2004 Income Tax Forms and Assistance for UST International Students

							      2005 Income Tax Forms and Assistance for UST International
                             Students
The following applies to you only if you were a student in the U.S. in year 2005. The Federal tax forms
you must fill out and submit are different from those US citizens must file and generally are not
available in libraries or post offices. You can retrieve the forms from the governmental websites
indicated below or from the OISS office.

 1.     If you were a student but did not work:
All F-1 and J-1 students and dependents are required by US tax laws to fill out and mail the simple
8843 tax form to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) whether you worked or not. This can protect
you from being improperly taxed in the future.

                Forms Needed:                           Personal Information needed:
                        Form 8843                            Passport
                                                              I-94 card
2.       If you were a student and you worked and/or received a scholarship
In addition to the simple 8843 tax form, any nonimmigrant (including persons in F-1, J-1, F-2, and J-2
status) who has earned income in the U.S. or received a scholarship from a U.S. source (including
UST) during 2005 is required by law to fill out and submit Federal Income Tax form 1040NR to the IRS
and State Income Tax form M-1 to the State of Minnesota during the Spring of 2006. Filling out these
forms will determine how much money you still owe in taxes or how much the US government will
return to you in a refund. The majority of international students will receive back some of the tax
money that was withheld from their paychecks. If you earned money from employment or had a
scholarship, it is very important to seek assistance and be prepared to file your forms by the deadline
April 17th.

You cannot fill out or submit your tax return forms until you obtain and assemble the following forms:

What you need to file Federal income tax:
       Form 1040NR
       Completed Form 8843
       W-2 form – statement of earnings from any and all employers including St. Thomas
       1099 form - from any US bank at which you received interest in 2001 if applicable
       1042-S form - students who received a UST scholarship will receive a 1042-S form from
          the UST Controllers office (1042-s forms will be mailed out by early March) if applicable
       1098T form – Tuition tax statement from UST or other school if applicable, students who
          are considered non-resident for tax purpose can NOT claim any credits with this form.

The Form 1040NR can be downloaded from www.irs.gov by entering the form number into the form
search on the site.


What you need to file State income tax:
       Form M1 – Individual state tax return
       Completed form 1040NR
The Form M1 can be downloaded from www.taxes.state.mn.us by entering the form number into the
form search on the site.

What you need to file for a rental property tax refund
         Form M1PR
         Certificate of Rent Paid (CRP) – get from your landlord
The Form M1PR can be downloaded from www.taxes.state.mn.us by entering the form number into the
form search on the site.


NOTE: State of Minnesota tax forms are simple to fill out after you complete your Federal Tax Form.
No software program or special assistance is offered for State of Minnesota tax forms.
     Assistance from the Office of International Student Services (OISS)
OISS will be offering several types of assistance; students can choose the approach that works best for
them. However, we are strongly encouraging students to use the Cintax on-line software listed
below in item 2. We will provide the following information and assistance to nonimmigrant
international students:

1.     We will have Federal and State of Minnesota income tax forms (on paper) available in our
      office. You can use these paper forms and instructions to fill out your forms on your own, or to
      read and prepare for the assistance offered in items 2 and 3 below. Please note that we have yet
      to receive these forms as of 02/06/2006 and will notify all students when they arrive.

2.    We have purchased an Internet-based tax software program called Cintax (formerly know as
      NRAware), which is a U.S. Tax Form Preparation Program designed specifically for international
      students and scholars in F-1, J-1, F-2 and J-2 status (This software is not applicable for students in
      H-1 visa status and students who are considered ‘residents’ for tax purposes). In order to use the
      Cintax please email OISS at oiss@stthomas.edu to get your unique password to access the
      program on-line from any computer with access to the internet. The instructions on how to
      use     the    Cintax   program      can    be     downloaded      from     the    OISS      site   at
      http://www.stthomas.edu/oiss/taxes. Please read the instructions thoroughly and make sure you
      have all the documents listed before you begin.

3. On the four Sundays in March and April listed below; we are bringing tax professionals to our
   office who have been trained in international students’ tax forms and issues. They will give
   individual assistance to students to prepare your Federal tax forms. However, they will only assist
   students who have all their W-2 and 1042s in hand and have completed the basic information on
   the 8843 and 1040NR forms. Since this is a service that we are paying for and providing to
   students with limited income, the tax professionals will not assist students whose annual income is
   more than $20,000.
            March 5, 11 am - 2 pm
            March 12, 11 am - 2 pm
            April 2, 11 am - 2 pm
            April 9, 11 am - 2 pm

Other information and assistance
If you decide to seek commercial tax assistance, we refer you to Gary Carter                             at
http://thetaxguy.com/Help.htm who is a top-notch international tax accountant in the Twin Cities.

You can also get forms and information on Federal and State taxes from these 2 government websites:
US                              http://www.irs.gov/
State of Minnesota:             www.taxes.state.mn.us

Nonimmigrants who do not have a US Social Security Number must apply for an ITIN (Individual
Taxpayer Identification) number from IRS and use this number on your tax forms. You can obtain an
ITIN number by downloading the application, Form W-7, from http://www.irs.ustreas.gov or by calling
the IRS at 1-800-829-3676.

You can also get information about filing foreign student tax forms from this website:
http://thetaxguy.com/Help.htm