For universities
What your students actually need in the spring.
A straight account of what we do, what we do not do, and how we handle student data — so you can decide whether to point students at us.
We are an authorized IRS e-file provider: we prepare your return and transmit your federal Form 1040-NR to the IRS electronically. If you do not have an SSN or ITIN yet, this year your return has to be mailed — you get a completed, signature-ready PDF with exact mailing instructions.
Scope
The honest version.
Naming what we cannot do is more useful to you than another feature list. Nothing below is silently skipped — every item on the right routes the student to a tax professional.
We handle
- Form 1040-NR, the non-resident federal return
- Electronic filing of the federal return — we are an authorized IRS e-file provider (a student still waiting on an ITIN mails theirs)
- Form 8843, including students with no US income at all
- Residency determination — the substantial presence test and the exempt-individual rules
- Tax treaty benefits, applied to the right lines
- Form 1042-S and W-2 income, including treaty-exempt wages
- Free prefilled W-7 (ITIN), 8233 and W-8BEN forms
We hand to a person
- Self-employment and business income (Schedule C)
- Rental property income
- Dual-status years — usually the year you arrive or leave
- State tax returns
- FICA (Social Security and Medicare) refund claims
- Prior-year and amended returns
Your zero-income students
Form 8843 is free, for everyone.
Most F-1 and J-1 students with no US income still have to file Form 8843, and it is the single question your office answers most often. Students can produce theirs here at no cost, with the correct mailing address for their situation.
One 8843 per account, so an F-2 or J-2 spouse and each dependent need their own — each person files their own Form 8843. Worth saying explicitly in a workshop; it surprises people every year.
Student data
The question you will ask second.
We receive nothing from your systems
We send nothing back
The student stays in control
Talk to us before the spring rush.
Tell us what your office already hands out and where students get stuck. If we can make that easier, we will.