The IRS rule is that you must file and pay your tax owed by April 18th. You can request an extension of time (until October 15th) to file your tax return, but you cannot request an extension of time to pay. The MN Dept. of Revenue automatically grants the extension of time to file to October 15th, but they also do not grant an extension of time to pay.

With whatever information you have, you should go ahead and prepare your tax return as best you can, knowing that you will need to come back to it to finish your returns. This will let you determine if you owe an additional payment for your federal and / or your MN taxes.

Once you know if you will owe a payment, you should go into TaxSlayer, go to the federal menu section (on the left), Miscellaneous Forms, then Application for Automatic Extension of Time To File (form 4868). In that form you should enter the federal tax amount from your return, the amount of federal tax withheld, and if you will owe tax, the amount of payment you want to include with your extension. If you make an overpayment with your request for extension you can get a refund of that when you file your tax return.

Once you enter that information, click Continue. Then go to the E-file menu item on the left. TaxSlayer will recognize that you have included the application for an extension form in your return, and e-file the extension for you.

You do not need to request a state extension because this is automatically granted. You cannot include a state payment when you request a federal extension. If you have calculated that you owe tax you must go to the MN Dept. of Revenue website and make a payment directly there. Here is the website link:

MN Dept. of Revenue Payments

i. ALL nonresident alien individuals present in the U.S. on an F/J/M/Q visa must file a form 8843 for each calendar year they are present in the U.S. and exempt from the Substantial Presence Test. See our “Am I A Nonresident Alien” tool to help determine this. .

1. You do not need a SSN, ITIN, or any other tax ID number to file this form.

2. If you do not need to file a federal income tax return you will send in this form on its own.

3. This is independent of all other income tax filing requirements.

ii. Nonresident aliens must file a U.S. federal income tax return if they:

1. Have U.S. source income, such as wages, fellowships, or taxable scholarships, dividends, gains from stock sales, or any other type of income.

   1. If your scholarship only paid for tuition and required books and fees it is not taxable. If your scholarship paid for other things, or if you received it as a stipend then it may be taxable and you must file an income tax return.

   2. If you have any U.S. income at all – anything above $0 – you must file a federal income tax return..

2. The main forms for a federal income tax return are a 1040-NR form, along with schedule OI. If you file a 1040-NR return, you will also send in your form 8843 with this return. There may be other forms or schedules based on your tax situation.

iii. Where you are living does not affect your obligations to file a tax return. Even after you leave the U.S. if you meet the requirements to file a return you still must file.

1. For example, you were in the U.S. until you graduated in May 2022, and you worked until you graduated. After graduation you returned to your home country, and have not been back to the U.S. You still must file a 2022 federal tax return to report your income from when you worked, and a form 8843 to report your presence in the U.S.

i. Taxes are based on a calendar year, so you will file your 2021 tax return to report all U.S. income received from January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021.

1. Because a tax return covers a full calendar year, you cannot file a tax return until after that year has ended.

ii. Tax returns are generally due on April 15th of the following year. Occasionally there are slight delays due to holidays, and recently there have been longer extensions granted due to the COVID pandemic.

iii. Taxes for calendar year 2021 are due on April 18th, 2022.

i. You should file your taxes as soon as possible.

1. If you are due a refund, you can still get that refund from the IRS/state revenue department for up to 3 years after the original due date. If the IRS is delayed in giving you your refund, the IRS will even pay you interest!

2. 2. If you owe tax, the IRS / state revenue department will charge you interest and/or penalties until your tax return is filed and the tax is paid. The sooner you file the smaller this amount will be.

ii. In addition to the cost of penalties / interest, you are obligated by law to file any necessary tax forms. Noncompliance with your tax obligations may affect your current visa status and future visa applications.

i. When you file your taxes, you sign your name to declare that, under penalties of perjury, the information contained is true, correct, and complete. There is no way to file your taxes without doing this.

ii. If you filed your taxes with missing or incorrect information you will need to file an amended return. These are the official set of forms that tell the IRS / state department of revenue what the change you are making is, and why you are making the change. This is relatively common, which is why the tax authorities have the amended return process to enable individuals to do this.

iii. If you make a mistake, it is far better to file an amended return as soon as you realize the error than to wait for the IRS / state department of revenue to catch the error.

1. If correcting the mistake means you are due a larger refund, the tax authority will send you that additional money.

2. 2. If correcting the mistake means you owe additional tax, the tax authority will charge interest and penalties from the time the original payment was due until you pay the correct amount. If you proactively file an amended return, you will reduce the amount of interest owed, and may be able to receive a waiver of penalty amounts.

3. Although rare, deliberately filing an incorrect return to get a higher refund can result in significant financial penalties and other legal consequences.

i. You need the following:

1. An identification number: a social security number (SSN) or individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN).

2. Your passport, visa, and your U.S. entry and exit dates.

3. Documents reporting your U.S. income:

   1. A note on all documents: you may receive one or more of these documents if you have that type of income. If you did not have that type of income, you will not receive that document. These documents are provided to you by the person or organization who paid you money - you will not prepare these forms.

   2. A W-2 for wage income, IF you worked for a company as an employee.

   3. A 1042-S IF you had income that may be treaty exempt, including wages, scholarships, or fellowships, or other types.

   4. Documentation of fellowship income. The UofM does not provide income documentation for all fellowships. In these situations, your best documentation may be your fellowship letter or your one-stop student account/my pay information.

   5. 1099-INT for interest, IF you received interest from a bank.

   6. 1099-DIV for stock dividends, IF you owned a stock that paid dividends.

   7. 1099-B for stock sales, IF you sold stocks.

   8. There are other income documents for other types of income, but these are the most common for international students.

4. You do NOT need the following documents:

1. 1095-B or 1095-C – these are proof of health insurance documents and do not apply to nonresident aliens for federal tax purposes.

2. 1098-T – this is a form reporting tuition payments and scholarships used by U.S. tax RESIDENTS to determine eligibility for some credits and/or deductions. This form is not required to be provided to nonresident aliens, though some schools do provide it. Nonresident aliens are not eligible for these education credits / deductions, and so this form does not apply to nonresident aliens for federal tax purposes.

No. Nonresident aliens cannot file a joint return with their spouses. They must use the Married Filing Separately status.

1. If their spouses have U.S. source income, they will need to file their own return with the Married Filing Separately status.

2. If their spouses have no U.S. source income, they will only need to file the form 8843.

For most F/J/M/Q visa holders there is no effect of going home during the years that they are in the U.S. on their visa.

HOWEVER, there is generally one year where an absence at the start of the year can have significant tax implications. This year is the first year that the individual is no longer exempt from the U.S. tax residency test (Substantial Presence Test or SPT).

This year is generally the 6th calendar year that a student is present in the U.S., or the 3rd calendar year that a teacher or researcher is in the U.S.

If an individual is not present in the U.S. on January 1 of this year, but stays in the U.S. long enough to pass the residency test, they will be dual-status aliens for that year. This is a complicated tax status, requires a special tax return, and is outside of the scope to get their return prepared for free as a part of an IRS VITA tax clinic.

You can use our Am I A Nonresident Alien? tool to evaluate if there is any tax residency impact of going home during winter break. Just enter your projected travel plans for the current and following year, select the following year as the tax year, and the tool will calculate your tax residency based on the information you provided. If the results are “Dual-Status Alien” then you might want to consider alternative travel dates.