J-1 international student tax return

[imbyjin]

I was J-1 international student. I did file my taxes once with turbo tax (last year, when i still was in US), But the thing is that i came back to my country, and i gotta file my taxes in my country once W-2 is ready. In this situation, can i use turbo tax to file my taxes as i did in last year?

[bine22]

What is the period you were in the US on J1?

[imbyjin]

i had been for an year.

[DS30]

For tax filing purposes, J1 visa holders are considered Nonresident Aliens for the first 2 (non-students) or 5 (students) calendar year. As a nonresident alien, you are only required to file a US tax return for income from US sources. If you are required to file a tax return, you will file a Form 1040NR. TurboTax does not support Form 1040NR

You can go to the following website https://www.sprintax.com/ which is specifically designed to help prepare nonresident alien tax returns for international students.

[bine22]

I object to the statement "For tax filing purposes, most J-1 visa holders are considered Nonresident Aliens". It would need to say: J1 visa holders are considered non-resident aliens for the first 2 (non-students) or 5 (students) calendar years. Why? A lot of J1 visa holders actually stay longer than that and are then resident aliens.

[DS30]

I have edited my answer to include your suggestion. Thank you.

[antomarino]

I'm going through the same process. I went to the FAQ page and it seems that Turbotax now supports 1040NR forms.
"This year, TurboTax has partnered with Sprintax.com to provide a secure, easy-to-use online service to help you file your 1040NR tax forms and get your taxes done right. Please visit Sprintax.com for more information."

[DS30]

that means that TurboTax is referring you to Sprintax because you can not prepare 1040NR with TurboTax software.

[imbyjin]

okay got it. i have to go to sprintax to go through 1040NR and so on. Thanks.

[bine22]

As I said in my comment to the other other , you would be a non-resident alien for 5 calendar years.

You would need to file form 1040NR plus 8843. These are not supported by Turbotax.

You can file the correct forms or 2015, but you also need to a amend your return for the year you filed with Turbotax.

You would need to file form 1040NR plus 8843 plus form 1040X (the amendment form) for that year.

[imbyjin]

Can i file those forms (1040NR and 8843) on any web site? If i can, then can i go through the returning process with turbo tax? Or do i just go to other company designed for non-resident?
I really don't get how the returning process works, sorry for asking a lot.

[bine22]

You can file the 1040NR and 8843 for 2015 using Sprintax. The amended return cannot be done via any website. You would have to download th forms from the IRS website and fill them out yourself.