Graduate International student tax

[abbetto]

I am an international graduate student at SDSU and have been in the USA since 2017. I currently work for the university and usually the school helps us filing our taxes. This year due to COVID the school couldn’t help me and I had to do them on my own. I followed a friend’s advice and filed them using TurboTax. However, I just learnt it is unclear whether I can use TurboTax or not. In fact, on the international student website (https://www.internationalstudent.com/tax/faqs/) it is specified that if you are a scholar (I'm a master's student working as a research & teaching assistant), after two years you are no longer considered an "exempt individual" for the Substantial Presence Test. On the IRS website this distinction is not clear. I already filed my taxes and had my tax return. What should I do to assess this situation?

Thank you.

[SusanY1]

In your case, as a graduate student with a teaching role (a "scholar") you become a tax resident, who would be eligible to file using TurboTax on January 1st of the third calendar year that you are in the United States if your Visa is a J-1 Q-1, or Q-2.  

The IRS addresses this topic a number of different places, so it does get rather confusing.  I found this reference here: Foreign Student Tax Liability 

See this IRS excerpt from that link : Foreign scholars, teachers, researchers, trainees, physicians, au pairs, summer camp workers, and other non-students who enter the United States on J-1, Q-1 or Q-2 visas usually become RESIDENT ALIENS on January 1st of their third calendar year in the United States.  Foreign students who enter the United States on F-1, J-1, M-1, Q-1 or Q-2 visas usually become resident aliens on January 1st of their sixth calendar year in the United States.

If this doesn't answer your question, please let me know and I'll keep looking for more information!