Most of the U.S. government’s fiscal revenue comes from taxes, of which personal income tax accounts for the largest proportion. Personal income taxes include federal, state and local taxes. Federal tax rates are consistent across the country, but state and local tax rates vary from place to place. Some states don’t even have a state tax, such as Alaska, Florida, Nevada, Texas, and Washington. Although some states have state taxes, they only apply to dividends and interest income, such as New Hampshire and Tennessee. In addition, everyone pays Social Security taxes.

The tax agency of the U.S. federal government is the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). This is the most disgusting institution in America. The deadline for annual tax payment is 12 midnight on April 15. Those who pay late or underpay will face fines or even violate the law. The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Taxation Service randomly inspect a certain number of tax returns every year. Once illegal tax evasion and tax evasion is detected, in addition to paying multiple times of huge fines, you may also be sentenced to jail. For foreigners who want to apply for permanent residence in the United States, tax filing history is also an important part that the immigration office must ask about.

International students generally have a meager income, but they may still be investigated. There have been cases of people being wanted for failing to report their internship income of 2,000 yuan. Therefore, international students must abide by the laws of the United States and pay taxes when they need to be paid. They must not take it lightly, let alone not report the tax because it is small, otherwise it may cause trouble for themselves. In recent years, the IRS has become highly computerized, and if the declaration results from your employer or scholarship-issuing institution are inconsistent with your own declaration, it can be easily compared and found out. Moreover, regardless of whether you are a U.S. citizen or not, and whether your income is legal or not, you are not allowed to evade taxes.

For foreigners’ tax filing status, the IRS and the Immigration Bureau have different regulations. It is not based on whether they have the right of residence, but on the basis of resident aliens (Resident Alien) and non-resident aliens (Non-Resident). Alien), you must first figure out which one you belong to before filling out the tax form. The main difference between resident aliens and non-resident aliens is based on the applicant’s actual stay in the United States.

Generally speaking, international students holding F visas who have come to the United States for more than 5 years; visiting scholars holding J visas who have come to the United States for more than 2 years; and those holding M visas who meet any of the above conditions are considered to be living in a foreign country. person identity. In terms of tax filing, non-resident foreigners have some advantages over resident foreigners. First, scholarships and income from outside the United States do not need to be declared; second, bank deposit interest is tax-free, but you should fill out Form W-8 when opening an account to indicate your status as a non-resident alien; third, you do not need to pay social security tax .

To file taxes as a non-resident foreigner, you need to fill in two forms: one is the 1040NR tax form; the other is a personal information form, which requires filling in name, nationality, address, passport number, time of arrival in the United States, and intended residence. Time, social security number, visa type and number, as well as the name, address and phone number of the school, department and supervisor. It should be pointed out that non-resident foreigners can only declare their own taxes, and their spouses and children are not allowed to declare taxes together. This means that only one person can fill out Form 1040NR. If the spouse also has income and both of them are non-resident aliens, each person needs to fill out a 1040NR form. If one person meets the conditions of a resident foreigner, the whole family may be able to file taxes as a resident foreigner, but will lose certain tax filing benefits. A better approach is for the non-student spouse and children who meet the conditions of living as a foreigner to fill out the non-discounted 1040 or 1040A form together, while the students themselves fill out the 1040NR form that can enjoy the discount. Of course, how to fill out the declaration should also be chosen based on your income to achieve the purpose of legally paying less tax.