Topic Summary

Foreign students and scholars fall into one of three statuses for tax purposes:

• Resident alien
• Nonresident alien
• Dual-status alien

Each status has different filing requirements.

Resident aliens are generally subject to the same federal income tax filing requirements as U.S. citizens.

Dual-status returns and statements are Out of Scope for the VITA/TCE Foreign Student and Scholar program.

It is required that nonresident aliens file a tax return if they have a filing requirement, even if they are not interested in or eligible for a refund.