I am an international student and I am wondering when I am on the State return page, can I choose to be Ohio Resident in order to get my state tax return?

[ylayu912]

I graduated last year in 2016 and started my internship on OPT in September and earned some income. I am just wondering if I want to file my Ohio state tax return, may I choose resident or nonresident in order to get state tax return?

[JohnR1 · Accepted solution]

If you are an F-1 visa holder in an OPT program now, before you proceed further preparing tax returns using TurboTax, please note that F-1 visa holders who substantially comply with the requirements of that visa, and who do not exceed the duration of their specific Visitor Exchange Program, are exempt from the Substantial Presence Test used to determine eligibility for being a resident alien for U.S. income tax purposes: this means that, provided that you are in compliance with the terms of the F-1 visa, you are considered a nonresident alien.

As a nonresident alien you will need to file a Form 1040NR to report any U.S.-source income you have. TurboTax does not support Form 1040NR, so you will not be able to use TurboTax for your specific tax situation.

You may want to look into Sprintax, a partner of TurboTax, who are specifically geared towards international student nonresident aliens with 1040NR filing requirements - for more information visit https://www.sprintax.com/non-resident-alien-tax-1040nr-turbotax.html

For more information about nonresident alien status versus resident alien status, please see IRS Publication 519, US Tax Guide for Aliens:

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p519.pdf