This is a detailed answer to
your question. Please read everything carefully so that you understand. This area of United States tax law -- for international visitors
and foreign citizens -- can be especially difficult to navigate.
For United States tax filing
purposes, people fall into one of three broad classifications. US citizens, resident aliens, and nonresident aliens.
Based on the (limited) information provided in your question, you would appear to qualify as a nonresident alien, for US filing purposes.
As a nonresident alien, you only need to file
a US tax return for taxable income that you receive from US sources. This
is unlike resident aliens and US citizens, who must report their
worldwide taxable income. Filing a US tax return (and a state tax return too, if applicable) is also the only way to request a refund of US taxes withheld during the time you were working here.
As a nonresident
alien, you will need to file a Form 1040NR or 1040NR-EZ, plus Form 8843. It also sounds like you wish to file a nonresident state tax return in Minnesota.
While TurboTax can complete
most any type of tax return for US citizens and resident aliens, at the present
time we do not support the nonresident Form 1040NR series of tax returns. That is probably the reason why you are currently experiencing difficulty with the program. Unfortunately, there is no fix for this, as TurboTax is not the right software program to meet your needs.
However, TurboTax has
partnered with a company called "Sprintax.com" to offer certain
nonresident tax preparation services. They can definitely help you with
filing a Form 1040NR, Form 8843, and a Minnesota Form M1NR. Most customers we hear from are pleased with their
services. If you decide to go with them, then you won't need to find a
specialized tax lawyer or international accountant.
In short, they are a cost-effective way to
take care of your nonresident tax compliance needs, or to file a US return for the purpose of claiming a tax refund.
For further information you
can visit them on the internet at:
https://www.sprintax.com/non-resident-alien-tax-1040nr-turbotax.html
We hope this information will
prove useful to you, and thank you for thinking of TurboTax.
