Canadian student filing non-resident US taxes for internship
Hey everyone, I'm in a bit of a tax headache right now. I'm a Canadian citizen studying at University of Toronto and I completed a 10-week software engineering internship in Seattle last summer. Now I'm trying to file my US taxes as a non-resident alien but I keep hitting roadblocks. I started using Sprintax since I heard it's good for international students, but I'm getting stuck at the university information section. The form is clearly designed for international students attending US schools, but I attend a Canadian university. When I try to enter "University of Toronto" it doesn't recognize it and won't let me proceed. Has anyone else dealt with filing US non-resident taxes while being a student at a non-US university? Any advice on either getting past this Sprintax issue or alternative software I could use? My internship paid around $12,000 total and I already have my W-2 form from the company.
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Collins Angel
This is actually a pretty common issue for Canadian students who do US internships! For non-resident alien tax filing, your status as a student is relevant because of the tax treaties between the US and Canada, but Sprintax doesn't handle international universities well. You should be able to select "Other" or "Not Listed" from the university dropdown menu, and then manually type in your university information. If that option doesn't appear, you might need to back up a step and make sure you've correctly indicated you're a student at a non-US institution. Since you were only there for 10 weeks, you're clearly a non-resident alien under the substantial presence test. Make sure you're filing Form 1040NR (not the regular 1040), and if you need to claim any treaty benefits, you'll attach Form 8833. The US-Canada tax treaty might give you some tax breaks on that internship income.
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Avery Davis
•Thanks for the quick reply! I actually looked for an "Other" option but couldn't find one. The only choices are US universities. I tried contacting their support but haven't heard back yet. Would it work if I just selected any random US university to get past that screen? Or would that cause problems later in the filing process? Also, do you know any alternative software that might work better for my situation?
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Collins Angel
•No, I wouldn't recommend selecting a random US university as that could potentially cause issues with your filing. The IRS might question the discrepancy if they notice a US university listed but no education-related forms or records to match. For alternatives, you could try TaxAct or TaxSlayer, which both have non-resident alien options that are more flexible with international students. OLT (OnLine Taxes) also has a decent non-resident filing option. If none of these work well, you might consider working with a tax professional who specializes in non-resident filings - it'll cost more but save you headaches.
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Marcelle Drum
After struggling with a similar situation last year (Canadian student who did internship at Amazon), I found an amazing tool called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that saved me so much time. It actually specializes in analyzing tax documents for international situations and doesn't get hung up on the "US university only" problem that Sprintax has. You upload your W-2 and answer some basic questions about your residency status, and it figures out the rest. It even explained some Canada-US tax treaty benefits I didn't know I qualified for, which saved me around $800. For me, it was way easier than trying to force Sprintax to work with my University of Waterloo information.
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Tate Jensen
•Does taxr.ai handle state taxes too? I'm from Manitoba but did an internship in California, and I heard California is super strict about state taxes even for non-residents.
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Adaline Wong
•I'm a bit skeptical about using less-known tax tools for international situations. Does it actually generate the proper 1040NR and all required attachments? How do you know it's applying the treaty benefits correctly?
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Marcelle Drum
•Yes, it handles both federal and state taxes! For California specifically, it walks you through the non-resident state filing and calculates what portion of your income is actually subject to CA state tax versus what's exempt. It absolutely generates all the proper forms including 1040NR and Form 8833 for treaty benefits. What impressed me was that it actually explains which specific treaty articles apply to your situation with citations. I verified everything with my tax-savvy uncle who's an accountant, and he was surprised by how thorough it was for international student situations. The tool was clearly designed with edge cases like ours in mind, not just as an afterthought.
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Adaline Wong
I have to follow up about taxr.ai - I ended up trying it after my skeptical question, and I'm genuinely impressed. My situation was similar (McGill student, internship in New York), and it handled everything smoothly including the treaty benefit calculations. The thing I appreciated most was how it explained each step and why certain deductions applied or didn't apply to my situation. No issues with entering my Canadian university info, and it helped me claim a treaty benefit that reduced my US tax liability by about $850. Much better experience than my previous year's tax nightmare.
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Gabriel Ruiz
If you're still struggling with tax software and getting frustrated with the IRS, I highly recommend checking out Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I was banging my head against the wall trying to get answers about my non-resident filing status directly from the IRS, but was stuck on hold for HOURS. Claimyr got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 20 minutes instead of the 3+ hour wait I had before. The agent was able to confirm exactly which forms I needed as a Canadian student and explained the treaty article that applied to my situation. There's a quick demo of how it works at https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c if you're curious. Honestly saved my sanity during tax season.
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Misterclamation Skyblue
•How does that even work? The IRS phone system is notoriously awful. Are they somehow jumping the queue or something?
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Peyton Clarke
•Sounds too good to be true. I spent 4 hours on hold with the IRS last week and eventually gave up. You're saying this service actually got you through to a real person? I'm suspicious.
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Gabriel Ruiz
•It uses an automated system that navigates the IRS phone tree and waits on hold for you. Then it calls you once it reaches a human agent. No queue jumping - it's just waiting in line for you so you don't have to sit with your phone on speaker for hours. The service monitors the hold music and system prompts, handling all the "press 1 for..." navigation automatically. When I used it, I got a call back in about 25 minutes, picked up, and was immediately connected to an IRS representative who helped answer my questions about treaty benefits for Canadian students. No more wasted hours listening to terrible hold music!
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Peyton Clarke
Alright, I have to eat my words about Claimyr. After posting my skeptical comment, I decided to try it because I was desperate to get clarity on my Canadian student tax situation. It actually worked exactly as promised. I got a call back in about 30 minutes, and was connected with an IRS agent who was surprisingly helpful. They confirmed I was filing correctly as a non-resident and explained exactly how to claim the US-Canada treaty benefits on my internship income. Saved me hours of frustration and probably a bunch of money too. Best $20 I've spent during tax season, considering I was about to pay an accountant $350 to figure this out for me.
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Vince Eh
Just wanted to add another option - if your internship employer has a dedicated tax team (many big tech companies do), reach out to them! When I did my internship at Microsoft in 2022, they had resources specifically for Canadian interns that included step-by-step filing instructions and even discount codes for tax preparation services that handle non-resident returns properly. Also, make sure you're tracking any tax you pay to the US because you might be eligible for the Foreign Tax Credit when filing your Canadian taxes. That way you're not double-taxed on the same income.
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Avery Davis
•That's a great point about contacting the employer! My internship was at a mid-sized company, but I'll definitely reach out to their HR department to see if they have any resources. Quick question about the Foreign Tax Credit - do I need to wait until I complete my US filing before I can claim that on my Canadian taxes? I'm trying to figure out the best order to do everything.
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Vince Eh
•Yes, you'll want to complete your US tax return first since you'll need to know exactly how much US tax you paid before claiming it as a Foreign Tax Credit in Canada. I recommend keeping a separate folder with copies of all your US tax documents (W-2, 1040NR, any state returns, payment receipts) specifically for when you prepare your Canadian return. The CRA might request proof of foreign taxes paid, and having everything organized makes that process much smoother. And don't worry too much about timing - if needed, you can always file an amendment to your Canadian return later if your US tax situation changes.
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Sophia Gabriel
Just wanted to check something with everyone - my Canadian university (UBC) gave me a US W-8BEN form to fill out before I left for my internship. Was that normal? Did other Canadian students have to fill out tax forms BEFORE starting their US internships? I'm in a similar situation to OP and trying to make sure I didn't miss anything important.
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Collins Angel
•Yes, that's completely normal! The W-8BEN is a certificate of foreign status that tells the US company you're a non-resident alien for tax purposes. Companies usually request this before you start so they can properly withhold taxes from your paychecks. It doesn't replace the need to file a tax return, but it helps ensure your employer withholds at the correct rate (usually lower thanks to the US-Canada tax treaty). If you didn't fill one out, your employer might have withheld at the default higher rate, which means you'd likely get a larger refund when you file your return.
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Sophia Gabriel
•Thanks so much for confirming! That makes me feel better. I was worried I had filled out the wrong form or something. I did notice they withheld less tax than some of my American intern colleagues, so I guess the treaty benefit was already being applied to my paychecks.
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Kolton Murphy
I went through this exact same situation last year as a University of Alberta student who did an internship in Boston! The Sprintax university issue is super frustrating - I ended up having to abandon it entirely. What worked for me was using FreeTaxUSA's non-resident option. It's much more flexible about international students and doesn't get hung up on the university selection. You can manually enter your Canadian school info without any problems. The interface walks you through the 1040NR pretty clearly, and it automatically applies the US-Canada tax treaty benefits when you indicate you're a Canadian resident. One tip: make sure you have your Social Insurance Number (SIN) from Canada handy, as some forms ask for your home country tax ID. Also, if you made under $12,950 (which you did at $12K), you might not owe any federal taxes anyway, but you'll still want to file to get back whatever was withheld from your paychecks. The whole process took me about 2 hours once I found the right software, versus the days I wasted fighting with Sprintax. Good luck!
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Yuki Ito
•This is really helpful! I'm dealing with the exact same Sprintax issue right now. Quick question - when you used FreeTaxUSA, did it handle state taxes too? My internship was in Massachusetts so I'm wondering if I need to file a state return there as well, or if the treaty exempts me from state taxes entirely. Also, did you end up getting a decent refund? I'm trying to estimate what I might get back since they did withhold some federal taxes from my paychecks during the internship.
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Oscar O'Neil
•@47a53e2ea0f0 Yes, FreeTaxUSA handled Massachusetts state taxes too! For MA, you'll likely need to file as a non-resident since you earned income there during your internship. The good news is that Massachusetts has a relatively straightforward non-resident return (Form 1-NR/PY), and FreeTaxUSA walks you through it. The US-Canada tax treaty doesn't typically exempt you from state taxes - those are separate from federal treaty benefits. However, you'll only owe MA taxes on the income you earned while physically working in Massachusetts, and there's usually a standard deduction that might reduce or eliminate what you owe. As for refunds, I got back about $1,200 in federal taxes and around $300 from Massachusetts. The exact amount depends on how much was withheld from your paychecks and whether your employer properly applied the treaty benefits during payroll. Since you're under the federal standard deduction threshold, you should get back most or all of your federal withholdings. @009a763518ed Make sure to keep copies of everything for your Canadian tax return too - you'll want to claim the Foreign Tax Credit up north to avoid double taxation!
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Zainab Khalil
I'm in almost the exact same boat! Canadian student at UBC who did a software internship in San Francisco last summer. The Sprintax university issue drove me absolutely crazy - spent hours trying to find a workaround before giving up. I ended up using TurboTax's non-resident filing option, which was much more flexible. It has a section for "other" educational institutions where you can manually enter your Canadian university details without any validation issues. The software automatically detected that I qualified for treaty benefits and walked me through claiming them properly. One thing that really helped was calling my internship company's payroll department directly. They were able to confirm exactly how much was withheld and whether they had applied any treaty benefits during the year. Turns out they hadn't applied the full treaty reduction, so I got back almost $1,800 between federal and California state refunds. Also, make sure you keep track of any state taxes you pay - you can claim those as foreign tax credits when you file your Canadian return next year. The whole dual-country filing process is a pain, but the refunds usually make it worth the hassle!
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