Foreign National Tax Obligations
All international students and scholars are required to file a tax return with the IRS (the International Revenue Service, or ‘IRS’, is the U.S. tax authority). Even if you did not earn income or if you were only present in the U.S. for one day of the tax year.
Some important notes about taxes:
- Before taking any action on your tax return, you must determine if you are a “resident” or “nonresident” for tax purposes.
- Your tax status is not the same as your immigration status. At some point you may be a “resident” for tax purposes before having “resident” immigration status.
- Those who are nonresidents for tax purposes should not use tax software designed for residents for tax purposes (i.e. TurboTax). Using this software will result in an incorrect tax filing.
- The SIES office can guide you on the tax resources available, but we cannot provide tax advice or review your tax return.
Please find additional information below. For questions not answered within this page, please contact the campus payroll office or the SIES office.
Frequently Asked Questions
YES! All international students and scholars who were in the U.S. for any period of time during any calendar year must file a federal tax return.
If you did not earn any income during a calendar year (January 1-December 31) you are obligated to file Form 8843 with the IRS. If you earned any income in the U.S. you may need to file a federal tax return with the IRS. In addition to federal income tax, many states also have a state income tax. South Dakota does not have a state income tax or require a state tax return.
In January each year you will receive information about Glacier Tax Prep (GTP) and other resources available to assist you in the tax filing process.
If you have any intent to stay in the U.S. and become a permanent resident you will be required to prove that your taxes have been paid. By filing a return, you have met this obligation, so make sure you keep a copy of all tax forms submitted.
The United States has tax treaty agreements with some countries which can reduce your federal income tax obligations on wages, scholarships and other payments. Before we can determine eligibility, you must submit the required information in Foreign National Information System (FNIS). If you are eligible, you will be notified via email with a form you will need to sign.
For employees, treaty benefits are applied on the payroll after we receive your signed form. Any withholdings on prior payrolls are not refundable by the university. These payments will be considered with your annual income tax filing and may be refundable by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Tax residency status depends on immigration status and how long a person has been in the U.S. If a foreign national receives any payments from the university (employment income, scholarship, etc) the SIES office uses a system called Foreign National Information System (FNIS) to request the information we need to determine tax status.
All foreign nationals have access to use Glacier Tax Prep (GTP) software which will determine your tax status prior to filing. See the 'Glacier Tax Prep' for more guidance on using this system.
By mid-February each year you will receive information from your campus international office about our free tax filing software (Glacier Tax Prep or GTP) and the schedule of help sessions. The GTP system will be available to assist in assessing tax status and, for those nonresidents for tax purposes, GTP will guide you through the filing process. Each year GTP offers free help sessions normally starting in February. This is a valuable resource to ask questions to ensure timely and accurate tax filings.
If GTP determines you are a "resident" for tax purposes, you will follow the same process as U.S. citizens. You can contact a tax professional or use online software to prepare your return.
The SIES office cannot provide tax filing advice or review your tax return.
TurboTax software is a service designed for U.S. residents. You must verify your tax status before starting the tax filing process. If you are a nonresident for tax purposes, TurboTax will not prepare your tax filing correctly.
Social Security and Medicare Tax (FICA) is a federal income tax withholding. Normally those who are residents for tax purposes are subject to FICA withholdings. The following situations are some examples where FICA withholdings are not required.
- Nonresident for tax purposes and in F-1 student, J-1 student or J-1 non-student status.
- Resident for tax purposes but remain in F-1 or J-1 status and a university student enrolled in a minimum number of credit hours.
The SIES office will determine your tax status based on information provided in the Foreign National Information System (FNIS). Please respond timely to FNIS information requests to ensure correct FICA withholdings.
When a foreign national receives any payment from the university they will be entered into our Foreign National Information System (FNIS). We use the FNIS system to request and manage information to assess tax status, treaty eligibility and deliver tax forms.
Anyone who receives a payment from the university will be set up in our FNIS system and receive an email from SDBORWindstar@sdbor.edu requesting additional information. You must log into FNIS and complete the information request to ensure your tax withholdings are set up properly.
We ask that any request for information is completed as soon as possible. Failure to complete the information request timely may cause incorrect tax withholdings resulting in too much or not enough taxes being withheld from university payments. When taxes are not withheld correctly this will impact your annual tax filing resulting in taxes being owed (if not enough is withheld) or refunded (if too much tax was withheld).
If you start a job in the US you should immediately apply for a Social Security Number (SSN). Employers are required to have a SSN on file for all employees to ensure compliance with tax reporting requirements. If you are a student employee, we encourage you to work with your Designated School Official (DSO). If you are a full time employee you can talk to your campus HR office or contact the SIES office for further guidance.
An ITIN is required if a person is not employed but earns other income, such as a scholarship. Our office helps to assess who needs an ITIN and assists with the ITIN application process.
If you have a Social Security Number you must use that to file taxes, do not use an ITIN.
A 1098-T is a tax form reporting tuition related expenses. If you are a nonresident for tax purposes you will not use this form when filing your tax return.
If you are a resident for tax purposes you may need this form when filing your tax return. You can find more information about this form at SDBOR 1098-T.
A W-2 is a Wage and Tax Statement that employers use to report wages or salary information for employees. In most cases, you will receive a W-2 from your employer by the end of January each year. You may have more than one W-2 if you had more than one employer during the tax year.
Do not start your tax filing process until you are sure you have received W-2 forms from your employer(s). If you were not employed, you will not have a W-2.
If you work for a South Dakota university and have questions about your W-2 you can find more details along with contact information from the System Payroll Center. For W-2 questions about other employers (campus food service, off campus jobs) please contact that employer with questions.
1042-S forms are generated for individuals who:
- Received a scholarship, award, prize or other payment that had income tax withheld.
- Received tax treaty benefits reducing tax withholding obligation on payroll, scholarship or other university payments. (If you have payroll earnings that exceed your tax treaty amount you will receive both the 1042-S and W-2 and you should not file your tax return until you have both forms.)
1042-S forms are normally generated in January each year and are available on the Foreign National Information System (FNIS), or sent via postal mail where required.
If you did not have one of the above events, you will not receive a 1042-S.