I'm an international PhD student and have lived in the U.S. less than 5 years. Many people say that I cannot do e-filing. Can I use turbotax for my tax return?

[LinaJ2018 · Accepted solution]

If you are on a F-visa and have lived in US less than 5 years, you will not be able to use TurboTax to file your taxes.

Per IRS, if you are a F-1 visa holder, you are considered as "exempt" meaning not counting days for five years starting from the date of your first arrival in the United States. You are considered as a nonresident and required to file a Form 1040-NR. After the five years period, you will start counting days by using the Substantial Presence Test  to see if you qualify to be treated as a US resident for tax purposes.  If you meet the test, you will be treated as a US resident for tax purposes and will be able to file a Form 1040.

For more examples, see :https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/alien-residency-examples

As TurboTax does not support Form 1040NR,  we have a partnership with Sprintax who offers filing solution to our TurboTax customers.  See Visit the TurboTax/Sprintax site.