US Tax Filing Requirements

International Student Tax Filing Requirement

Glacier Tax Compliance Requirement

GLACIER Tax Prep (GTP)

DISCLAIMER: International Student Services (ISS) and other personnel at Florida Poly are neither licensed nor qualified to provide tax advice and will not do so. All information provided explains the requirements and provides resources for students to obtain additional tax filing assistance options.

United States (US Tax Filing Requirement)

All US citizens and international students studying in the US must complete a tax filing requirement annually after their first year in the US. It is a student’s responsibility to understand and meet their tax obligations. US tax laws can be complex; please view the International Student Tax Filing Requirement course and Tax Filing Guide for important information and resources to assist you with understanding the requirements and process.

All international students must file a tax return each year if they earned income in the US during the previous calendar year. In addition, students who hold the F or J visa and any dependents (spouse and children) that resided in the US between January 1st - December 31st of the previous year must file an additional tax return, even if no income was earned in the previous year.

Students must file taxes if they have the following:

Income from wages, unless the income you earned does not exceed the personal exemption amount
A taxable scholarship, fellowship, or graduate assistantship
Income from stock options
Lottery or gambling winnings
Other types of non-wage income

If you have income from these sources, you must file Form 1040NR.

Some income in the US is not taxable; international students who did not pay taxes but received non-taxable income will still have a filing requirement if they received - examples of non-taxable income/wages are:

Income from foreign sources
Interest income from a U.S. bank, savings and loan institution, credit union, or insurance company
A tax-free scholarship, fellowship, or graduate assistantship
Certain types of tax-free investments

If you earned income only from these sources, you must file Form 8843.

While filing your tax return may sound complicated, there are several benefits to doing so other than it’s the law:

You might receive a refund - Some international students will qualify for a refund due to tax treaties and a lack of high income if they have earned income in the US
Protect taxation of your worldwide income
You fulfill your visa obligations and maintain your visa status

Resources for filing taxes in the US

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the part of the US government is responsible for collecting taxes and has resources to help you learn more about filing taxes. Please view the Tax Filing Guide for more information and assistance with tax filing requirements.

Glacier Tax Compliance Requirement

Glacier Tax Compliance is a secure, cloud-based application Florida Poly uses to determine the correct taxation on wages or other income for employees and students classified as Non-Resident Aliens (NRA).

You will receive an e-mail from support@online-tax.net to complete the Glacier Tax Compliance requirement if you are:

An employee of the university; or
A student who has on-campus employment or
A student who is receiving financial aid (such as a graduate assistantship, scholarship, fellowship, or other funding to pay for school)

Information that a NRA must provide in Glacier Tax Compliance includes:

Visa start and end dates
Passport page with visa stamp
Country of residence
Country of citizenship
U.S. address
Foreign address
Social Security number or ITIN

This information will be able to determine if the Foreign National:

Is eligible for any federal withholding tax treaty benefits
Has passed a substantial presence test
Has become an alien resident for US tax purposes
Is exempt from FICA taxes (Social Security/Medicare)

Failure to complete Glacier Tax Compliance information and provide documents to the Florida Poly may result in inaccurate tax withholding and loss of tax treaty benefits. Please see the Glacier Tax Compliance Guide for steps on how to complete this requirement.

Please Remember: University staff cannot provide tax advice or assist with tax filing processes. Students must consult with a licensed tax professional or lawyer. At the beginning of each year, GTP hosts free sessions where students may sign up and have their questions answered by a live tax professional. Students will receive notification via their university email when the sessions are available.

GLACIER Tax Prep (GTP)

GTP is a software service offered to foreign nationals to assist them in completing their federal income tax return only. GTP will be accessible at the beginning of each year (between the end of January and the beginning of February).

You will again receive an email from support@online-tax.net directing you to log into GTP (if you already have a GLACIER record) or to create a login (if you do not already have a GLACIER record)

This secure cloud-based tax preparation system is specifically designed to help foreign students, scholars, teachers, researchers, and their dependents (will be referenced in the system as non-resident alien “NRA”).

GTP is user-friendly and will provide step-by-step instructions to help determine if users are NRA for tax purposes and required to file the US federal tax return form 1040NR-EA or 1040NR (or not).

NRA’s who receive US source income must file a federal income tax return using Form 1040NR-EZ or 1040NR. While these forms cannot be submitted electronically to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), they can be prepared electronically and printed (users must print, sign, and mail the tax returns/forms generated by GTP).

This means you must have access to a printer, preferably when the data is entered. It is strongly recommended that you photocopy your tax documents before you send them in.

Florida Poly’s license of GTP will be free to NRAs associated with the university.

Users should have all documents regarding current and prior visits to the US available before accessing GTP; these will include:

Form I-20 (F students) or DS-2019 (J students)
Passport
Forms W-2, 1042-S, and 1099 (if you received any)
Scholarship/fellowship grant letter (if any)
Social Security or ITIN # (if you have been assigned one)
Address Information (US and Foreign address)
US Entry and Exit Dates for current and past visits to the US
Copy of last year’s federal income tax return (if filed)
Academic Institution (F students) or Host Sponsor Information (J students)

Remember to have all payment documents ready before accessing GTP (Forms 1042-S, W-2, and 1099, if received.), and set aside approximately 30 minutes to devote to completing the process - it will be much easier to do it all at once than to have to start and stop repeatedly.

All information entered into GTP is encrypted and secured via SSL technology. If you are concerned about entering your email address (and getting unwanted email messages), please be advised that GTP will not use the email address for any purpose other than to contact the user if GTP finds an error has occurred or needs to reach them in connection with their tax return preparation.

GTP pledges that all information is secure and will not be distributed or used by anyone other than GTP.

Keep your GTP Password and User ID safe; this information will be necessary if you need to re-enter GTP later or if the internet connection fails during the process.