My nightmare experience with Sprintax - avoid for non-resident tax filing

I need to warn fellow non-residents about my terrible experience with Sprintax this tax season. I filed my taxes late (had some personal stuff going on) and decided to use Sprintax since I'm a non-resident alien. The whole experience was a disaster from start to finish. After completing all the forms and paying the fees, I was shocked to discover it would take 3-5 days to prepare my forms. Every other tax software I've used (like Glacier Tax Prep) generates forms automatically! This meant my forms might not be ready before the deadline, which was super stressful. Here's what made me furious - there were ZERO warnings about this processing time before I paid. None. If I had known, I never would have chosen Sprintax. When I contacted customer service about this issue, they refused to give me a refund (ridiculous!) but promised my forms would be ready before the deadline and that I'd get an email notification. I checked back on Saturday and saw my federal return was finished, but never got any email about it. Then today I logged in to check on my state return, and it still wasn't completed! When I tried chatting with customer service again, the agent had the nerve to claim I had "agreed that forms might not be ready on time" during application - which is a total lie. Then they just closed the chat on me! I tried again with another agent and asked to file a complaint. They dismissed me repeatedly and claimed their system showed me warning pop-ups - another complete lie. I read EVERYTHING carefully before clicking and paying. The software is bad enough, but their customer service is truly atrocious. I'm out $75 and still don't have my complete tax forms. Please save yourselves the headache and avoid Sprintax completely. I'm never using them again.

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22 comments

Luca Greco

•8M

I've worked with international students and scholars on tax issues for years, and unfortunately your experience with Sprintax isn't uncommon. The processing delay is definitely something they should make more prominent before payment. For non-resident aliens looking for alternatives, the IRS has a free filing program specifically for non-residents with straightforward situations called the Free File Fillable Forms. It's not as user-friendly as commercial software, but it's immediately available once completed. Another option is to check with your university or employer - many institutions have partnerships with tax preparation services that offer discounted or even free access for their international employees and students. These institutional partnerships often include priority processing too.

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Luca Greco

•8M

Yes, most institutional partnerships do handle state taxes as well as federal. The specific services vary by institution, but typically they provide comprehensive coverage for both federal and state filing requirements for non-resident aliens. For your current situation, you might want to contact your institution's international office directly. Even though you've already paid for Sprintax, they might be able to help you complete your state filing through their partnership service, especially given your deadline concerns.

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Nia Thompson

•8M

After having similar issues with tax prep software for my non-resident status, I discovered taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) and it was actually a game-changer. Unlike Sprintax, it analyzed my documents instantly and identified several deductions specific to my visa type that I would have missed. The best part was that it processed everything immediately - no 3-5 day wait time! It also explained all the non-resident tax rules in plain English which was super helpful because those forms are confusing as hell for anyone who wasn't born here.

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Aisha Hussain

•8M

I was skeptical like many of you, but I tried taxr.ai after seeing it mentioned here. It saved my butt this tax season! I'm a PhD student on F-1 with OPT income AND a fellowship, which usually confuses tax software. The system correctly identified my scholarship income as partially taxable (room and board) and partially non-taxable (tuition and fees). It also correctly applied my tax treaty benefits without me having to figure out which articles applied. The document analysis feature caught a mistake in how my university reported my fellowship on my 1042-S form, which would have caused serious problems. I finished my returns in one evening instead of the usual week-long stress fest!

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GalacticGladiator

•8M

After wasting hours with Sprintax customer service and getting nowhere, I found Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) which helped me get through to an actual IRS agent to resolve my non-resident tax questions. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c I was about to give up after being on hold with the IRS for HOURS trying to get help with my 1040NR questions. Claimyr got me connected to a real IRS person within 20 minutes who confirmed that my treaty benefits were being correctly applied and helped me understand what forms I needed as a non-resident.

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GalacticGladiator

•8M

It doesn't call the IRS for you - it holds your place in line on the IRS phone queue and then calls you when it's about to connect with an agent. This way you don't have to personally sit on hold for hours. For tax software issues like with Sprintax, talking directly with the IRS helped me confirm which forms I actually needed as a non-resident alien, so I could determine if the software was processing my situation correctly. The IRS agent gave me specific guidance about my treaty benefits that I could then verify against what the software was doing.

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Yuki Yamamoto

•8M

I take back what I said about Claimyr sounding like bull. After struggling with my non-resident tax situation and getting nowhere with online support, I decided to try it out of desperation. It actually worked exactly as described - I got a call back when an IRS agent was available (took about 35 minutes) and spoke to someone who specialized in non-resident tax issues. She walked me through exactly how to report my foreign scholarship correctly and confirmed I was eligible for treaty benefits that Sprintax had denied me. Saved me from potentially filing incorrect information and helped me get a bigger refund. Worth every penny just for the peace of mind and not sitting on hold for hours!

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Carmen Ruiz

•8M

For what it's worth, I had a similar experience with Sprintax last year. Their software is clunky and their customer service is awful. One thing I wish I'd known - if you're a student, check if your school has a license for GTP (Glacier Tax Prep). My university offers it for free to all international students but doesn't advertise it very well. I found out after paying for Sprintax that I could have used GTP through my university at no cost. The international student office had a link buried deep on their website that I completely missed.

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Carmen Ruiz

•8M

GTP is definitely more straightforward for typical student situations. It generates forms immediately and has better explanations for non-resident specific sections. For more complex situations like yours with income from multiple countries, neither is perfect, but GTP tends to handle J-1 specific issues better in my experience. The key advantage is that if your university offers it, you usually get access to tax advisors who specialize in international student cases, which makes a huge difference.

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Carmen Ortiz

•6M

I'm so sorry you went through this with Sprintax - what a nightmare! As someone who's dealt with non-resident tax issues for years, I can tell you that their lack of transparency about processing times is unacceptable, especially so close to deadlines. For anyone reading this who needs to file as a non-resident in the future, here are some tips to avoid this situation: 1. File early - even if you're using software, give yourself at least 2-3 weeks before the deadline 2. Always read the fine print about processing times before paying 3. Check if your employer/university has partnerships with tax prep services first 4. Keep screenshots of any promises made during the signup process in case you need to dispute charges The fact that they closed chat on you and lied about warning pop-ups is completely unprofessional. Document everything and definitely consider the chargeback route that others have mentioned - you have a strong case since they didn't deliver the service as promised. Hope you can get this resolved and your taxes filed properly!

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Leila Haddad

•5M

This is exactly why I always warn people about Sprintax! I had a similar experience two years ago where they took my money and then informed me AFTER payment that there would be a multi-day processing delay. What really got me was their customer service - they act like you're the problem for not magically knowing about their hidden delays. I ended up having to file an extension because of their incompetence, which was stressful and embarrassing. Since then, I've used FreeTaxUSA for my non-resident filing and it's been much better - forms generate immediately and their customer service actually responds helpfully when you need them. For your current situation, definitely document everything (screenshots, chat logs, emails) and file a chargeback with your credit card company. Many people have had success with this approach since Sprintax fails to deliver services as advertised. You shouldn't have to eat that $75 for their terrible service.

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Chloe Boulanger

•22d

I'm new to filing as a non-resident and this thread is honestly terrifying me about using any tax software! Can I ask - does FreeTaxUSA actually handle all the non-resident specific forms like 1040NR and treaty benefits correctly? I'm on F-1 status with some scholarship income and I'm worried about messing something up. The immediate form generation sounds amazing compared to what everyone's describing with Sprintax. Also, for the chargeback approach - do you need to wait a certain amount of time before disputing, or can you file it right away when they don't deliver as promised?

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Miguel Castro

•15d

Don't be terrified! Yes, FreeTaxUSA does handle 1040NR and most common non-resident situations well, including F-1 scholarship income. It correctly separates taxable vs non-taxable scholarship portions and has good guidance for treaty benefits. For your F-1 situation specifically: make sure you have your 1042-S forms from your university, and double-check that any fellowship/scholarship income is reported correctly. The software will walk you through it, but it's always worth reviewing the final forms before submitting. Regarding chargebacks - you can typically file immediately once it's clear the service won't be delivered as promised. Most credit card companies give you 60-120 days from the charge date, but the sooner you file, the stronger your case. Just make sure to document everything - screenshots of their promises, chat logs showing poor service, etc. You've got this! Filing as a non-resident seems scary but it's totally manageable with the right tools.

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