How to fill out Form 843 and Form 8316 for a FICA refund, step by step

How do you fill in the top of Form 843?

Check the box for tax withheld in error, then give your name, SSN, address and phone number. Leave the spouse lines and the EIN box blank.

1. Under "Tax", check only "Refund to employee of social security, Medicare, or RRTA tax withheld in error, but only if your employer will not adjust the overcollection". The two "excess" tax boxes above it are for different claims.
2. Enter your name and SSN, or your ITIN if you have no SSN.
3. Leave the spouse's name and SSN blank: they are for a claim "relating to a joint return".
4. Enter your mailing address. For a foreign address, fill in the spaces below the city line and do not abbreviate the country (instructions).
5. Leave "Employer ID number (EIN)" blank: the instructions give it to "An entity, such as a partnership or corporation". Your employer's EIN goes in line 8.
6. Enter a daytime telephone number. If you move after filing, tell the IRS on Form 8822.

What goes on lines 1, 2 and 3?

Line 1 is the calendar year of the pay, line 2 the tax you want back, and line 3 stays blank. The instructions want a separate Form 843 for each tax period and say nothing of employers, so one form covers every employer that year.

1. Line 1: the year as two dates, such as 01/01/2026 and 12/31/2026.
2. Line 2: for each employer on the claim, add box 4 and box 6 of its W-2, subtract what it repaid, and add the results.
3. If a corrected W-2 (Form W-2c) already shows the repayment, do not subtract it again.
4. If you were exempt for only part of the year, for example until you changed to H-1B status, count only the tax withheld while exempt. Attach pay statements that show it, as Publication 519 asks.
5. If one employer paid you more than $200,000, its box 6 may include Additional Medicare Tax. Publication 519 says to claim that with Form 8959 and your Form 1040-NR, not on Form 843; ask a tax professional how to split it.
6. Line 3: leave it blank. The instructions want dates only "If you are requesting a refund of payments you have already made", and this is "employee tax paid by the employer to the IRS", in their words.

Which boxes do you check on lines 4 to 7?

Check 4a "Employment", 5d "941" and 7d "None of the above reasons apply". Leave line 6 blank.

1. Line 4: check a, Employment. The Internal Revenue Code puts these taxes under "Employment Taxes" (section 3121).
2. Line 5: check d, 941. The Form 843 instructions name no box for this claim, and their box i (1040) is for "individual income tax returns". Employers report "the employee share of social security and Medicare taxes" on Form 941 (Form 941 instructions).
3. Line 6: blank. It is for a claim that "involves a penalty".
4. Line 7: check d. Box a is for interest from IRS errors or delays, b for a penalty caused by written IRS advice, and c repeats the words of the penalty box at the top of the form. The instructions say "If a, b, and c do not apply, check box d."

What do you write on line 8, and where do you sign?

Line 8 explains why the tax should come back and shows how you reached line 2. The instructions say to "Explain in detail your reasons for filing this claim" and "Show your computation".

1. Your status, such as a nonresident alien in F-1 status for all of 2026.
2. Each employer, with its EIN (W-2 box b), and the work, such as OPT, exempt under section 3121(b)(19) of the Internal Revenue Code.
3. What each employer withheld and repaid, that it has not claimed the tax back, the total and what is attached. An extra sheet needs your name and SSN.
4. Sign and date page 2. Enter an Identity Protection PIN only if the IRS sent you one.
5. Leave "Paid Preparer Use Only" blank if you prepared the claim yourself: it is for "A paid tax return preparer who files Form 843 for you".

What does a finished Form 843 look like?

Here, a student with two employers claims $3,590 on one 2026 Form 843 with two Forms 8316. The 2026 rates are 6.2% for Social Security and 1.45% for Medicare (SSA).

How do you fill in Form 8316 for each employer?

Form 8316 asks about one employer, so fill in one for every employer on your claim and attach each to Form 843. It has no space for your name or SSN.

1. Question A asks whether the pay was "directly related to your course of studies as identified by the provisions of your entry visa". The IRS lists on-campus jobs and practical training (CPT and OPT) as exempt work. If you answer No, the tax was "correctly withheld": leave that employer off.
2. Questions 1 to 6 ask whether the employer paid any back, whether you authorized it to claim any, and whether it has claimed any. Question 5 also offers "Do not Know". Each Yes needs an amount.
3. If you answer Yes to question 3 or 5, ask a tax professional before you file; F1TaxReturn leaves that employer off its claim.
4. Below question 6, if the employer would not give you a statement, "please tell us why".
5. Question 7: check No unless you claimed this tax on an income tax return; line 8 is the amount if Yes. Line 25a of Form 1040-NR (2025, and the 2026 draft) is for federal income tax withheld, not these taxes.
6. Line 9: the employer's name and address, as in box c of its W-2.
7. Sign and date it, and give your phone number and the hours the IRS can call.

Lin fills in two. Employer A's says Yes to question A and No to questions 1, 3, 5 and 7. Employer B's says Yes to A and 1, with $1,000 as the amount, and No to 3, 5 and 7.

What do you attach, and in what order?

Form 843 goes on top, with each Form 8316 and the documents Publication 519 (2025), chapter 8, lists attached behind it. The IRS texts set no order for the attachments.

1. A Form 8316 for each employer on the claim.
2. A copy of each Form W-2, "to prove the amount of social security and Medicare taxes withheld".
3. A copy of your visa, and Form I-94 "or other documentation showing your date of arrival or departure".
4. F-1 or M-1: a complete copy of your Form I-20. J-1: a copy of your Form DS-2019.
5. On OPT, a copy of your Form I-766 (your EAD card); for severe economic necessity work, proof of permission to work.
6. Each employer's statement, or your own statement explaining why you could not get one.
7. If you were exempt for only part of the year, pay statements showing the tax paid while exempt.

Where and by when do you mail the claim?

Mail the claim on its own to Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service Center, Ogden, UT 84201-0038. The last day is April 15 of the fourth year after the pay: Monday, April 15, 2030 for 2026 pay.

Publication 519 (2025), chapter 8, and Publication 4011 (Rev. 10-2026) print this address; recheck it in the 2026 Publication 519. Form 1040-NR goes to a different IRS address (mailing guide), so the two need separate envelopes.

The instructions allow "3 years from the date you filed your original return or 2 years from the date you paid the tax, whichever is later". Section 6513(c) of the Internal Revenue Code treats the employer's returns and the tax withheld for a year as filed and paid on April 15 of the next year.

Certified mail is your choice; it gives you a dated receipt. Keep a copy of everything. We found no published IRS processing time for these claims.

What to do next

1. Check boxes 4 and 6 of each 2026 W-2 when it arrives, by Monday, February 1, 2027 (W-2 instructions).
2. Ask each employer for a refund, a statement and an end to the withholding. A new Form W-4 will not stop it: the 2026 Form W-4 sets federal income tax withholding (W-4 guide).
3. Fill in and sign Form 843 and a Form 8316 per employer.
4. Mail the packet on its own to Ogden by the last day for its year, in the table above (deadline guide).
5. File your 2026 Form 1040-NR separately, by Thursday, April 15, 2027 if your wages were subject to income tax withholding (OPT tax guide).