Tax Information for International Students and Scholars

The information provided below is general and is not intended to replace professional tax advice specific to your case received from the Internal Revenue Service or a qualified tax accountant.

If you are an international student or scholar who received any payment for services in the United States during the 2007 calendar year, you must prepare a US income tax form and submit it to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) by midnight on Tuesday, April 15, 2008. This is required even if all, or part of, your US earnings are exempt from tax under a tax treaty with your country. In fact, internationals holding J-1 or F-1 visa status are supposed to fill out and submit an IRS Form 8824 even if they received no payment while in the United States! Fortunately, UTMB has arranged for you to have free access to the nonresident alien income tax preparation software called CINTAX.

CINTAX is easy to use. Most users can complete and print their own nonresident alien income tax returns on their home or work computers without any problems. We encourage you to try this first.

Foreign nationals who earn money while in the United States (US), and even some who do not get paid while visiting the US, are required to comply with certain US federal tax laws. Although tax may have been taken out of your U.S. income before it was paid to you, most foreign nationals must still complete and mail to the Internal Revenue Service a tax report, or "income tax return" no later than April 15 for income earned of the previous calendar year January through December. Even foreign nationals who do not owe any tax because they claimed a tax treaty exemption during the previous calendar year must still prepare and file an income tax return.

Completing a US income tax return can seem confusing at first. The information and links found on this page are designed to help UTMB internationals complete their income tax returns themselves or get help in doing so.

Why does US Tax Residency Status Matter?

Complete a "Worksheet to Determine Tax Residency Status"

I am a "Nonresident for tax purposes"; What Now?

I am a "US Resident for tax purposes"; What Now?

Consult a Professional Tax Accountant

ITIN Checklist

Fillable Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) Application

IRS Web Site

IRS Tax Treaty Web Page

Helpful Links

Contact Us:
(409) 747-8731