Tax Information for 2011 Filing
Every year, the U.S. federal government and the Georgia state government require that individuals who earned income in the United States during the previous year file an income tax return. A tax return is a type of report that you must send to each government (federal and state) that states how much you earned, were taxed, and should have been taxed during the year 2011. So, you are returning a report on your taxes for 2011.
The deadline to file the tax return for 2011 is Tuesday, April 17, 2012.
Who needs to file a tax return?
Everyone who earned income in the United States between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2011 must file a 2011 federal income tax return. Individuals in F or J status must file an additional report (Form 8843) regardless of age and even if no income was earned if they were present in the United States, even if it was for only one day. 2011 federal income tax returns must be completed and mailed (postmarked) by April 17, 2012. If you are currently abroad or received no U.S. income during 2011, the deadline for you is (postmarked by) June 15, 2012.
What is your tax status?
Before you seek help with your tax return, you need to determine your tax residency status. There is a huge difference between the two tax residency statuses and filing incorrectly can cause problems and possibly delays in receiving any refund you may be owed. Tax status can be broken down in the following ways: Nonresident for Tax Purposes or Resident for Tax Purposes. [Note: The terms Resident and Nonresident are also used by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in reference to your immigration status. The terms are defined differently by the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in reference to taxes.]
A convenient way to determine your tax status is to use FNTR, a web-based federal income tax preparation software program. After you have entered the initial information requested in the beginning part of FNTR, the program will determine whether you are a Nonresident or a Resident for Tax Purposes. If your status is Resident, you will not be able to complete your tax return using FNTR. The next section of this page provides information on accessing FNTR.
Income Tax Filing Assistance
- FNTR: If you are a Non-Resident for Tax Purposes, you may use FNTR, a web-based federal income tax preparation software (provided FREE of charge by Emory University) to prepare your federal income tax return (Forms 1040NR or 1040NR-EZ). Click here for instructions on how to access FNTR.
- Tax Workshops: If you are a Nonresident for Tax Purposes, the Office of the Controller will present tax workshops, at no cost to you, to assist you in preparing your Georgia income tax return. The dates of the workshops are tentatively scheduled for Thursday, March 22 for scholars and Thursday, March 29 for students. Click here for more information.
- VITA Program – Free Tax Preparation: The Atlanta Prosperity Campaign provides free income tax preparation services for any person who earned an income less than $50,000 in 2011. To find out more about this program and a tax preparation site nearest you, please see the Atlanta Prosperity Campaign website.
Dependents
Everyone who earned income in the United States during the year 2011 must file a tax return for 2011. For dependents in F-2 or J-2 status with no U.S. income, this is a straightforward process that only requires one to file a Form 8843. If you are using FNTR, it will let you print out 8843s for each F-2 or J-2 family members. For tax filing purposes, your dependents are your spouse and children in dependent status F-2 or J-2.
If you are in J-2 status and were employed in 2011 you should use FNTR to prepare your federal tax return if you are a Nonresident for Tax Purposes. If you are a Resident for Tax Purposes who earned less than $50,000 in 2011, you may use the Vita Tax Free Preparation.
Final Note
Please remember that even though the document is called an income tax return, not everyone who files a return will receive a refund of taxes paid. The tax return is a document which the U.S. and state governments require you use to return a report on your taxes. Many of you will find out that everything will balance out to "0" and some of you may find out that you owe more taxes to the U.S. or Georgia government. Regardless of whether or not you will receive a refund, you are required by law to file a tax return if you earned income in the United States in 2011. If you are a Nonresident for Tax Purposes, you should bring a check book to the tax session so that you may either add a check to your tax return for additional taxes you owe OR provide your bank information on the forms (such as your bank account number and ABA number) to enable electronic deposit of your refund.