Federal and State Tax Information

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Federal Tax Information

In general, international students and scholars must file tax returns if they engage in any trade or business in the US (Studying, teaching and performing research are all considered to be activities in which the taxpayer is engaged in a trade or business.)

Please refer to IRS Publication 519 or IRS Tax Topic 851 to determine if you are considered a resident or non-resident alien for tax purposes.

• Resident aliens, for tax purposes, must follow the same tax laws as U.S. citizens. You are taxed on income from all sources, both within and outside the United States. You will file Form 1040EZ, Form 1040A, or Form 1040 depending on your tax situation. The due date for filing is April 15 each year.
• Nonresident aliens, for tax purposes, must file either Form 1040NR-EZ or Form 1040NR if they had a US source income in the previous year. The due date for filing is April 15 each year.

US source income includes: wages, tips, scholarships, fellowships, fee remission, certificate of deposit (CD) interest, investment interest, and investment income.

If you were employed in the US, your employer will send you a W-2 form to indicate how much money you were paid for the year and how much money in tax was withheld. You will need this form to file your Federal and state taxes. Some students may also receive a form 1042-S in late February from their University. This form will also be necessary to file taxes.

Indiana University is working to purchase special software to assist non-resident taxpayers with filing their Federal Taxes. Additional information on this software will be communicated to students and scholars as soon as possible. For additional assistance or questions please contact the local IRS office by phone (812) 337-7600 or in person 2017 S. Liberty Dr., Bloomington, IN 47403.

You can file Form 1040NR-EZ (and Form 8843) if:

As detailed in the IRS Instructions for Form 1040NR-EZ (2011)
• You do not claim any dependents
• You cannot be claimed as a dependent on another person's tax return (such as your parent's return).
• Your only U.S. source income was from wages, salaries, tips, refunds of state and local income taxes, and scholarship or fellows hip grants.
• Note: If you had taxable interest or dividend income, you must use Form 1040 NR instead of Form 1040NR-EZ.
• Your taxable income (line 14 of Form 1040NR-EZ) is less than $100,000
• The only exclusion you can take is the exclusion for scholarship and fellowship grants, and the only adjustment to income you can take is the student loan interest deduction.
• You do not claim any tax credits.
• If you were married, you do not claim an exemption for your spouse.
• The only itemized deduction you can claim is for state and local income taxes.
  • Note: Residents of India who were students or business apprentices may be able to take the standard deduction instead of the itemized deduction for state and local income taxes. See the instructions for line 11
• This is not an "expatriation return." See the Instructions for Form 1040NR for more information.
• The only taxes you owe are:
  • The tax from the Tax Table in the 1040NR-EZ instructions, or
  • Unreported social security and Medicare tax from Forms 4137 or 8919
• You do not claim a credit for excess social security and tier 1 RRTA tax withheld.

If you do not meet all above criteria for filing Form 1040NR–EZ, you must file Form 1040NR (and Form 8843). If you had no US source income in 2011 or you only had interest from a US bank account, a US savings and loan account or a US credit union account in 2011 you will need to file Form 8843 only by June 15.

Form 1040NR instructions, Form 1040NR-EZ instructions, and Form 8843 instructions should be consulted for more comprehensive information.

Other IRS Forms and Publications may be found at http://www.irs.gov/formspubs/index.html

State Tax Information

State Tax Forms that you need to file: Nonresident alien students, scholars, and dependents present in the United States on must file Form IT-40 PNR if they had any type of Indiana source income in 2011. Resident alien students, scholars, and dependents may be required to file form IT-40 if they were a full-year resident of Indiana. The due date for filing is April 15. You need to finish your Federal Tax Returns before starting to file State Tax Returns.

Indiana source income includes income from the following sources:

• Winnings from Indiana riverboats and lotteries;
• Labor or services performed in Indiana, including salaries, wages, commissions, tips, etc.;
• A farm, business, trade or profession doing business in Indiana;
• Any personal property located in Indiana;
• A partnership or an S corporation doing business in Indiana;
• Stocks, bonds, notes, bank deposits, patents, copyrights, secret processes and formulas, goodwill, trademarks, trade brands, franchises, and other property where earnings are a part of an Indiana business;
• Trusts and estates given to nonresident heirs; and
• Pensions and most interest and dividends are taxed by your state of residence when you receive them.

If you were a full-year nonresident and your only income from Indiana sources was from pensions, interest and/or dividends (which were not a basic part of the business in Indiana) and/or unemployment compensation, you are not required to file and Indiana income tax return.

Form IT-40PNR and/or IT-40 instructions should be consulted for more comprehensive information.

Indiana tax forms and instructions can be found at the Indiana Department of Revenue website.

For those who need to file other state(s)'s tax returns, please download the tax forms from the respective state government website. Please click here for state tax directory.

Send your federal (IRS) tax forms (1040NR, 1040NR-EZ, 8843) to:

Internal Revenue Service Center
Austin, TX 73301-0215 USA

Send your state (Indiana Department of Revenue) tax forms (IT-40PNR) to:

If no payment enclosed:
Indiana Department of Revenue
P.O. Box 40
Indianapolis, IN 46206-0040

Returns with payment enclosed should be mailed to
Indiana Department of Revenue
P.O. Box 7224
Indianapolis, IN 46207-7224