You are not automatically exempt from federal income tax withholding because you are a full-time student. To claim exemption from withholding, the following two statements must be true:

• for the previous year, you had a right to a refund of ALL Federal income tax withheld because you had no tax liability, and
• for the current year, you expect a refund of all Federal income tax withheld because you expect to have no tax liability.

References:

• Publication 505 (PDF), Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax

Students who perform services for the school, college, or university where they are enrolled and regularly attend classes are usually not subject to social security and Medicare taxes.

If the student works for a public school, college or university which is subject to a section 218 agreement, the student's services are automatically subject to social security and Medicare taxes if the state has chosen to cover students under its section 218 agreement with the Social Security Administration. The employer may be able to tell you whether its students' services are subject to social security and Medicare taxes under a section 218 agreement.

References:

• Publication 15 (PDF), Circular E, Employer's Tax Guide
• Federal Regulation section 31.3121(b)(10)-1

If you are not performing a service for the university, your stipend would be subject to income tax only if it does not meet the qualified scholarship rules. Please refer to Publication 520 (PDF), Scholarships and Fellowships, for information on when a stipend would be a qualified scholarship, which would not be subject to social security and Medicare taxes. If you are performing a service for the university, your income is taxable for income tax purposes, but would generally be exempt from social security and Medicare taxes if you are enrolled and regularly attending classes unless you are covered under a section 218 agreement. Refer to Publication 15 (PDF), Employer's Tax Guide.

If your employer has been withholding social security and Medicare taxes from your stipend, the employer should refund the withheld tax. If the employer refuses to do so, Form 843 (PDF), Claim For Refund and Request For Abatement, can be filed to claim credit for the incorrectly withheld tax.

References:

• Publication 520 (PDF), Scholarships and Fellowships
• Publication 15 (PDF), Employer's Tax Guide
• Form 843 (PDF), Claim For Refund and Request For Abatement

If you are an individual who may be claimed as a dependent on another person's return and you are single and under age 65, you must file a return if any of the following circumstances apply: first, your unearned income was more than $750. Unearned income includes taxable interest, dividends, capital gains, and trust distributions of interest, dividends, capital gains, and survivor annuities. If you had an investment loss, your unearned income could be a negative amount. Second, your earned income was more than $4,700. Earned income includes wages, tips, taxable scholarship and fellowship grants, and salaries. Third, your total income was more than the larger of $750 or your earned income (up to $4,450) plus $250. If you file Form 1040EZ (PDF), Income Tax Return for Single and Joint Filers With No Dependents, your total income is the same as your adjusted gross income. If you are 65 or older, or married, refer to the instructions in your tax package or Publication 929 (PDF), Tax Rules for Children and Dependents, or Publication 501 (PDF), Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information.

References:

• Publication 501 (PDF), Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information
• Publication 929 (PDF), Tax Rules for Children and Dependents
• Form 1040EZ (PDF), U.S. Individual Income Tax Return for Single and Joint Filers with No Dependents

If you are an unmarried dependent, you must file a tax return for 2002 if you have earned income of more than $4,700, unearned income of more than $750, or if your gross income is more than $750 and exceeds your earned income by more than $250.

Even if you do not have to file, you should file a federal income tax return to get money back if any of the following apply:

• You had income tax withheld from your pay.
• You qualify for the earned income credit.
• You qualify for the additional child tax credit.

References:

• Publication 501 (PDF), Exemptions, Standard Deduction and Filing Information

You can claim your child as a dependent as long as you meet the five dependency exemption tests and your child does not claim his personal exemption. Your child was a full time student under the age of 24 at the end of the year and is therefore not subject to the gross income test. The child should file his own tax return, but should not claim his personal exemption.

Refer to Publication 501 (PDF), Exemptions, Standard Deduction and Filing Information, for more information.

References:

• Publication 501 (PDF), Exemptions, Standard Deduction and Filing Information
• Tax Topic 354, Dependents

If you claim your daughter as a dependent on your income tax return, she cannot also claim herself as a dependent on her income tax return.

If a dependent is filing their own tax return, and if they are eligible to be claimed as a dependent on their parent's (or someone else's) return, then they cannot claim their own personal exemption on the tax return they file. In this case, they should check the box on their return that someone else can claim them as a dependent.

If someone is filing their own tax return, and no one else is eligible to claim them as a dependent, then they would claim their personal exemption on the tax return they file and they would not be listed as a dependent on anyone else's return.

References:

• Publication 501 (PDF), Exemptions, Standard Deduction and Filing Information
• Tax Topic 354, Dependents

Your child is over the age of 19 and not a full-time student. Therefore, she is subject to the gross income test. In 2002, if her gross income was $3,000 or more, you would not be able to claim her as a dependent. If her gross income was less than $3,000 and she meets the following five tests you may claim the dependency exemptions for her:

• Member of household or relationship test.
• Citizen or resident test.
• Joint return test.
• Gross income test.
• Support test.

References:

• Publication 501 (PDF), Exemptions, Standard Deduction and Filing Information
• Tax Topic 354, Dependents

You can claim your child as a dependent as long as you meet the five dependency exemption tests. Since your child was not under the age of 24 as of the end of the tax year, he is subject to the gross income test. The amount of money he makes will be considered in determining the gross income test. If he puts all his wages in the bank and does not use it for his support, it will not be counted in the support test. Refer to Publication 501 (PDF), Exemptions, Standard Deduction and Filing Information, for more information.

References:

• Publication 501 (PDF), Exemptions, Standard Deduction and Filing Information
• Tax Topic 354, Dependents

Assuming you were not in the U.S. on your F-1 student visa for over 5 years, you may file as a nonresident for the entire year or, if you qualify under the first year choice, you may file as a dual status alien. Please refer to Publication 519 (PDF), U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens, for additional information.

References:

• Publication 519 (PDF), U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens

It depends on whether or not you qualify as a resident alien. As a foreign national temporarily in the U.S. and now under an H-1 visa, you must file Form 1040NR (PDF), U.S. Nonresident Alien Income Tax Return and Form 8843 (PDF), Statement for Exempt Individuals and Individuals with a Medical Condition (if you do not meet the substantial presence test). In order to file a Form 1040, Individual Tax Return, you must meet the substantial presence test. Please refer to Publication 519 (PDF), U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens, for a discussion of the Substantial Presence Test.

References:

• Publication 513 (PDF), Tax Information for Visitors to the United States
• Publication 519 (PDF), U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens
• Form 1040NR (PDF), U.S. Nonresident Alien Income Tax Return
• Instructions for Form 1040NR, U.S. Nonresident Alien Income Tax Return
• Form 8843 (PDF), Statement for Exempt Individuals and Individuals with a Medical Condition
• Tax Topic 851, Resident and nonresident aliens

Generally, services performed by you as a nonresident alien temporarily in the United States as a nonimmigrant under subparagraph (F), (J), (M), or (Q) of section 101(a)(15) of the Immigration and Nationality Act are not covered under the social security program if the services are performed to carry out the purpose for which you were admitted to the United States. This means that there will be no withholding of social security or Medicare taxes from the pay you receive for these services. These types of services are very limited, and generally include only on-campus work, practical training, and economic hardship employment. However, you are covered under the social security program for these services if you are considered a resident alien, even though your nonimmigrant classification ("F," "J," "M," or "Q") remains the same. Social security and Medicare taxes will be withheld from your pay.

Additionally, any student who is enrolled and regularly attending classes at a school, college, or university may be exempt from social security and Medicare taxes on pay for services performed for such school, college, or university.

References:

• Publication 519 (PDF), U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens
• Publication 597 (PDF), Information on the United States-Canada Income Tax Treaty

The following discussion generally applies only to nonresident aliens. Wages and other compensation paid to a nonresident alien for services performed as an employee are usually subject to graduated withholding at the same rates as resident aliens and U.S. citizens. Therefore, your compensation, unless it is specifically excluded from the term "wages" by law, or is exempt from tax by treaty, is subject to graduated withholding. Nonresident aliens must follow modified instructions when completing Form W-4. Please refer to Publication 519 (PDF), U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens, for directions on completing Form W-4 (PDF), Employees Withholding Allowance Certificate.

References:

• Publication 519 (PDF) , U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens
• Publication 597 (PDF), Information on the United States-Canada Income Tax Treaty
• Form W-4 (PDF), Employees Withholding Allowance Certificate

If you are in the United States solely for the purpose of your education, training, or obtaining special technical experience, you may be able to exclude from your income grants or awards that you receive from a government, scientific, educational, or other tax-exempt organization. You also may be able to exclude payments that you receive from abroad for the purpose of your maintenance, education, study, research, or training and up to $5,000 of income that you receive from personal services performed in the United States. Please refer to Publication 519 (PDF), U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens.

References:

• Publication 513 (PDF) , Tax Information for Visitors to the United States
• Publication 519 (PDF), U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens
• Tax Topic 421, Scholarship and fellowship grants

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