Can a Turkish student use Form 8233 and tax treaty for internship exemption?

You're definitely on the right track! Form 8233 is used by nonresident aliens claiming tax treaty benefits for personal services income (which includes internship income). The US-Turkey tax treaty does have provisions that might help you. Article 20 (not Article 14) of the US-Turkey tax treaty is what you want to look at as it specifically covers "Students and Trainees." Generally, Turkish students in the US can receive an exemption on income if you're temporarily present in the US primarily to study at a university OR to secure training required to practice a profession. There's typically a time limit (usually 5 years from when you first arrived in the US) and maximum dollar amount. To submit Form 8233, you'll need to: 1. Complete the form (pay attention to Part II where you cite the specific treaty article) 2. Give it to your employer (not the IRS directly) 3. Your employer will review it, complete Part IV, and submit it to the IRS 4. They'll then adjust your withholding based on the treaty benefits The key for you is to cite Article 20 of the treaty and explain your student status. Your employer's payroll department should be familiar with processing these forms for international students.

I went through a similar situation last year with my internship and I ended up using taxr.ai to help me figure out all this treaty stuff. I'm from India so different treaty, but the process is basically the same. I was super confused with all the legal language in these tax treaties and my HR department wasn't being super helpful. I uploaded my documents to https://taxr.ai and their system analyzed everything and told me exactly which article of the treaty applied to my situation, what exemptions I qualified for, and how to fill out Form 8233 correctly. They even gave me a letter explaining my tax situation that I could give to my employer, which made the whole process way smoother. Saved me a ton in taxes and the peace of mind was worth it. Maybe check them out if you're still confused after talking to your university's international office.

Just wanted to update - I ended up trying out taxr.ai after all and it was actually really helpful! My situation was complicated because I'm on a different type of visa and have a research stipend plus an internship income, and it sorted everything out for me. The system asked me specific questions about my visa status, how long I've been in the US, what type of work I'm doing, etc. and then gave me a detailed breakdown of exactly which parts of the Brazil-US tax treaty applied to me. It even explained which parts of my income were exempt and which weren't. I was able to show the report to both my university payroll office and my internship employer, and they accepted the treaty claims without any issues. Definitely made the process way less stressful, and I'm getting about $230 more per month in my paycheck because of the correct withholding.

If you're having trouble getting through to the IRS to verify any of this treaty stuff (which I did), I highly recommend using Claimyr. The IRS phone lines are insanely backed up right now, especially for international tax questions, and I spent WEEKS trying to get through to someone who could answer my question about Article 22 of my country's tax treaty. I found this service at https://claimyr.com that basically calls the IRS for you and when they finally get through to a human, they connect you right away. You can see a demo of how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c It saved me literally hours of being on hold. I had a specific question about how my scholarship interacted with my internship income under the treaty, and needed to speak to someone in the international tax department at the IRS. With Claimyr I got through in about 30 minutes instead of the usual 3+ hour wait (or getting disconnected).

I have to admit I was totally wrong about Claimyr! After my skeptical comment I decided to try it anyway since I was desperate to resolve an issue with my tax transcript being unavailable online (needed it to complete my FAFSA as an international student). I'd been trying to get through to the IRS for days with no luck - either disconnected or 3+ hour wait times. With Claimyr, I got a call back in about 40 minutes connecting me directly to an IRS agent. The agent confirmed my identity and was able to mail me my tax transcript. No scam at all - they really do just handle the waiting part for you, which was a huge relief. The IRS agent I spoke with was super helpful once I finally got through to a human. Definitely using this again next time I need to deal with the IRS.

Just to add another perspective - I'm from South Korea and was in a similar situation last year. One important thing to note is that you need to submit a NEW Form 8233 to your employer EACH calendar year. So if your internship crosses from December into January, you'll need to submit two forms. Also, make sure you're tracking your "5-year clock" correctly. Most treaties (including Turkey's I believe) only allow student exemptions for 5 years from when you first entered the US. After that, you might become ineligible even if you're still a student. Your university's international student office should give you a tax workshop at some point that covers all this - definitely go to that if you haven't already!

Has anyone used TurboTax to file with Form 8233 and treaty benefits? I'm about to file for last year and I had treaty benefits from an internship, but I'm not sure if the basic TurboTax can handle this or if I need some premium version.

Great point about using the right tax software! I made this mistake my first year and it was a nightmare to fix. Lucy is absolutely right - TurboTax will mess up your tax situation as a nonresident alien. I used Sprintax last year and it handled my Form 8233 treaty benefits perfectly. It walks you through all the nonresident alien forms (1040NR, 8843, etc.) and has specific sections for treaty benefits from different countries. Most universities have discount codes or sometimes even free access to Sprintax - check with your international student office first. Also, keep in mind that if you used Form 8233 during the year, you'll need to report those treaty benefits on your tax return even though taxes weren't withheld on that income. The software should guide you through this, but it's important to be consistent between what you claimed on Form 8233 and what you report on your 1040NR.