ISSS News 09 March 2009

An electronic news service for international students and scholars, owned by the Office of International Student and Scholar Services at Binghamton University, State University of New York

Editor’s Note: Did you remember to set your clocks one hour ahead before you went to sleep on Saturday night? Sunday began “Daylight Savings Time” where we will enjoy an additional one hour of daylight each day.

Today’s issue contains many useful articles. Please scroll the Contents for articles of interest to you.

Each semester, awards of up to $500 are made to a small number of international students who have a severe financial need. To be eligible, students must be in F-1 or J-1 status, have been in attendance at Binghamton University at least one year (began their studies at Binghamton University in Spring 2008 or earlier), document need, have no outstanding obligations to the university, and be full-time students in good standing.

Some students may find themselves in financial difficulty through no fault of their own. Examples can include reduced support from a sponsor, or unanticipated expenses. Applicants are strongly advised to carefully document their financial situation when submitting the application form, as there are always more students seeking assistance than there are funds.

Applications are available now in the Office of International Student and Scholar Services and must be submitted no later than Wednesday, March 11, 2009.

2. Spring 2009 International Health Insurance ID Cards Available This Week for Graduate Students

Registered international students at Binghamton University are automatically enrolled for the SUNY International Student Health and Accident Insurance policy at the start of each semester, except for those who receive health insurance as an employee benefit (GAs, TAs and RAs.) For the Spring 2009 semester, your insurance dates back to 15 January 2009. The cost of the SUNY International Student Health and Accident Insurance is included in your tuition bill (INT’L. INS.”).

Students are issued electronic health insurance ID cards, rather than paper ID cards. Students are notified by e-mail by the health insurance company, HTH Worldwide. This e-mail provides instructions on how to download your health insurance ID e-card.

Graduate international students who are enrolled in the SUNY International Health Insurance Program will receive an email message to their Binghamton.edu account early this week. The email message will be sent from HTHWorldwide.com. When you receive the e-mail, please make sure that you read the instructions carefully and download your health insurance ID e-card. Once you print the insurance ID e-card you will want keep this ID card in your wallet.
Undergraduate students were sent this email message on Friday, February 27, 2009.

3. Summer Session 2009 Advance Registration Begins Today, Fall 2009 Advance Registration Begins March 24th

Advance registration for the 2009 Summer Session begins today. For more information on summer classes, visit http://summer.binghamton.edu.

4. Important Notice From Student Accounts Regarding Fall 2009 Early Registration

Any outstanding balance on your Student Account the must be paid or cleared at least 24 hours prior to your Fall 2009 early registration time. Please do not wait until the last minute to resolve any outstanding debts in order to ensure that you will be able to register at your priority time. You can view and/or pay any balance due by visiting http://bubrain.binghamton.edu and select “Quick Pay Student Payment.”

5. Materials Now Available from March 3 “Post Graduation Employment Issues” Workshop

Many students attended last week’s workshop on “Post Graduation Employment Issues” with immigration attorney Hilary Fraser. In fact, it was standing room only, as the room was full. Ms. Fraser has kindly given the Office of International Student and Scholar Services permission to post all of the materials from the workshop on the ISSS website, including her PowerPoint Presentation.

The page may be accessed from the Employment section of the ISSS website, http://isss.binghamton.edu Click on “Employment” from the menu on the left side of the webpage, and then select “Post Graduation Employment Issues Workshop” from the Employment menu. The direct link is: http://isss.binghamton.edu/emp/pgemploy.html

“List of Banks Receiving TARP Funds February 2009” is a list of U.S. Banks that have received Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) Funds from the U.S. government. When Congress approved the legislation to fund TARP, it included a provision that prevents any bank receiving TARP funds from hiring new H-1B visa employees for a period of two years. The provision will end in January 2011. Thus international students seeking jobs with U.S. banks for H-1B sponsorship should not apply to the banks on this list until 2011.

“US Government Announcement: Non-Citizen Military Recruitment Program” and “US Army Non-Citizen Recruitment Program Detailed Summary” both refer to a one-year pilot program by the US Army, called “Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest” (MAVNI). The purpose of the program is to recruit up to 1,000 foreign nationals currently in the United States with specific skills: physicians, nurses and those with fluency in certain foreign languages and cultures. In exchange, participants will be able to immediately apply for U.S. citizenship without having to first obtain Permanent Residency. Those in health care must enlist for at last three years of active duty; those with special language and cultural backgrounds must enlist for at least four years of active duty. The opportunity is open to both men and women. The program was announced in February 2009 and is scheduled to end on December 31, 2009, or whenever the Army meets its projected recruiting needs.

The Army has established two special websites for non-citizens who are interested in finding out more about the MAVNI pilot program. The links are:
http://www.goarmy.com/info/mavni/healthcare (for doctors and nurses)
http://www.goarmy.com/info/mavni (for persons with language skills who are interested in enlisted health care jobs)

6. Undergraduate Student Speakers Sought for Spring 2009 Commencement Ceremony

The Commencement Advisory Committee is now accepting nominations for Undergraduate Student Speakers for the Spring 2009 Commencement ceremonies held on Sunday, May 17, 2009 in the Binghamton University Events Center.

Three undergraduate students will be selected to present a 3-5 minute speech at one of the three ceremonies. All nominees must be either a Winter 2009 graduate or a Spring 2009 candidate.

Faculty or staff members are welcome to send nomination letters directly to the Registrar’s Office. We will then follow up with the student for the remaining pieces of the nomination packet.

Interested students will need to submit the following in hard copy (no electronic submissions) to the Registrar's Office by Friday, April 3 at 12 pm:

Physical Facilities is now accepting applications for potential job openings for the Summer Student Hiring Program. Students are encouraged to apply by March 31. Preference is given to those students who have previously been employed by Physical Facilities. Please note that many of these positions involve physical labor, including painting, furniture removal, etc.

More than 800 current BU international students and BU international alumni are using CINTAX for the filing of their federal tax returns. This is the fourth year that CINTAX is available for BU student use, thanks to a license purchased by International Students and Scholar Services.

What do you think of CINTAX? Let us know by sending your comments to isss@binghamton.edu

There are some common mistakes that international students frequently make on income tax forms. Here are a few of them.

Mistake 1: Attempting to e-file (electronically file) the federal income tax return.
Non residents for tax purposes (F and J students who have been in that status in the United States for five or fewer years, 2004 or later) and J scholars/faculty who have been in that status in the United States for two or fewer years, 2007 or later) are non-residents for tax purposes and must file non-resident income tax forms. Currently, the federal non-resident forms, 8843, 1040NR and 1040NR EZ, cannot be filed electronically. If you have used an e-filer for your federal income tax returns, and you are a non-resident, you have filed the wrong forms and will need to file an amended income tax return. If you use CINTAX, this mistake will not be made.

Mistake 2: Filing Your Income Tax Forms Too Soon.
Do not file your income tax forms too soon! Before you file, make sure you have a unique W-2 Wage and Tax Statement from each employer for whom you worked in 2008. If you have not received a W-2 form from each of your 2008 employers, it is your responsibility to contact the employer and request one.

If you can exempt salary (wages) from tax based on a tax treaty between the United States and your country AND did the necessary tax treaty paperwork with either the State Payroll Office or the Research Foundation Payroll Office, you MUST wait until you receive form 1042-S from your employer before filing your income tax forms. If you are not certain whether you will be issued form 1042-S, check with your employer.

If you received a scholarship, such as an athletic scholarship, dissertation year fellowship, graduate school scholarship or enhancement award during calendar year 2008, you will receive form 1042-S in mid-March. If you are not certain whether you will be issued form 1042-S, check with your scholarship source.

Once you receive form 1042-S, CINTAX will help you correctly file your income tax forms.

Students from India should note that because of the unique nature of the U.S. income tax treaty with India, no form 1042-S is issued for those eligible to claim the tax treaty based on wages (salary). Therefore, unless you have a scholarship or fellowship grant as described above, you may file your income tax forms without form 1042-S.

Mistake 3: Confusing wages with scholarships/fellowships.
All wages are reported on form W-2, and should be indicated on line 3 of form 1040NR EZ. All scholarships are generally reported on a form 1042-S, and if coded as a scholarship (code 15 on the 1042-S) should be indicated on line 5 of form 1040NR EZ. If you think you have a scholarship, but the earnings were reported on a form W-2, it is NOT a scholarship, and must be reported on line 3 of form 1040NR EZ. If you use CINTAX, this mistake will not be made.

Mistake 4: Putting the wrong amount on line 11 of form 1040NR EZ.
Only state or local income tax withheld can be reported on line 11 of form 1040NR EZ. DO NOT list federal income tax withheld on this line, only state and local tax (found on box 17 and box 19 of form W-2 and also on form 1042-S). Students from India eligible to claim the India Tax Treaty must put only the standard deduction amount on line 11. If you use CINTAX, this mistake will not be made.

Mistake 5: Including your tuition scholarship on line 5 of form 1040NR EZ
Graduate students who have received a tuition scholarship from Binghamton University should NOT enter the amount of the scholarship on line 5 of form 1040NR EZ. These tuition scholarships do not fit the IRS definition of "taxable scholarship." If you use CINTAX, this mistake will not be made.

Mistake 6: Excluding the wrong amount on line 9 of form 1040NR EZ
You can only exclude an amount on line 9 if you also had a taxable scholarship/fellowship amount on line 5. Exclusions are limited to the amount you spent on fees and books during the period you had a scholarship/fellowship. There are no exclusions for wages reported on form W-2. If you use CINTAX, this mistake will not be made.

10. Income Tax Information: For F-1 and J-1s in the U.S. for More than Five Years Who are Residents for Tax Purposes

Until now, all of ISSS-BU's income tax articles have focused on F-1 and J-1 students who are non- residents for tax purposes; those who have been in F or J status for five years or less. This information is for those F-1 and J-1 students who entered the U.S. in 2003 or earlier, or J-1 scholars who entered the U.S. in 2006 or earlier, and therefore file as residents for tax purposes.

Need assistance with your resident tax forms? There are a number of resources available to you. If your total earnings for 2008 were less than $56,000, you can file both your Federal and your New York State income tax forms for free using special income tax software. Access Free File at http://www.irs.gov

Free assistance with resident tax forms is offered through the VITA volunteer program of AARP at the Broome County Public Library, 185 Court Street in downtown Binghamton. The hours are: (by appointment only) Monday through Friday, 10am to 2pm. To request an appointment, call 607-778-3829 during these hours. The volunteers at the Broome County Library are NOT trained to assist with non-resident tax matters.

Resident income tax filers can also purchase income tax software such as Turbo Tax or Tax Cut, which will complete both your federal and state forms. There are also paid preparers in the local community who can assist you including H & R Block and Jackson Hewett.

If you have been in F-1 or J-1 status for more than five years, you need to file form 1040, or its shorter versions; 1040A or 1040EZ. Residents with income should also file New York State tax form IT-150 and IT-2. Residents for tax purposes must report all world-wide income, including bank interest. However, residents for tax purposes can also list spouses and children as dependents, and therefore claim a greater number of exemptions and deductions.

In addition to the personal exemption of $3500, residents for tax purposes can also claim the standard deduction, which for a single person is $5450 for tax year 2008! Residents may also claim certain tax credits, if they meet the eligibility requirements. These credits include child care, earned income, and education credits. Graduate students who are eligible to file as residents for tax purposes may be especially interested in the lifelong learning education credit.

For more information on education credits, obtain IRS publication 970 "Tax Benefits for Higher Education." It can be found on the World Wide Web at the IRS Forms and Publications site; http://www.irs.ustreas.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p970.pdf

Remember that these benefits are only available to F-1 and J-1 students who have been in the U.S. in those statuses for MORE than five years.

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