It's tax time again
Feb. 4, 2015—Every year, the US federal government and the Georgia state government require that everyone who earned income in the United States during the previous year file an income tax return. A tax return is a type of report that you send to the government that states how much you earned, were taxed, and should have been taxed during the previous year.
Who needs to file a return?
If you earned any income in the US between January 1 and December 31 last year, you have to file a federal income tax return and a Georgia income tax return.
If you didn't earn any income, you don't have to file a tax return. However, if you were physically present in the US in F-1, F-2, J-1, or J-2 status any time between January 1 and December 31 last year, you still have to fill out form 8843—even if you were only here for 1 day.
For dependents in F-2 or J-2 status with no US income, filing taxes is a straightforward process: just fill out form 8843. If you are using FNTR, it will ask you if you want to print out 8843s for your F-2 or J-2 family members as well. For tax filing purposes, your dependents are your spouse and children under 21.
Tax forms
If you were employed between January 1 and December 31 last year, you will receive a Form W-2 and/or Form 1042S.
Form W-2 reports your taxable income and the taxes that were already deducted from your paychecks last year. If you are employed by Emory but did not sign up to receive your W-2 online, you should receive it in the mail by the end of January. If you haven’t received it by mid-February, call the payroll office at 404.727.6100.
You may receive a Form 1042S if all or part of your salary is exempt from taxes because of a tax treaty benefit or if you receive a scholarship, fellowship, stipend, or other non-work financial assistance from Emory. The Form 1042S will be mailed to you in mid-February.
Update your local address
Please make sure that your current local address is correct in the HR system so that your tax forms are sent to the correct address. Please also enter your social security number here if you haven’t already done so. If your address has changed in the past year, please email Mary Andrews in the controller’s office.
If you are a student at Emory, please also make sure your address is up to date in OPUS.
Other income
If you had US interest or dividend income, you should receive Form 1099 from the financial institution or payer of the interest or dividend income. Make sure the financial institution has your current local address.
If you have a tax treaty benefit and also receive non-work financial assistance from Emory, please do not file your tax return until you have received both the W-2 and 1042S. If you had interest or dividend income, you should also wait for Form 1099.
Deadline
More info coming soon
Look for more information in upcoming announcements about who must file a tax return and how to get help with filing. For now, just make sure that your local address is correct in the HR system and the controller’s office (and OPUS if you are a student) and that you receive all tax documents that you need to file your tax return.
Soon, we will provide more information about:
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FNTR: a web-based federal income tax preparation program for international students and scholars who are nonresidents for tax purposes, provided by Emory at no cost
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Services provided by the controller’s office for preparing Georgia income tax forms for those who are nonresidents for tax purposes and who have completed their federal income tax forms