About U.S. Taxes

In the U.S., the general rule is that employment income is taxable where the activity or services are performed. All compensation for services performed in the U.S. is subject to federal taxes unless an exception applies.

The services you perform in the U.S. will be taxed based on your residency status for federal income tax purposes. Whether you are considered a resident alien or non-resident alien for tax purposes determines how you are taxed (these are tax terms, not immigration terms).

The U.S. tax system is pay-as-you go. There may be automatic tax withholdings from your paycheck, stipend or financial aid, meaning that in some cases your income will be reduced by the amount of the tax withholdings.

OVIS works to help make filing proper tax forms as easy as possible for international students, scholars and faculty at Dartmouth. We can provide resources. Because we are not licensed tax professionals, we are unable to provide advice about a specific tax situation.

OVIS offers a tax workshop in the winter term each year, and we provide students and scholars (with non-resident alien tax filing status) access to Sprintax tax preparation program.

2024 OVIS Tax Workshop - Wednesday, February 7 @ 12:00pm EST 

Location: Cook Auditorium in Tuck School Murdough Center (Tuck Building map)

Last season's workshop recording is available at "Tax Workshop 2023". (authentication required)

Refer to Publication 901 for details on tax treaties. Review the actual text of the treaty to determine if a treaty applies.

If your country has a tax treaty with the U.S. providing an exemption from tax on your wages, contact the Payroll Office to file a Form 8233 to claim the withholding exemption. An exemption can also be claimed when doing a tax return.

Generally, resident aliens can't claim treaty benefits, but there are exceptions which may permit an exemption from tax to continue even after the person has become a U.S. resident alien for tax purposes. A resident who is claiming an exemption from withholding tax based on a treaty article must submit Form W-9, not a Form 8233.

Information about tax treaty eligibility can also be found on the Payroll Office's website.  The Payroll Office uses the Sprintax Calculus tax treaty benefit eligibility software. This is a separate Sprintax product from the Sprintax nonresident tax preparation software provided by OVIS.  Questions about tax treaty eligibility should be directed to Payroll.

When you arrive at Dartmouth, you should be sure you understand your tax filing obligations so you are ready when it is time to prepare and filing your tax return.

Check in with the Payroll Office to ensure they have correct information about you, and determine whether you are eligible for tax treaty benefits based on your country of citizenship. If you are eligible for a tax treaty benefit, you will need either an SSN or ITIN, and you will need one of these numbers to file your annual tax return.

• If you are eligible for a Social Security Number and don’t have one, get one if you are eligible.
   
• If you are receiving funds from Dartmouth and you are not eligible for an SSN, you need to apply for an ITIN to file your tax returns.