Classic Tax Service
Frequently Asked Questions
Filing tax return documents with the government
- It may be required by US tax regulations depending on your earnings.
- It may make your obtaining a U.S. visa in the future easier.
All J-1 Visa holders are required by law to file tax returns in the U.S. If you don’t, you will be breaking the law. Because of heightened security in the U.S., it is more likely that the authorities will keep track of J-1 visa holders and whether you file tax returns. We advise you in the strongest of terms to file tax returns.
Accurately filling out the proper forms is not easy, even for savvy tax-paying citizens. As a non-resident alien, you have different regulations that require special knowledge. Also, if you work in multiple tax years, you will need to file tax returns for each year. Forms are not available until the end of the tax year, which makes the challenge even greater. Will you remember to get and file the right forms over a year from now?
No. That is the reason you are signing our Contract and Power of Attorney forms. We will be authorized to do it all for you.
Once you contract us to file your taxes, you should NEVER, EVER file an additional tax return for that same tax year. Double filing can result in your owing taxes to the government! Once this happens it is very difficult and very time consuming to correct the error.
It is NOT too late to file your tax return if the April 15th deadline has passed. However, it is to your benefit to file as early as possible.
If you are receiving a tax refund
You will have several options for payment of your refund. PayPal is the easiest and quickest way to receive your money. Other options are a U.S. check, a direct deposit (wire transfer) to your bank or a Western Union payment. Not all options are available in all countries. We will advise you of any additional fees for these options.
You can deposit a U.S. check into your bank account. You must wait for your bank to clear or OK the check before you can access the funds. Your bank may charge you a small fee to convert the U.S. funds to your currency.
Yes, but remember it may be several months before we receive your paperwork, file it with the U.S. government, receive your refund and make arrangements to send it to you. You will most likely be back in your home country by the time you receive your refund.
Your refund check will be sent to your address in your home country unless you direct us to do otherwise.
The U.S. Tax filing date is April 15 of each tax year. Typically, once U.S. authorities receive your return, it will take them 8-14 weeks to process…if all goes well. A reasonable expectation is receipt of your refund check by September 30 but this depends on how quickly you get us your W-2 forms and how quickly you respond to our questionnaire. The 8-14 week turn-around time is an approximation only.
Nothing. There is nothing you can do. We monitor each tax return we submit to the IRS (Internal Revenue Service). If we believe your refund is taking too long to arrive, we will contact the IRS to learn the status. Ultimately however, we have no control over how long it takes the IRS or the state tax authorities to respond and send us your refund.
Every tax return is processed and reviewed on a case-by-case basis and by different tax agents. Even when tax returns are submitted to the tax authorities at the same time, there can be a great difference in turn-around time between one or another tax return.
Taxation
Typically, the answer is no. Please contact the tax authorities in your home country.
You should have federal and state taxes withheld. Your employer may want to withhold Medicare and Social Security taxes as well but he/she should not! J-1 visa holders are exempt from paying Medicare and Social Security tax.
Once you know that your employer has withheld the Medicare and Social Security taxes from your paycheck, you should alert him/her immediately. Ask your employer to refund this money to you right away. It is very, very difficult, if not impossible, to get a refund of these taxes later from the IRS.
Yes. If you earn money in the U.S., regardless of what taxes (if any) are withheld, you are required to file a tax return.
You must file a tax return in order to comply with U.S. tax regulations however, since you paid no tax, you will receive no refund. Also, you will be required to pay a minimum of 10% on the earnings reported on your W2 form for the years 2018 through 2025.
Communication
We contact you via email. It is very important that you provide us with an accurate email address on your ‘contract’ and that you let us know if you change email addresses during the tax season.
Although we would like to answer each and every question you have individually, it is impossible to communicate on a one-to-one basis with all our participants during the “peak” of the tax season. The Q&A’s are designed to explain the process to you and make the whole tax process easier for you to understand. If however, you have a question which is not answered above, you can reach us by telephone toll-free at 800-277-8062 or from outside the U.S. at: 1-415-339-2739 or email: tax@ccusa.com
- When we welcome you officially to the CCUSA Tax Service after we have received your ‘contract’ and your ‘power of attorney’.
- When we receive your first W2 form. We will email you to complete our Tax Questionnaire.
- When we have filed your tax return and have sent it to the government tax authorities.
- When we have received your refund after the ‘waiting period’ and are ready to send you your tax refund and CCUSA Tax Service Statement.
- You can see the status of the tax process in your CCUSA Footprints account under the program year you participated in.
