reports miscellaneous income. This can include interest on bank accounts, stocks, bonds, dividends, and earnings through freelance employment.
1098-T This form is NOT needed and CANNOT be used for a nonresident tax return because NRAs are not eligible to claim education expense tax credits.

You will receive an email from the International Community Office providing you with a link to Sprintax to set up your account as well as your unique code to use on Sprintax. This unique code will cover the costs of the federal tax return and 8843 at no cost to you.

Open your new Sprintax account by creating a User ID and password or if you have an existing account on Sprintax you can log in using your existing credentials.

If you did not earn any U.S. income: Sprintax will generate a completed Form 8843 for you and each of your dependents (if you have any).

If you did earn U.S. income: Sprintax will generate your “tax return documents,” including form 1040NR, depending on your circumstances.

2024 Tax Year — SPRINTAX INSTRUCTIONS (PDF)

After you finish your federal return, Sprintax will inform you if you need to complete a state tax return. If so, you will have the option to use Sprintax for an additional fee. However, it is your choice to use them or to do the state tax return on your own.

Remember to read the instructions that Sprintax provides.

You will be required to download, print, and sign your federal tax return and mail it to the IRS. Depending on your circumstances, you may be able to e-file your federal tax return. However, this will depend on certain eligibility criteria. You can learn more about eligibility in this Sprintax blog post.

If you have a state filing requirement, you must also mail this to the tax authorities.

Finally, if you only need to file Form 8843, this will also need to be mailed to the IRS.