Dear students,
Tax season is upon us, and there are important reminders for international students and scholars. If you were in the United States on an F-1 or J-1 Visa at any point during 2025 (Jan. 1 - Dec. 31, 2025), you are required to file federal taxes. This requirement applies regardless of income and must be completed to maintain compliance with your visa. There are potential consequences, including immigration consequences, for not filing your taxes. After spring break, ISSS will send out codes to Sprintax, a service that specializes in international student tax filing, where we cover the cost of the service for federal taxes. ISSS does not cover the cost of the service for filing state taxes, as that is dependent on what state(s) you earned income in.
Graduate Assistant Jackson Kennedy will be hosting an online Tax Information Workshop on Monday, February 23rd, at 4:00 p.m., where he will explain tax responsibilities of international students, what information and documents you may need, and how to acquire them. Please RSVP in EagleHub to receive the link for the online workshop. If you cannot make the workshop, please look out for the newsletter, as a recorded workshop and all tax information will be relayed in the weekly ISSS newsletter, including the Sprintax codes.
We encourage you to do your taxes independently as we cannot give tax advice from our office. However, if you have some remaining procedural questions, Graduate Assistant Jackson Kennedy will offer Peer Advising Drop-In Hours every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, from March 23rd to April 15th. Stay tuned to the newsletter for exact times for Drop-In's.
If you want to get started, you can register (or access) your account at Sprintax.com and begin your 2025 tax return filing, but WAIT to submit your taxes until we release the school sponsored discount codes after Spring Break to make sure you don't pay any unnnecessary fees.
Sincerely,
International Student and Scholar Services Team
INTL@usm.edu
ISSS Advising Services
Advising Drop-In Hours
Center for International Education - Room 205
Monday: 2-4 p.m.
Tuesday: 9-11 a.m.
Wednesday: 9-11a.m.
Thursday: 2-4 p.m.
Friday: 9-11 a.m.