Tax Obligations for Penn International Students and Scholars

February 22, 2022

By: International Student & Scholar Services

Tax filing season is here! This article serves to remind you about your U.S. tax obligations as an international student or scholar at Penn. The deadline to file taxes for income earned during calendar year 2021 is April 18, 2022. Please note that even if you did not work or receive income in the U.S. during calendar year 2021, you are still legally obliged to file Form 8843 with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

In this article: 

By April 18, 2022, you are legally required to file a U.S. tax return if you worked in the U.S. or received a stipend, grant or allowance in calendar year 2021. If you had U.S. source income, you will receive one or more forms indicating the type and the amount of income received.  

Below is the timeline of tax forms from the University of Pennsylvania. Please note that this list is not all-inclusive and that some forms may not be applicable to you:   

If you have not received your forms by March 15th, please see https://www.finance.upenn.edu/individual-tax for instructions on how to obtain them. Please direct any questions related to Forms W-2 or 1042-S to the Penn Employee Solution Center at 215-898-7372 or solutioncenter@upenn.edu. Should you have questions regarding Form 1098-T, see: https://srfs.upenn.edu/policies/1098-t. ISSS does not manage or have access to these documents. 

If you received income through authorized off-campus employment in 2021, you may receive a tax document from your employer (typically a 1099 or W-2). All inquiries regarding such tax documents should be directed to your employer.  

By April 18, 2022, you are legally required to file a U.S. tax return if you worked in the U.S. or received a stipend, grant or allowance in calendar year 2021. If you had U.S. source income, you should have already received one or more forms indicating the type and the amount of income received.

Below is a timeline of tax forms from the University of Pennsylvania. Please note that this list is not all-inclusive and that some forms may not be applicable to you:  

If you have not received your forms by March 15th, please see https://www.finance.upenn.edu/individual-tax for instructions on how to obtain them. Please direct any questions related to Forms W-2 1042-S to the Penn Employee Solution Center at 215-898-7372 or solutioncenter@upenn.edu. ISSS does not manage or have access to these documents.

How to File Your Taxes with Sprintax 

ISSS has partnered with Sprintax (https://www.sprintax.com/uni-lp.html?utm_ref=university-of-pennsylvania–lp&utm_content=prmc) to guide you through the tax filing process, prepare the necessary tax documents and even check if you are eligible for a tax refund. Sprintax will help you complete your federal tax forms free of charge. If you want to use Sprintax to file a state return, you can do so at your own expense at a discounted rate. The cost of filing a state return with Sprintax is $34.95 until March 1 and $39.95 thereafter. 

  1. Create a Sprintax account: https://www.sprintax.com/uni-lp.html?utm_ref=university-of-pennsylvania–lp&utm_content=prmc 
  2. Complete Sprintax’s online questionnaire 
  3. Enter your unique access code in the box on the ‘Review your order’ page.  In order to obtain this unique access code you will need to
    • Log into iPenn (https://global.upenn.edu/isss/ipenn) with your PennKey and password 
    • Once logged into iPenn, click “Taxes” on the left menu 
    • Finally, select the subheader “Sprintax System” to obtain your unique access code for Sprintax   
  4. Utilize Sprintax to finish preparing your tax return. 

As a reminder, you must print, sign and mail your documents once you complete the preparation process in the Sprintax software. 

Please note: Certain tax preparation services (for example, TurboTax) cannot be used by individuals who are non-residents for tax purposes, which applies to most international students and scholars who are on F, J, M or Q visas. See the section titled “Resident or Non-Resident for Federal Tax Purposes” our tax page for more information on determining your tax residency: https://global.upenn.edu/isss/tax. 
 

Where can I turn for help filing my taxes?  

Please note that ISSS does not have expertise to assist you in preparing your tax return. If you have any questions, please use the live chat function in Sprintax and the Sprintax team will be happy to help (https://www.sprintax.com/meet-stacy.html).  

Sprintax will be hosting webinars throughout the Spring semester for all international students and scholars.  Please see the ISSS Events page to access registration information for each session.  

Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN) Information 

If you do not have a Social Security Number, (SSN), but are receiving U.S. source income such as a non-service fellowship, scholarship or grant that goes beyond tuition, fees, and the allowance for books/supplies (for more information, please see https://srfs.upenn.edu/financial-aid/international-taxes), then you may need an Individual Tax Identification Number, (ITIN), for tax purposes. Please see our website at https://global.upenn.edu/isss/tax#itin on how you can obtain an ITIN.