Tax Information

Income Tax Information for International Students and Scholars at Florida Tech

Disclaimer: the following information does not constitute legal advice nor should it be considered a substitute for advice obtained from the Internal Revenue Services (IRS) or a qualified tax professional. The staff of International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) are neither licensed nor qualified to provide personalized tax advice.

Understanding your U.S. Tax Obligations

International students and scholars in the U.S. have certain U.S. tax obligations.  All international students, scholars, and dependents are required to file a U.S. (federal) tax return even if you do not have U.S. source income.  Below are a few things you need to know:

• If you receive U.S. source income, including wages, stipend, or scholarship funds, you will likely have federal and state tax withheld from your checks (unless you benefit from a tax treaty.) 
• The U.S. tax system is a pay-as-you go system in that there may be automatic tax withholdings from your paycheck, stipend or financial aid.  These means that in some instances your available income will be reduced by the tax withholdings. When you file your annual tax report in April of each year, you will calculate the exact amount of tax due.  Some years you may get a refund and in others you may owe additional taxes.
• The Controller's Office provides more specific tax filing information in the spring of each year for the use of Sprintax,. 
• In addition to filing a federal return, if you worked in another state on CPT, OPT, OPT STEM, you may be required to also file a state tax return for that particular state; information about filing state returns should be addressed to a professional tax preparer.

Tax Season Information

Important Tax Dates:

• The U.S. tax year is January 1^st – December 31^st.
• The U.S. tax filing deadline is typically on or around April 15^th for the previous tax year.
• Sprintax is typically made available by the end of February each year. Students and scholars will be emailed by ISSS once Sprintax is available.

It is extremely important that you pay attention to deadlines. 

Resident Alien Tax Filing

If you are a “resident alien for tax purposes,” the ISSS Office suggests that you seek professional tax assistance from a reputable tax preparer (ex: H & R Block, Liberty, Hewitt-Jackson, to name a few). 

Please see the Controller's Office for further tax information