Yes
that's correct - an F-1 visa holder
who is substantially complying with the requirements of that visa is exempt from
the requirement to pay Social Security and Medicare -
please see the following IRS link:
http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/Foreign-Student-Liability-for-Social-Security...
If you had Social
Security and Medicare taxes withheld from your pay, you can
pursue obtaining a refund of improperly
withheld Social Security and Medicare taxes
via two routes:
- You can request that your employer refund the withheld
taxes to you.
- If the company will not refund the withheld taxes to
you, you can file a claim for refund with the Internal Revenue
Service on Form 843, Claim for Refund and Request for
Abatement.
For more information,
see the folllowing IRS guide on Social Security Tax / Medicare Tax and
Self-Employment:
https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/social-security-tax-medicare-tax-and-self-em...
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 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 check out Sprintax, a partner of TurboTax, who
are specifically geared towards 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
