Filing Taxes

Save time and headaches with information and resources to make sure you are confident and prepared when navigating U.S. taxes.

All international students and scholars who were present in the U.S. in 2023 must file a Form 8843, whether they were employed in the U.S. or not. You can refer to this Form 8843 Online Wizard for additional assistance with filing Form 8843. If you worked or received a stipend, grant, or allowance in the U.S., you may also need to file a Form 1040NR.

Note: International student advisors are not tax experts and are legally prohibited from giving you tax advice. It is your responsibility to determine how to file your taxes and/or find a tax preparation service.

To help you navigate this task, we have prepared the following list of information, sites, and resources:

Tax Filing Deadline

April 15, 2024

Tax Filing Assistance

UC Santa Cruz has arranged access to Glacier Tax Prep to assist international students and scholars who are nonresidents for tax purposes and who have an account with Glacier Tax Compliance System to prepare U.S. federal tax returns.

We invite you to join us for a Zoom workshop hosted by Glacier Lead Administrator, Lana Ballow. View the tax workshop schedule on the events & workshops webpage.

If you have questions about how to navigate GLACIER, please contact Lana Ballow in Financial Affairs at lana@ucsc.edu. Please limit questions to Glacier only, as UCSC is unable to offer tax advice.

Glacier Tax Prep (GTP) is an online tax preparation software that is supported by Glacier, specifically designed for nonresidents and supported by experienced tax experts in tax filing for nonresidents for tax purposes. UCSC has a license with Glacier, and there is no cost to students and scholars to use GTP. If you have questions about how to navigate GTP or if you have any tax-specific questions, please contact the GTP support team of experienced tax experts at support@online-tax.net. Do not contact the UCSC payroll department with tax questions, as they are legally prohibited from giving tax advice.

The IRS does not currently allow Forms 1040NR-EZ to be filed electronically. Individuals must print, sign, and mail the tax returns/forms generated by GTP. Therefore, they must have access to a printer, preferably at the time the data is entered.

You must file both a U.S. and California state tax return if you received the following income in 2023:

Compensation/Wages (payment for services performed)
Non-service Scholarships and Fellowships
Stipend, grant, or allowance
Capital gains (buying/selling stock)
Dividends
Bank interest (checking or savings)
Self-employment income (Uber, etc)
Gambling
Prizes/Awards
Other income

Workshops

View upcoming tax workshops on the events & workshops webpage.

Tax Resources

Additional information

540NR Booklet
540NR – California Nonresident or Part-Year Resident Income Tax Return (fillable – 2023)
540 NR California Adjustments — Nonresidents or Part-Year Residents (fillable)
ftb.ca.gov

Helpful Tax Sites & Resources

Beware of Tax Scams

Tax Preparation Software

Glacier Tax Prep (GTP) is an online tax preparation software that assists international students and scholars with federal tax filing. UCSC has a license with GLACIER. If you have questions about how to navigate GTP or if you have any tax-specific questions, please contact GTP support team of experienced tax experts at support@online-tax.net. Do not contact the UCSC payroll department with tax questions, as they are legally prohibited from giving tax advice.
Sprintax is a company that assists international students and scholars with both federal and state tax filing. We have arranged for a $3 discount to use their software for your state tax filing. You can get this discount by going through our referral link and using the code “3UCSC250S23“.

Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

Foreign Student & Scholar Information
International Tax Payers
Understanding Taxes
Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA). Please note that NOT all IRS-certified volunteers in the VITA program are trained on nonresident tax concerns.
How to Contact the IRS

California State Franchise Tax Board

UC Santa Cruz

GLACIER Training [PPT]
Foreign National Visitor/GLACIER Guide, includes information on tax withholding and tax treaties
Payroll Employee Guide

Other Resources

GW Carter Certified Public Accountants Foreign National Tax Guide
International Student Tax return information

Basic Tax Vocabulary

Adapted from the IRS Understanding Taxes Glossary

IRS: Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. federal agency responsible for tax collection
Alien: Any person who is not a U.S. citizen
Non-Resident Alien for Tax Purposes: Generally, aliens that do not meet the “substantial presence test”
Resident Alien for Tax Purposes: Generally, aliens who meet one of the two criteria in the “substantial presence test”
Substantial Presence Test: Defined in detail here by the IRS.
Compensation/Earnings: Wages, salaries, tips, etc.
Income: Wages, salaries, tips, commissions, interest, dividends, some scholarship/fellowship grants
Exemptions: Amount taxpayers can claim for themselves, their spouses, and eligible dependents. There are two types of exemptions-personal and dependency. Each exemption reduces the income subject to tax.
Refund: Money owed to taxpayers when their total tax payments are greater than the total tax. Refunds are received from the government.
Income Tax Return: Statement filed (submitted) by an individual taxpayer to IRS
U.S. Federal Income Tax: Income tax imposed by the U.S. federal government
California Income Tax: Income tax imposed by California state government
Social Security & Medicare Taxes: Social Security (FICA) and Medicare are U.S. government programs that provide benefits to U.S. citizens and permanent residents, generally for retirement. The programs are financed through paychecks of working individuals. Students who are classified as Non-Resident for tax purposes are not required to pay into Social Security or Medicare. Those in J-2 status may be required to pay into Social Security, as are students who have become classified as Resident for tax purposes.