2007 General Tax Information Sheet

For more information, please refer to IRS Publication 519: U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens

PLEASE NOTE: This tax information is intended only for international students and scholars with income sources and income levels typical of University of Oregon students and scholars. If you have income from unusual sources or higher than usual income you should not rely on this tax information; you should instead seek professional tax advice from a qualified accountant or attorney.

As an international student or scholar in the United States you, like your American counterparts, must know and meet your obligations under applicable U.S., state, and local tax laws. If you do not, you could be subject to substantial monetary fines or even, in extreme cases involving fraud, loss of your immigration status in the United States. And equally important, you need to know enough about U.S. tax laws to make sure that you do not pay more taxes than you should.

This information sheet alerts you to the tax questions that you must answer in order to avoid both legal problems and overpayment of taxes. It is intended especially to help you prepare to file your annual U.S. (Federal) income tax returns. Please read through this information sheet carefully and answer the questions asked. You will then be able to select the official tax publications and forms appropriate to your situation.

1) Am I a resident or non-resident for U.S. income tax purposes?

(Reference: IRS Publication 519 Chapter 1)

Your answer to this question determines your basic obligations under U.S. (also called "Federal") tax law.

If you are a resident taxpayer (which you can be, even if you are not a "permanent resident" or immigrant to the U.S.) you must pay Federal income tax on your worldwide income. You do not, however, have to file an annual income tax statement, or "tax return," unless your income exceeds a certain amount.

If you are a non-resident taxpayer you pay Federal income tax only on the income you receive from U.S. sources.

Most F-1 and J-1 students and scholars at the University of Oregon are non-resident taxpayers for Federal income tax purposes. In general, if you were a student, you were a non-resident in 2007 if you entered the U.S. anytime after December 31, 2002 and have been present since then only on an F or J visa. If you were a scholar (i.e. professor or researcher), you were a non-resident in 2007 if you entered the U.S. anytime after December 31, 2005 and have been present since then only on a J visa.

If this is the case for you, note below that you are a non-resident for Federal income tax purposes for 2007. If you entered the U.S. before January 1, 2003 for students, or before January 1, 2007 for scholars, or have had another visa type besides an F or J, please see the IA advisor dealing with taxes before deciding your 2007 Federal tax status.

For 2007 Federal income tax purposes, I am a:

non-resident
resident

2) Did I have taxable income in 2007?

(Reference: IRS Publication 519 Chapter 2)

If you were a Federal tax non-resident in 2007, remember that you pay U.S. income tax only on your U.S. source income. As a non-resident you had taxable income in 2007 if you had any of the following.

STEP 1: Check the following sources of U.S. income that apply to you for 2007:

a non-service scholarship or a fellowship grant from a U.S. source that exceeded the amount of your tuition and mandatory fees at the University (that is, a grant that covered room and/or board in addition to tuition and fees, or paid you a monthly stipend to help you meet your living expenses; scholarship amounts granted to cover tuition and fees are not taxable). The University or other granting institution should report this income to you on IRS Form 1042-S. You may not have received your Form 1042-S yet, since tax law does not require grantors to issue Form 1042-S before March 15, 2008.

wages from any U.S. job, on-campus or off-campus, including a teaching assistantship or a research assistantship, that you had in 2007. (Included in this category is all income that your employer(s) reported to you on Form W-2. You should have received a Form W-2 from your 2007 employer(s) by January 31, 2008. Please note that any amount reported on Form W-2 cannot be considered non-service scholarship or fellowship income.)

consulting fees from work done in the U.S.

dividends or capital gains from ownership of U.S. mutual funds or individual stocks or bonds. (If you had this type of income, you should not rely on this tax information; you should instead seek professional tax advice from a qualified accountant or attorney.)

any other income (such as rent, royalties, copyright earnings) from U.S. sources EXCEPT interest that you earned on a savings account or certificate of deposit in a U.S. bank. (Federal tax law considers bank interest earned by non-residents to be foreign source, not U.S. source, income and, therefore, non-taxable.) If you had income from rent, royalties, or other such U.S. sources you should seek professional advice about your Federal income taxes.


Step 2: If you were a non-resident for Federal tax purposes and you had no taxable income in 2007, you will only need to pick up a copy of Form 8843 , fill it out (for instructions, click here), and send it to Internal Revenue Service Center, Austin, TX 73301-0215 by June 15, 2008. Otherwise, continue on to Step 3.

Step 3: If you were a non-resident for Federal tax purposes and you did click on any of the above taxable income sources, continue on to Step 4 to choose the correct Federal and Oregon State income tax forms.

STEP 4: You should pick up a copy of IRS Form 1040NR-EZ and Instructions unless one of the following conditions applies to you:

your 2007 taxable income was $50,000 or more, or
you were married and you can claim an exemption for your spouse (you can claim an exemption for your spouse only if your spouse had no income and you are from Canada, Mexico, Japan, Korea or a student from India) or
you had dividend or capital gains income

If one of the above conditions applies to you, you should pick up a copy of IRS Form 1040NR and Instructions.

Whether you are filing the 1040NR-EZ or the 1040NR, you must also file Form 8843 . You must attach this form to your Form 1040NR-EZ or your Form 1040NR.