Since I am start getting my first pay check here in US, I've come into
a problem that the company, or say the agent, wants to withhold some
taxes for me from my salary. They say it's legal and they are just
trying to protect me. However, as an foreign student/F-1 visa holder,
there are some taxes I can be exempted.
Write it down just for a reminder and in case somebody else would need
it in the future. Please don't be hesitated to contact me if you guys
figure out any mistake or misunderstanding after reading this notes.
Anyway, it's just a basic guideline from me, a poor student after all.
Ha~
Let me introduce the situation first.
There are three kinds of tax withheld for any workers here in US.
Federal Tax, State Tax, and one called FICA. The only tax we,
international students/F-1 visa holders, need to pay is the first one,
Federal Tax.
Federal Tax: Tax we need to pay for the federal severs, of course. I
don't really understand what the federal serves is and what is it for,
though. In fact, the only one thing I know about Federal is the
Federal Police running for over-speed penalty on the highway. And I
hate them!
State Tax: It's uncertain of this tax. I am not sure if only students
in Texas State can apply for State Texas exemption or any students are
qualified for the benefit.
FICA: FICA is a tax on earnings or wages. It's also negotiable for
each State to determine which state employees is subject to FICA
coverage, by entering an agreement with the Social Security
Administration… this is not important. The key we are supposed to know
is that NO MATTER what happens, depending on the current
law/agreement, we do NOT need to pay for this FICA as long as we are a
F-1 visa holder. FICA is a kind of insurance regarding the social
warfare for the future after retirement or being layoff. And since F-1
visa holders are still far away from the social warfare or say
benefit, we don't need to pay for it till we step into H-1 status.
In a nutshell, remember that we do NOT need to pay the taxes such as
State Tax or FICA.
Below are some documents and website for our references:
1. Social Security Handbook – Chapter 9, #939: Foreign Students or
Exchange Visitors
(Available on
http://www.ssa.gov/SSA_Home.html)
2.
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p519.pdf
3.
http://treas.gov/press/releases/reports/ficanotice200412.pdf
It might be helpful although I didn't read through whole these except
the first one. Ha~
Anyway, we need to protect our rights and money by ourselves since not
all companies will do that for us. Therefore, again, please do let me
know if you guys find anything updated, unclear, misunderstanding or
wrong
Thanks a lot! ^_____^
