Important Tax Terms

IRS Form 1040 is the standard U.S. individual income tax return for citizens and resident aliens, who must report their income. Form 1040-NR is for nonresident aliens who have U.S.-sourced income. The main difference between the two forms is the taxpayer's residency status and the income they must report.

Sprintax will select the correct form and prepare it for you.

The form is used to report taxable income and federal tax withholding relating to the following types of income received by Non-Resident Aliens:

• Wage payments made to employees who have claimed tax treaty benefits.
• Tax reportable (non-qualified) fellowship/scholarship income.
• Non-employee prize or award payments.

Qualified scholarships (money used to pay for tuition, fees, and books) are not taxable and therefore are not reported on Form 1042S.

If you meet one of the above criteria and you have not received your Form 1042S by March 15 you must contact the Payroll office.

IRS Form 8843 is an information statement that is filed to the IRS annually by foreign nationals. This form is essential for international students in the U.S. because it helps determine residency status for tax purposes as well as tax requirements by excluding the days of presence for the purposes of the Substantial Presence test.

Please don’t be concerned by words “Individual with Medical Condition”. If you are an international student or scholar, you will be completing the form as an Exempt Individual.

Note: the 8843 form can only be filed online if you use Sprintax and file additional forms. If you are a Non-Resident for tax purposes with no taxable income in the U.S. you must submit your 8843 by mail.

A W2 form is the wage and tax statement provided by your U.S. employer. W2's are issued to everyone who worked and was paid by an employer in the U.S. during the previous year unless all wages were exempt under a tax treaty. The W2 form contains information regarding taxable wages paid to you, and the taxes withheld from those wages for the tax year specified on the W2 form. If you worked for multiple employers, you will receive a W2 from each employer. Your employer is required to send a W-2 to you on or before January 31.

The guideline states that if you were present in the U.S. for any part of one calendar year, you will have to file a tax return during the following calendar year to account for the year you were present. Therefore, you must file tax forms even if you had no income during the tax year for which you are filing.

The U.S. tax agency that collects taxes and enforces tax laws. The IRS website provides a helpful list of topics relevant to international students and scholars.

Annual tax forms that you complete and mail to the appropriate tax agencies. Since the withholding from your income is only an estimate, taxpayers are given a yearly opportunity to reconcile the amount taken out with how much was actually owed. The form on which the reconciliation is made is often called the “tax return.”

A tax processing number issued by the IRS. Students who are required to have a U.S. taxpayer identification number but who do not have, and are not eligible to obtain, a Social Security Number (SSN) from the Social Security Administration (SSA) may apply for an ITIN.

Qualified expenses refer to amounts paid for tuition, fees, and other related expenses required for an eligible student to enroll in or attend an eligible educational institution. Scholarships that are applied to qualified expenses are not taxable. However, please note that if scholarship money is provided directly to the student by check, cash, or direct deposit, it is fully taxable even if the student intends to use it to pay for tuition, fees, and/or books.

This term refers to your tax filing status. You may be considered a “Resident” or “Non-Resident” for tax filing purposes. This is based on how many years you have been present in the U.S., not your citizenship status.

Sprintax will determine your tax residency for free if you create an account and fill out the first section (Residency). If you are a Non-Resident for tax purposes, Sprintax will allow you to continue to the following sections. If you are a Resident for tax purposes, then Sprintax will indicate this and will not allow you to continue.

Sprintax is an online service and software system designed to help individuals with non-immigrant status file their U.S. taxes. The program will ask you a series of questions and allow you to fill in information from your tax documents (i.e. W-2 and/or 1042-S), then the software will create your tax forms for you and you can file your Federal Tax Return online through this software. We highly recommend using Sprintax! Please note, however, that you will need to file your Local Tax forms independently as well (more information on the Forms to File page.)

A criterion used by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the U.S. to determine whether an individual who is not a citizen or lawful permanent resident or has not been one in the recent past qualifies as a "resident for tax purposes" or a "non-resident” for tax purposes. Sprintax will determine your tax residency for free if you create an account and fill out the first section (Residency).

Nonresidents for Tax Purposes are taxed only on their U.S. income. With a few exceptions, this means that any income received from outside the U.S. is not considered taxable in the U.S. Please note, however, that Residents for Tax Purposes are taxed by the U.S. on their income from anywhere in the world.

All income from on-campus employment, practical or academic training, awards, and any compensation received for labor is taxable income.

Any scholarship funds applied to the following expenses are taxable income:

• Room and board
• Insurance
• Medical expenses (including student health fees)
• Transportation
• Similar personal, living, or family expenses

If scholarship money is provided directly to the student by check, cash or direct deposit it is fully taxable even if the student intends to use it to pay for tuition, fees, and/or books.

Money earned from investments (i.e. dividends, capital gains, etc.), interest paid on your accounts, winnings from gambling, royalties, prizes/awards is generally taxable income as well. See the IRS Types of Taxable Income page for additional information.

An agreement that may exist between the U.S. and another country that exempts specific amounts of U.S.-sourced income and/or scholarship/fellowship payments from taxation.

Eligible international students in the U.S. can significantly decrease their U.S. tax liability by claiming tax treaty benefits. The U.S. has tax treaty agreements with more than 55 countries. Per these treaty agreements, students may be exempt from U.S. income tax on certain types of income from sources in the U.S. or they may be taxed at reduced rates. In order to claim a treaty benefit, a student must have a Social Security Number or ITIN.

If you are employed by, have a scholarship from, or received an award/prize from Miami University, and are eligible for a treaty benefit, the Payroll Office will apply the treaty benefit to tax your earnings accordingly after you complete all required forms and provide the necessary documentation. Please watch your inbox for messages from the Payroll office in November or December each year in regards to the required form.