Taxes

2024 IRS tax filing deadline for 2023 Tax Year: April 15th, 2024

Please note that International Student Services (ISS) does not advise on taxes or tax law. The information provided is intended only as introductory information.  If you need help with your taxes, you should contact a professional.

Federal Tax Filing Deadlines

Wisconsin State Tax Filing Deadlines

Tax Glossary

As an international student  in the U.S., it’s very important that you comply with U.S. tax law and understand the tax filing requirements of your visa. If any of the following circumstances apply to you during calendar year(Physically present in the U.S. during January-December of 2023), you MUST file a U.S. tax return:

  • You worked in the U.S.
  • You received a stipend, grant or allowance
  • You had no earnings

If you were working, you would’ve been subject to Federal and State taxes and therefore must file a tax return each year.  If you did not work or receive income in the U.S. you’re still legally obliged to file a tax return (Form 8843) to declare no earnings.

ISS staff are not tax professionals and are not able to review your tax forms before you submit. The advice provided on the ISS website is the extent of the advising we are able to offer. You may find a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) who is familiar with Non Resident Alien tax filing to provide guidance, or use a tool such as Glacier or Sprintax to help prepare your documents.

UW–Madison has acquired a partnership with Sprintax to support nonresident students and staff with filing their taxes. Sprintax is an online tax preparation software tool for international students & scholars to guide you through the tax filing process and avoid IRS penalties and fines. Sprintax will help you file a timely and accurate return, meet the tax obligations of your academic visa, and maximize your tax refund. It is an easy-to-use, step-by-step tool that helps you prepare your tax return online. As an F-1 or J-1 student ISS will email you with the login credentials in February 5th to see if you qualify to file through Sprintax!

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Which forms do I need to file?

  • I am an international student who did not earn income during the calendar year.
  • I am an international student who earned income (on campus job, internship, Sodexo, etc.) during the calendar year and who has dependents.
  • I am an international student who earned income (on campus job, internship, Sodexo, etc.) during the calendar year and who has no dependents (With no dependents – it means that you have no children, spouse, relatives, or other individuals for whom you pay expenses).
  • If you were not physically present in the U.S. and you did not earn income from the U.S., you do not need to file Form 8843 or Federal or Wisconsin state taxes.

More information is available through the following links:

More Information on Deadlines:

Form 1040NR, 1040NR-EZ, or 1040 - Federal tax filing resources

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) provides assistance on federal filing requirements.

U.S. Internal Revenue Service: http://www.irs.gov

Assistance for Nonresident Aliens:

Assistance for Individuals with disabilities:

  • IRS Telephone: 1-800-829-1040
  • IRS TTY/TDD for people with hearing impairments: 1-800-829-4059

How to Contact the IRS:
http://www.irs.gov/contact/index.html

Income Tax Assistance for Resident Aliens: 

Voluntary Income Tax Assistance (VITA Sites):

https://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Free-Tax-Return-Preparation-for-You-by-V…

https://www.revenue.wi.gov/Pages/FAQS/pcs-vita.aspx

IRS Free File: https://www.irs.gov/uac/Free-File:-Do-Your-Federal-Taxes-for-Free

Form 1NPR - Wisconsin state tax filing resources

Wisconsin State Tax Assistance (Form 1NPR)
The Wisconsin Department of Revenue (DOR) provides assistance on state filing requirements. Please note that the DOR does not prepare Wisconsin State Income Tax returns.

Wisconsin Department of Revenue Contact Information

Website: http://www.revenue.wi.gov

Email: DORincome@wisconsin.gov

Phone:(608) 266-2772

Forms and Publicationshttp://www.revenue.wi.gov/html/formpub.html

Filing a Wisconsin State Income Tax Return

If you need to file a Wisconsin state tax return, Wisconsin e-file is a free option available to do so.

Wisconsin e-file
FREE electronic filing system that nonresidents can use to file the WI income tax return. Located on Wisconsin Department of Revenue’s homepage: http://www.revenue.wi.gov/wi_efile/

Sprintax - U.S. Nonresident Tax Software

Sprintax is an online tax preparation software tool for international students & scholars to guide you through the tax filing process and avoid IRS penalties and fines. Sprintax will help you file a timely and accurate return, meet the tax obligations of your academic visa, and maximize your tax refund. It is an easy-to-use, step-by-step tool that helps you prepare your tax return online. Just follow the simple instructions, answer a few questions, and Sprintax will do the rest.

Sprintax YouTube Videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/Sprintax/videos.

Sprintax Instructions for Students: https://iss.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/174/2024/01/Sprintax_Instructions-for-students_2023-University-of-Wisconsin-Madison.pdf

Sprintax 2023 Tax Season Webinars: https://iss.wisc.edu/documents/sprintex-webinar-schedule-2023-2024/

Sprintax Help Desk: https://www.sprintax.com/contact-us/

  • This is a 24/7 live chat that can help to answer all of your tax questions as you are filing!

 

How to use Glacier - For students with on-campus employment

The Office of Human Resources (OHR) manages Glacier. Review the information on OHR’s webpage before contacting them directly with any questions.

GLACIER Tax Prep (GTP) is web-based tax preparation software designed to help prepare a U.S. federal Nonresident Alien Income Tax Return (Form 1040NR or 1040NR-EZ) and Form 8843. UW-Madison student employees can obtain a Tax Summary Report through your Glacier Payroll Account. This report will provide your tax residency status to help you determine what status to file your taxes under. More information on filing taxes in the U.S. can be found here on the University of Wisconsin Service Center’s website.

Link to International Tax Seminar Video: https://iss.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/174/2018/03/International-Tax-Seminar-201smallerfilesize.mp4

Individuals who had a Glacier account provided by the University of Wisconsin during 2021 may access GTP directly through their existing Glacier account if they wish to obtain free access to the GTP software.

Free access to GTP will be made available to individuals affiliated with the University of Wisconsin after March 1, 2023. They will be notified at that time by email.

Late February is also when the University expects to release the 1042-S forms to individuals who received a scholarship/fellowship stipend, tax treaty benefit, or other payments under income codes 12, 15, 16, 18, 19 or 50.

Once notified of GTP availability, individuals will be able to log into GTP through their regular Glacier account using the following steps:

  • Login at: https://www.online-tax.net/;
  • Select the GTP module from the Glacier menu screen;
  • Individuals will also be able to print Form 1042-S through Glacier if they received income code 12, 15, 16, 18, 19 or 50 income during 2016 and they indicated in Glacier that they wish to receive their 1042-S electronically.

Anyone else being issued Form 1042-S will receive it via U.S. mail.

Individuals who do not remember the login or password for their regular Glacier account should select LOGIN, then FORGOT LOGIN. Once they enter the email address associated with their Glacier account and submit their request, they will receive an email containing Glacier access information.

Returns prepared through GTP are not electronically submitted to the IRS. Each individual must print, sign and mail their federal tax return to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) by the April 18, 2022 tax filing deadline.

Federal tax returns (Forms 1040NR or 1040NR-EZ), Form 8843, and state tax returns should not be submitted to the University of Wisconsin.

Individuals with questions while preparing their tax return through GTP should contact the GTP support team. Help links are available on all pages within the GTP website. Individuals who do not wish to use GTP to prepare their federal income tax return may obtain tax forms and more information directly from the Internal Revenue Service website.

If you are having issues accessing this information you can contact the Office of Human Resources by emailing: glacier@ohr.wisc.edu.

How to use Glacier - For students who did not work on campus

Individuals who did not have a Glacier account through the University of Wisconsin during 2021 may request access to GTP to prepare a federal tax return. For further details on the request click here.

Returns prepared through GTP are not electronically submitted to the IRS. Each individual must print, sign and mail their federal tax return to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) by the April 15, 2024 tax filing deadline.

Federal tax returns (Forms 1040NR or 1040NR-EZ), Form 8843, and state tax returns should not be submitted to the University of Wisconsin.

Individuals with questions while preparing their tax return through GTP should contact the GTP support team. Help links are available on all pages within the GTP website. Individuals who do not wish to use GTP to prepare their federal income tax return may obtain tax forms and more information directly from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) website. For students with disabilities, please see the tax forms in a more accessible format on the IRS website.

Do I need an SSN or ITIN to file taxes?

You need either a U.S. Social Security Number (SSN) or Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN) in order to file your Federal or State income tax return. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will reject returns without these numbers. (Numbers that begin with 999 or 90 are not U.S. Social Security Numbers).

You do not need an SSN or ITIN to file only Form 8843.

Does my country have a tax treaty with the U.S.?

Currently the U.S. has tax treaties or agreements with approximately 40 countries and territories under which their citizens may be exempt from all or part of U.S. federal income tax.

To see if your country is among these and how a treaty may affect your tax status, read the IRS Publication 901.

Past Tax Year Information

We have made this section to provide information for past tax years which are from 2022-2020. You can click the button below to have more information on the Covid-19 stimulus check and Wisconsin Department of Revenue 2021-2022 filing tax information.

Past Tax Year Information