Researcher (J1) for 6 month in US

[mjunif]

I was invited as a researcher to come to US (from Sweden) for 6 months as a employee, no other expanses covered. How can I file my 2022 tax ? I have my form 1042-s. 

[AmeliesUncle]

TurboTax is not capable of preparing a tax return for your situation.

Because there can be many factors involved (tax treaties, etc.), I recommend that you look for a professional tax preparer of US taxes that SPECIALIZES in "Nonresident Aliens".

[pk]

@mjunif , generally agreeing with @AmeliesUncle  on the complexities involved in your filing but having a few questions for you --

(a)  was this J-1 "employment at a school, public research institute or at private organization?

(b) who paid your salary  -- your home country institution or the US employer ?

(c) do you have a SSN or an ITIN

(d) how many days were you present in the USA within the last two years i.e. in 2020, 2021, assuming that you were present in the USA in 2022 for only 183 days?

(e)if your employer in the USA was a private enterprise , then is there some sort of affliation with your employer in Sweden ?

I will wait for your answers and circle back when I hear from you .

Depending on your answers it may be possible for you to prepare your return using  TurboTax  ( or their affiliate  for form 1040-NR )

pk

[mjunif]

Pk,

Thanks for willing to get more details:

a) public research institute (DOE national laboratory),

b) the US research institute (personal leave from home institution),

c) SSN

d) 0 days for 2020 and 2021, 164 days in 2022,

e) No affiliation at all between both research institutes.

I hope TurboTax can help me.

[pk · Accepted solution]

@mjunif ,  thank you very much for your answers..  Based on your answers,  and without considering tax treaty between US and Sweden,  you would be considered a Non-Resident Alien and therefore  need to file form 1040-NR.  This is not supported by TurboTax and they generally suggest  use of their  partner SpirinTax for the prep and transmission of the return..

Additionally ,  because you are being payed by a "department" oif the US Govt.  ( DOE ), ,  treaty  conditions may not apply.

I understand that this is probably not what you wanted to hear but thems the breaks. 

This does mean that you are taxed by the USA ONLY on US sourced/connected income and generally your home country would either give you credit for taxes paid to the USA or not tax the US sourced income.

Is there more I can do for you ?

pk

[mjunif]

@pk Pk, thank a lot for giving me the path. I wasn't sure about how to proceed. You are correct, as far I understand I can't use any treat in my  specific case, but I wasn't expecting anything different from that.

I guess I need to look for SpirinTax any go from there.

Thanks again.