Tax filing platforms
Why is it important to use the right tax filing platforms???
Not all filing platforms cater towards foreigners! For instance, only some platforms provide form 1040NR (1040 Non-Resident) for filing federal tax, which is the correct form we need if we are not a green card holder, PR or citizen. There are well-known platforms that actually do not cater foreigners such as TurboTax, as they do not provide the right forms (they only provide form 1040 instead of 1040NR), or in other cases, you cannot input special forms for fellowship/scholarship income (like 1042-S). Please be careful of using the wrong platforms or improper filing! This may be very rare, but the government audits tax files as well. If you are unlucky, you may be audited for improper filing.
Sprintax - recommended by Cornell
- Price:
- Free for federal tax filing if you get the fee waiver code from Cornell. Follow this guide: https://international.globallearning.cornell.edu/employment-and-taxes/file-your-return-sprintax
- About $40-50 for state tax filing. Quite expensive compared to other platforms, actually.
- Procedure:
- Sprintax helps create the tax filing documents online, then you have to print it and send it through mail. This is the downside of Sprintax too - I'm not sure why it tells us to mail the tax filing documents instead of doing everything online
- Send via USPS, starts at ~$10 per envelope, arrives in a week or less. You can also post this from UPS at College Town - they offer services via USPS as well. Your documents need to be postmarked by the tax deadline
- If you owe tax money, you can pay this online if you have an SSN (I have done this for STATAE tax, but please double check for FEDERAL tax) . I'm not sure about if you only have ITIN. If you cannot pay online, you have to pay via money order and mail this along with your tax filing documents. Sprintax will explain in more detail on what to do
OLT
- I honestly haven't used this before but my friend who is an accountant and is really into this tax thing uses this a few times, so maybe it is legit?
- Price:
- Free for federal
- About $10-20 for state tax filing
- Procedure:
- I heard that everything is online for this one, given you have an SSN. I'm not sure about if you only have ITIN, though.