皇家华人

Tax Information for International Students

What is "filing a tax return"?

If you earned any income during the previous year, taxes may have been taken out of the amount of money you earned before you received it. If too much was taken out, you may be eligible to receive money back from the government. If not enough was taken out, you may owe the U.S. government money.

To determine if you owe money, you should complete a "tax return" form, which calculates how much taxes you paid and compares that to how much you should have paid.

Do I have to file taxes?

Generally, students in F-1 status who earned U.S. wages should file a tax return. All international students should submit the Form 8843, which identifies you as a non-resident and prevents any of your income from abroad being taxed.聽

If you worked for money during the prior year and want the tax money that was deducted from your paychecks returned to you, you will need to file a tax return. Also, if you are considering applying for permanent residency in the U.S. in the future, it would be in your favor to file your taxes appropriately and keep organized records of your filed tax returns. 聽

If your circumstances are unusual in any way, we recommend that you seek professional tax advice regarding your specific situation.

When should I file a tax return?聽

The deadline to file a tax return is聽 April 15.

How do I file taxes?聽

US Federal Taxes: Federal tax-collecting agency:  (IRS)

As an international student you must fill out and mail in the following two forms to the IRS (Internal Revenue Service).

  1. Form 1040NR

    • and line-by-line
  2. Form 8843

    • (even if you have not earned any income, you should still complete and submit this form to the IRS) 

In addition to U.S. Federal filing, you must file an Oregon tax return. You should file: and .

Oregon tax-collecting agency:  (DOR)

Other Resources

The International Student Services Office cannot provide legal advice concerning your taxes, but we can offer suggestions about where to get help. All of the resources below, with the exception of NAFSA, provide free tax advice.

Tax Forms

Hre are brief descriptions of tax-related forms you should be familiar with.