Form 1040nr Ez: Fill & Download for Free

(Assuming you haven't ever been an F1 before 2008) For 2012, you would be a nonresident alien. This is because you do not satisfy the green card test, nor the substantial presence test. The latter is because the first 5 calendar years as a student (which for you are 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012) are "exempt" from the substantial presence test. The remaining days in 2012 (since October) are not enough to fulfill the substantial presence test. As a nonresident alien, you would file either form 1040NR or 1040NR-EZ.It is also possible for you to use the "First-Year Choice" to become a dual-status alien (resident since October, nonresident before). Doing so is somewhat complicated, as it would require you to file an extension and wait until you satisfy the substantial presence test in 2013 before filing for 2012 taxes. Also, doing this would generally not give you any benefit unless you were married in which case you can also choose to file jointly with your spouse and have the both of you treated as residents for the whole year.P.S. I also want to mention that since you were working as F1 nonresident during the year, make sure that the company did not deduct FICA taxes (Social Security tax and Medicare tax) from your paycheck during the part of the year you before you were on H1b. As an F1 nonresident you were not supposed to pay those. If they did deduct it, you should go and ask the company to give it back.P.P.S. You did not say what country you were in before you came to the U.S. Most countries have tax treaties with the U.S. that gives various tax benefits to students like yourself.----Disclaimer: I am not a tax professional

See Publication 970 (2011), Tax Benefits for Education. Also, your school may provide you with some assistance - most college Web sites now have a section that deals with graduate student tax issues.If you receive a fellowship, the amount of your fellowship that is used to pay qualified education expenses is tax-free, provided that the terms of the fellowship allow you to do so. Qualified education expenses include tuition and course expenses (fees, books, supplies, and equipment) that are required of all students in the course. If the terms of the fellowship specify that you cannot use the money for tuition or course-related expenses, or require you to use the money for room and board or other purposes, then you cannot treat the fellowship as tax-free. Most schools will give you a statement that identifies the portion of a fellowship that applies to qualified educational expenses and the portion that does not. If all of your fellowship is tax-free, and that is your only income, then you do not have to file a tax return.Most universities treat fellowships as unearned income, and therefore do not provide their fellowship students with a W-2 or a Form 1099. If you have a taxable fellowship, you are still obligated to report it and pay taxes on it even if the school does not give you a W-2 or Form 1099.If you are a US citizen or resident alien, you file Form 1040 or Form 1040A and report the taxable portion of your fellowship on Line 7. You also write "SCH =", followed by the taxable amount of your scholarship, on the dotted line next to the Line 7 box, if you did not receive a W-2. Tax software usually has a screen where you enter this separately that will automatically make sure it's reported correctly. If you paid tuition and required course expenses out of your own pocket, as opposed to out of the tax-free portion of your fellowship, you can usually claim a Lifetime Learning Credit for those expenses, as described in Publication 970 above.If you are here on a F, J, M, or Q visa, your situation becomes more complicated. Usually, you will qualify as an exempt individual, as long as you haven't been in the US for parts of five calendar years, and will be treated as a nonresident alien for tax purposes. See Publication 519 (2011), U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens. If that's the case, you file Form 1040NR or Form 1040NR-EZ, and also file Form 8843 to explain why you can be treated as a nonresident alien. This can be a bit complicated, and I suggest you speak to your international student office; they can often steer you to a tax professional who understands international tax filings.