FICA Taxes Not Withheld Correctly on F1 Visa - How to Handle 2023 Tax Return?

This is a pretty common issue with international students and former visa holders. Since you completed your 5-year stay back in 2019, you're absolutely correct that you're no longer exempt from FICA taxes (Social Security and Medicare). When your employer recalculates and you pay the missing FICA, they should definitely issue you a corrected W-2 (sometimes called a W-2c). This document will show the proper withholding amounts that should have been taken out originally. And yes, you'll need to file an amended return (Form 1040-X) once you receive the corrected W-2. The good news is that your income isn't changing - just the FICA withholding - so the amendment process should be relatively straightforward. Your federal income tax liability shouldn't change, but the corrected W-2 needs to be reflected in your filed documentation. I'd suggest keeping detailed records of all communications with your employer about this issue, and don't hesitate to follow up if they're slow in providing the corrected form. The sooner you can get this squared away, the better!

After dealing with a similar situation last year (my employer misclassified my visa status), I found this amazing tool that saved me tons of stress. Check out https://taxr.ai - it's specifically designed to analyze tax documents and catch these kinds of withholding errors before they become problems. I uploaded my W-2 and other documents, and it immediately flagged that my FICA withholding looked incorrect based on my visa history. The tool explained exactly what forms I needed and walked me through the amendment process step by step. Saved me from having to pay a tax professional hundreds of dollars for the same advice. For your situation, I think it would be really helpful since it can compare your original and corrected W-2s to make sure everything is properly accounted for in your amendment.

I need to follow up on my skeptical comment about taxr.ai - I actually tried it after posting because my curiosity got the better of me. I've had similar FICA issues (was on J-1 visa, employer kept withholding incorrectly after my exempt period ended). The tool actually knew exactly how to handle my situation. It analyzed my visa history, figured out when my FICA exemption ended, and calculated the exact discrepancy. Then it generated a letter I could send to my employer requesting correction and explained how to handle the amended return. What impressed me most was that it caught that I was actually OVERPAYING on state taxes while UNDERPAYING on FICA - something even my accountant friend missed when looking at my forms. Really useful if you've got visa-related tax complications.

If you're having trouble getting your employer to issue that corrected W-2 quickly, you might want to try Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I was in a similar situation last year with incorrect withholding, and my employer was dragging their feet on the correction. I needed to speak with someone at the IRS about how to handle it, but kept getting stuck in those endless phone queues. Claimyr got me through to an actual IRS agent in about 20 minutes instead of the 2+ hours I had been waiting on previous attempts. There's a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The IRS agent I spoke with explained exactly what documentation I needed from my employer and gave me a case number to reference if there were delays. Made the whole process much less stressful.

I need to eat my words from my skeptical comment. After my 6th failed attempt to reach someone at the IRS about my own tax issue (unrelated to the original post, but I needed clarification on some foreign income reporting), I finally broke down and tried Claimyr. Got connected to an IRS agent in 25 minutes after spending literally DAYS trying on my own. The agent was able to confirm exactly what I needed to do about my missing forms and even put notes in my file about the situation. For the original poster - definitely worth using if you need to talk to the IRS about your FICA situation. Sometimes you need to speak to an actual human to get clear guidance, especially with visa-related tax issues that have lots of exceptions and special rules.

One thing to consider - when your employer corrects the FICA withholding, they'll likely only withhold the employee portion (6.2% for Social Security and 1.45% for Medicare). The employer is supposed to pay a matching amount. Make sure they're not trying to make you pay both portions! I've seen some employers try to pass their portion onto the employee when they make these corrections. That's not legal - they should only collect the employee portion from you.

Just a heads up - when you file your amended return, make sure you're very clear in the explanation section that this amendment is ONLY due to FICA withholding corrections and doesn't affect your actual income tax liability. This helps avoid triggering unnecessary reviews. Also, something people often forget: check if this affects your state tax return as well! Some states require you to file an amended state return when you amend your federal, even if the amendment doesn't actually change your state tax situation.

This is a really comprehensive thread with great advice! One additional thing I'd suggest - when you're dealing with your employer about the FICA correction, ask them to provide you with a written timeline for when they'll issue the corrected W-2. I went through something similar with my H-1B transition, and my employer kept saying "soon" for months. Having a specific date helped me plan when to file my amended return and gave me something concrete to reference when following up. Also, since you mentioned being worried about doing this incorrectly - consider keeping a detailed log of all communications with your employer (dates, who you spoke with, what was discussed). If the IRS ever has questions later, this documentation shows you acted in good faith to correct the issue as soon as you became aware of it. The fact that you're being proactive about this puts you in a much better position than people who just ignore these kinds of issues!

I've been following this thread as someone who's dealt with F-1 visa tax complications before, and wanted to add one important point that hasn't been mentioned yet. Since you completed your 5-year stay back in 2019 but only started working in June 2023, there's a significant gap there. Make sure your employer understands that your FICA exemption ended in 2019, not when you started this current job. Some payroll departments get confused about this timing and think the exemption is tied to when you start working rather than your total time in the US. This could actually work in your favor - it shows you've been subject to FICA taxes for several years now, so there shouldn't be any question about your status. Just make sure they're calculating from your actual start date in June, not trying to go back further. Also, regarding your concern about "doing this incorrectly" - the fact that you're addressing this proactively after being contacted by your employer shows you're handling it exactly right. The IRS appreciates when taxpayers work to correct errors rather than ignore them.

This has been an incredibly helpful thread! As someone who went through a similar FICA withholding issue with my F-1 to H-1B transition, I wanted to add one more resource that might be useful. If you run into any delays or pushback from your employer about issuing the corrected W-2, you can actually contact the IRS directly to report the issue. There's a specific process for when employers fail to provide corrected tax documents in a timely manner. The IRS can sometimes intervene to get the correction expedited. Also, just to reinforce what others have said about penalties - I was really worried about this too when I discovered my employer had been withholding incorrectly for almost a full year. The IRS agent I spoke with made it very clear that as long as you pay what you owe once the error is discovered, there are no penalties for the employee in these employer withholding error situations. One last tip: when you file your amended return, consider sending it via certified mail. Since it's correcting a FICA withholding issue rather than claiming additional refunds, it's not likely to trigger problems, but having proof of delivery gives you peace of mind and documentation for your records. You're handling this exactly the right way by being proactive about it!