United States Tax Filing Responsibilities
The government agencies that oversee income taxes are:
Federal: Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
State: Connecticut Department of Revenue Services (CT DOR)
The IRS requires all F-1 visa holders, who are non-residents for tax purposes, to file a tax form for all years that they are present in the U.S. The type of form that must be filed depends on whether you earned income during the calendar year.
No Income - F-1 student (and F-2 dependent) non-resident aliens who do not receive income and are not required to file a federal income tax return, are still required to submit Form 8843 to the IRS for each calendar year that you were present in the U.S. Form 8843 is used by non-resident aliens to document the number of days present inside the U.S. This form is due to the IRS by June 15th annually to document your prior year days of presence. CT DOR does not require a form to report days of presence.
Income - F-1, non-resident alien students, who receive any income in the U.S., are responsible for determining their annual federal and state income tax liability. When liability is determined, you may owe additional income tax or you may be due a refund. Income is generally reported to an individual on an income statement (ie W-2, 1042-S, etc.) There is no minimum earnings amount to file an income tax return with the IRS (you must file from the first $ earned). The CT DOR minimum earnings amount varies. Please see https://portal.ct.gov/DRS/DRS-Forms/Current-Year-Forms/Individual-Income-Tax-Forms for details.
Income tax returns are due to government agencies by April 15th each year to report prior year earnings. To assist students with determining their annual income tax liability, the University offers the tax preparation software, Sprintax, free of charge. A user access code is distributed to individuals each tax season. Additionally, the International Tax Office generally holds information sessions each February/March to define tax responsibilities and demonstrate Sprintax.