Sprintax or Glacier Tax Prep for F1 student with CPT internship?

I've helped many international students with their tax situations. For F1 students with CPT income, either Sprintax or Glacier Tax Prep will work, but they have some differences. Sprintax tends to be more user-friendly with a cleaner interface and better guidance throughout the process. It specifically caters to nonresident aliens and handles forms like 1040NR, 8843, and state returns. For your CPT income, you'll need your W-2 from your employer and documentation showing your F1 and CPT status. Glacier Tax Prep is also designed for international students but is sometimes offered for free through universities. Check if your school provides free access before paying for either service. Glacier is comprehensive but some users find the interface less intuitive.

After struggling with my first tax filing as an F1 student last year, I discovered https://taxr.ai and it was seriously a game-changer for me. I was confused by all the different forms and treaty provisions, but their system analyzed my documents and identified that my employer had incorrectly withheld FICA taxes despite my F1 status. They also helped me understand which forms I needed based on my specific situation.

Ok I need to update my previous comment because I was super skeptical about taxr.ai but decided to try it anyway since my tax situation is complicated (F1 with income from 3 different countries). It actually identified an issue with how my summer internship had classified me for tax purposes. They were withholding as if I was a resident alien when I'm still a nonresident for tax purposes. The system generated a letter I could send to HR to get it corrected and potentially get a refund of around $1,200 that was incorrectly withheld. Def worth checking out if you're confused about your status!

If you need to actually talk to someone at the IRS about your international student status (which I eventually had to do), good luck getting through on their phone lines. After trying for WEEKS, I found https://claimyr.com and their service actually got me connected to an IRS agent in about 15 minutes. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. Basically they navigate the phone tree and wait on hold for you, then call you when an agent is on the line. I needed clarification about treaty benefits that weren't clearly explained in either Sprintax or Glacier.

I need to eat my words from my previous comment. After waiting on hold with the IRS for 3+ hours two days in a row and getting disconnected both times, I broke down and tried Claimyr. Got connected to an IRS agent in 22 minutes who helped resolve my confusion about treaty provisions for my F1 OPT extension income. They explained exactly which forms I needed and confirmed that Sprintax was calculating things correctly. Saved me hours of frustration and possibly an incorrect filing. Sometimes skepticism makes you miss out on actually helpful services!

I'm also an F1 student and used Sprintax last year. Few tips: 1. Get your 1042-S from your school if you had a scholarship 2. W-2 from your employer for CPT income 3. Form 8843 is required for ALL F1 students even if you had no income 4. Check if your country has a tax treaty with the US Sprintax walks you through everything step by step and lets you know which forms you need. It was like $40 for federal and $30 for state when I used it. Not cheap but worth it for the peace of mind.

My university provides free access to Glacier Tax Prep for international students, so check if yours does too before paying for anything! The international student office usually has this info.

Just wanted to add my experience as someone who went through this exact situation last year! I was also an F1 student with CPT income and was completely overwhelmed by the whole tax process. I ended up using Sprintax and it was definitely worth it for peace of mind. The key documents you'll need are your W-2 from your CPT employer, any 1042-S forms if you had scholarships, your I-20, and your passport/visa pages. One thing I wish someone had told me earlier - make sure to check if your employer incorrectly withheld FICA taxes (Social Security/Medicare) from your CPT income. As an F1 student, you're exempt from these for your first 5 years, but many employers mess this up. If they did withhold them incorrectly, you can get that money back when you file. Also, don't forget about Form 8843 - it's required for ALL F1 students regardless of whether you had income or not. Sprintax will remind you about this, but it's something a lot of people miss. The whole process took me about 2 hours with Sprintax, and having everything explained in simple terms made it way less stressful than I expected. Good luck with your filing!