ISSO | Taxes | 2007 Tax Bulletin

It is tax season again and we are sure that many of you are questioning whether you must file taxes, what paperwork you must file and much more. While the staff of the International Students and Scholars Office does not specialize in international tax law and can not answer specific questions regarding your individual tax filing requirements, we would like to provide you with some information and resources that will help in filing your tax returns.

First, all international scholars as well as international students in F-1 or J-1 status and F-2 and J-2 dependents who were present in the U.S. during any portion of the 2006 calendar year, must submit tax forms. Which forms you must complete depend on whether you worked and were paid, received a scholarship or did not receive any income at all. In addition, there are two (2) different income taxes that must be filed - federal (Internal Revenue Service - IRS ) and state (Massachusetts State Department of Revenue). Please visit the ISSO website at http://www.bu.edu/isso/taxes/2007/index.html to read more about which forms you are required to complete.

Second, if you earned or received income in the U.S., you are required to gather documentation from various sources in order to complete the tax forms. Some examples of this documentation are a Form W-2 from your employer, Form 1042-S from your academic institution, Form 1099 from your bank or any other forms showing income.

Students and scholars who have worked at Boston University should have received Form W-2 which shows your wages earned and taxes withheld. This form was mailed by the Office of Payroll at Boston University on January 31, 2007. If you have any questions regarding your Form W-2, please contact the Office of Payroll directly.

Students who have received a scholarship from Boston University will be sent a Form 1042-S which shows the amounts paid to foreign students, trainees, teachers, or researchers as scholarship or fellowship income. In addition, students who have claimed a tax treaty for their wages or student stipend will also receive a Form 1042-S which will show the federal wages covered by the tax treaty. These forms will be mailed by the Office of Payroll at Boston University on March 15, 2007 . If you expect to receive a Form 1042-S, you will not be able to begin completing your tax forms until after you have received this form. If you have any questions regarding your Form 1042-S, please contact the Office of Payroll directly.

Third, in order to facilitate the filing of these forms, the ISSO has again purchased CINTAX, a web-based tax return preparation system that is designed exclusively for non-resident international students, scholars and their dependents to assist them in preparing various federal tax return forms. Please note that you will need to obtain Massachusetts state tax forms on your own at the locations listed on the ISSO website or use the software CINTAX links you to when you complete your federal forms. With CINTAX, you are required to have a login and password. Please read the "CINTAX Login" and "Helpful Information in Using CINTAX" information below to begin using CINTAX. While CINTAX is not an option for all of our students and scholars, it will assist the majority of our international community.

Fourth, we have made special arrangements with H&R Block, a tax service company, to offer a special discount of $25 to BU international students and scholars who present their BU ID card when contracting them for their services. You will receive the discount by presenting your BU ID card at one of the following three H&R Block offices:

Kenmore Square, 535 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 617-536-2048
Allston, 177 Brighton Avenue, Allston, MA 617-254-6207
Brighton, 9 Henshaw Street, Brighton, MA 617-254-4969

Finally, if you still have questions, we will hold one tax workshop on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 at 6:30pm in Stone B50 at 675 Commonwealth Avenue to give you more information and answer questions. This tax workshop will be presented by a representative from H&R Block who specializes in non-resident tax issues. No advance reservation for this workshop is required.

Please be reminded if you have earned income, the deadline for federal and Massachusetts state tax forms is Tuesday, April 17, 2007. The forms must be post-marked on or before this date. If you have not earned income, your forms must be postmarked on or before Friday, June 15, 2007.

We understand that taxes can be difficult to understand so we are offering these services to you and hope that you will take advantage of them.

2007 Tax Bulletin from The International Students and Scholars Office (ISSO) Boston University

2007 Tax Bulletin
from
The International Students and Scholars Office (ISSO)
Boston University