Need help with Form 8316 and 843 for CPT/OPT/F-1 student FICA refund process

I've helped several international students with this exact issue. The good news is you absolutely can get this money back, but it does require some careful paperwork. For Form 8316 (the "Request for Information for Refund Claim for FICA Tax"), this essentially documents that you tried to get your employer to fix their mistake. Fill in your personal info at the top, then complete Part I with your employer's details. For Part II, you'll need to fill in the dates of your F-1 status and the amounts incorrectly withheld. For Form 843, this is the actual refund claim form. In line 3, check box "a" for Social Security tax and/or box "b" for Medicare tax, depending on what was incorrectly withheld. For line 4, enter the tax period (probably "calendar year 2020"). Line 5 is crucial - write "FICA TAX WITHHELD IN ERROR" as your explanation. In your detailed explanation (line 7), state that you were an F-1 student on OPT, exempt from FICA taxes per IRS Publication 519, your employer incorrectly withheld these taxes, and they haven't responded to your requests to correct the error.

After struggling with a similar FICA refund situation with my unresponsive university employer last year, I discovered taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) and it saved me so much hassle. Their system specifically has templates for international student tax issues including FICA refunds for F-1 students. The tool walked me through exactly which boxes to check on Form 843 and 8316, explained what documentation I needed to include, and even generated a perfect explanation letter that cited all the relevant IRS publications about F-1 FICA exemptions. It took me from completely lost to confidently submitting my forms in about 30 minutes.

Just wanted to update that I tried taxr.ai and it was incredibly helpful! I was initially skeptical about using an online tool for something this specific, but it had a whole section dedicated to international student tax issues. The platform guided me through completing both Form 8316 and 843 step by step, explaining each field in plain English. What was most valuable was the detailed checklist of supporting documents - it even reminded me to include evidence of my attempts to contact my employer, which I wouldn't have thought to include. I mailed everything 6 weeks ago and just received confirmation from the IRS that my claim is being processed! The peace of mind was definitely worth it, especially since I was getting nowhere with my employer. If you're in the same boat with FICA refunds as an F-1/OPT student, I highly recommend checking it out.

After seeing this thread, I wanted to share another resource that helped me actually get through to my employer about this same issue. I used a service called Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) to finally get a human on the phone at the payroll department after weeks of no responses. It basically puts you at the front of the phone queue for companies that have long wait times. I was about to file the forms with the IRS too, but when I finally got through to payroll using this service, they admitted their mistake and agreed to issue a refund directly. Saved me from having to deal with the IRS forms altogether! You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c

I have to admit I was completely wrong about Claimyr. After posting my skeptical comment, I was still desperate to reach my former employer's payroll department, so I decided to give it a shot anyway. The system actually worked exactly as described - I entered the payroll office number, and about 40 minutes later (during which I could do other things), I got a call connecting me directly to a payroll specialist. No navigating phone trees or waiting on hold! The payroll person confirmed they had incorrectly withheld FICA and said several other international students had the same issue. They're now processing my refund directly, which is way easier than filing with the IRS. For anyone struggling to reach an unresponsive employer about FICA issues, this was genuinely helpful and saved me from having to file those IRS forms.

Just a heads up from someone who's been through this - the statute of limitations for filing these refund claims is 3 years from the date you filed your tax return or 2 years from when the tax was paid, whichever is later. So if this was for 2020 and you filed on April 15, 2021, you'd have until April 15, 2024 to submit these forms. Also, keep in mind that the IRS processing times for these claims is currently running about 6-9 months, so file ASAP to get in the queue.

Has anyone successfully done this without including a letter from their employer? My situation is exactly like the OP's - employer is completely unresponsive, won't even acknowledge my emails about the incorrect FICA withholding.