Tax year 2026Checked October 22, 2026

Will I get a tax refund as an F-1 student? Why so much is withheld

Why withholding can be more than your tax, where the difference comes back on Form 1040-NR, and the tax on a $24,000 summer internship in Texas.

By F1TaxReturn Tax Team. Published October 22, 2026. Facts checked against the sources below on October 22, 2026. 5 minute read.

In short

Nonresident F-1 and J-1 students get a federal income tax refund for tax year 2026 only by filing Form 1040-NR, and only when the income tax withheld from them is more than the tax they owe.
Publication 15-T (2026) lets automated payroll systems figure withholding "based on annualized wages", so pay for only part of the year, such as a summer internship, is usually withheld at more than its real tax.
Example estimate: a nonresident F-1 student with no treaty and no other income who earns $24,000 on summer CPT in Texas owes $2,632 of federal income tax for 2026, so W-2 box 2 withholding above $2,632 comes back.
The 7.65% Social Security and Medicare tax taken from exempt pay is not part of the Form 1040-NR refund: ask the employer first, then file Form 843 with Form 8316, by April 15, 2030 for 2026 pay.
If you had wages in 2026, file Form 1040-NR by Thursday, April 15, 2027; if your only income was a scholarship, the deadline is Tuesday, June 15, 2027.

Contents, 7 sections

Many nonresident F-1 and J-1 students get a federal income tax refund for tax year 2026, but only by filing Form 1040-NR. You get one when more income tax was withheld from your pay or scholarship than you owe.

The refund is the income tax withheld minus the tax on your return, and you must file to claim it (Publication 519, chapter 7). The rest of the return is in how to file US taxes as an international student.

Your refund is line 33 minus line 24c on the 2026 draft Form 1040-NR.

Why is more tax withheld from me than I owe?

Four things often push a nonresident student's withholding above the tax they owe: part-year pay, a treaty claimed only on the return, 14% scholarship withholding and state income tax. Social Security and Medicare tax taken in error is a fifth, refunded outside Form 1040-NR.

Five causes of over-withholding and where each comes back (2026 draft Form 1040-NR)
Cause	Why it is more than your tax	Where it comes back
Pay for part of the year	Automated payroll can figure withholding "based on annualized wages" (Publication 15-T), as if you were paid that much all year	Line 25a, from W-2 box 2
A treaty not applied by payroll	Tax was taken from pay the treaty exempts (treaty claims)	Line 25a
A taxable scholarship	The payer, usually your school, withholds 14% of the taxable part (Publication 519), which can be more than your tax on it	Line 25g, from Form 1042-S
State income tax	You deduct it on Schedule A; payroll counts it only if your Form W-4 lists it in Step 4(b) (Notice 1392)	A lower total tax on line 24c
Social Security and Medicare in error	Nonresident F, J, M and Q students owe none on campus, CPT or OPT pay (IRS)	Not on Form 1040-NR (see below)

A student with no treaty whose only 2026 income was a $10,000 taxable stipend has $1,400 withheld at 14% and owes about $1,000, so roughly $400 comes back (scholarship taxes).

Payroll also adds an amount to a nonresident's wages before withholding, because nonresidents generally get no standard deduction. That is why more is withheld from you than from a US coworker. On steady pay all year, it only brings withholding close to your tax and creates no refund by itself (Form W-4 for nonresident aliens).

Key facts

Amount you overpaid (2026 draft Form 1040-NR): Line 34: total payments (line 33) minus total tax (line 24c), refunded on line 35a
Tax withheld on Form W-2 (box 2): Line 25a
Tax withheld on Form 1042-S: Line 25g
Social Security and Medicare (7.65%) withheld in error: Not on Form 1040-NR: employer first, then Form 843 with Form 8316
Deadline if you had wages: Thursday, April 15, 2027

For: F-1, J-1, M-1 and Q students who were nonresident aliens in 2026 and had US income tax withheld from wages or a scholarship.
Not for: Resident aliens, usually from the sixth calendar year, who file Form 1040; and students with no US income, who file only Form 8843.

How much comes back from a summer internship?

A nonresident F-1 student with no treaty and no other income who earns $24,000 on summer CPT in Texas owes an estimated $2,632 of federal income tax for 2026. Any withholding above that comes back when she files Form 1040-NR.

Wages for the year$24,000

State you work inTax treaty

Federal income tax: $2,632
Texas income tax: $0
Left after these taxes: $21,368

Social Security and Medicare: $0. A US worker earning the same would pay $1,836.

Where $24,000 of 2026 summer CPT pay goes for a nonresident F-1 student in Texas. From the Texas tax calculator: 2026 federal brackets for a nonresident alien, first in the US in 2024. No state income tax on wages.

Worked example: Mei, F-1 student, summer CPT in Texas

Mei first came to the US in August 2024, so 2026 is her third calendar year and she is a nonresident alien. She earns $8,000 a month in June, July and August 2026. No treaty covers her pay, and Texas does not tax wages (Texas Constitution, art. VIII, sec. 24-a).

If her employer's payroll annualizes her pay, each paycheck is withheld as if she earned $8,000 times 12 = $96,000 a year. With no standard deduction, her tax is 10% of $12,400 = $1,240, plus 12% of $11,600 = $1,392, for $2,632. If box 2 of her W-2 shows more than $2,632, she gets the difference back.

Estimates for tax year 2026 from the Texas tax calculator: wages only, single, all 2026 pay in one state, no treaty. The IRS's 2026 Tax Table, not yet published, may differ by a few dollars.

A worker who expects to work no more than 245 days in the year can ask the employer, in writing, for the part-year method, which withholds less. It applies only if the employer agrees (Publication 505).

The 7.65% Social Security and Medicare tax (W-2 boxes 4 and 6) taken from an exempt student's pay is a separate claim, not part of the Form 1040-NR refund.

Ask your employer to repay it first, then claim anything it does not repay on Form 843 with Form 8316 (IRS; Form 843 instructions). For 2026 pay, the deadline is Monday, April 15, 2030 (FICA refunds for F-1 students).

The 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax, withheld only from pay over $200,000 in a year, is the exception. Claim it on Form 8959 with your Form 1040-NR, not on Form 843 (Publication 519, chapter 8).

When will I get no refund, or owe tax?

Little or nothing comes back when your withholding already matched your tax. You can owe when some income had no tax withheld.

When a 2026 federal refund is small, or you owe
Your situation	What to expect
You gave payroll Form 8233 for treaty-exempt pay	Nothing was withheld on that pay, so none comes back
You are a student from India, paid the same amount all year	Payroll leaves out the nonresident amount, so withholding already allows for your $16,100 standard deduction (India treaty guide)
You were paid the same amount all year, with no treaty or state income tax	Withholding usually ends close to your tax
You had contract pay on Form 1099-NEC with no tax withheld	You may owe tax on that pay

What to do next

Wait for your 2026 Form W-2 (due by Monday, February 1, 2027) and any Form 1042-S (due by Monday, March 15, 2027).
Estimate the federal tax on your wages with the take-home calculator and compare it with the withholding in W-2 box 2.
File Form 1040-NR with Form 8843 by Thursday, April 15, 2027 if you had wages, or by Tuesday, June 15, 2027 if your only income was a scholarship (tax deadlines).
Put a US bank account in your name on the return; your 1040-NR refund covers timing and what happens without one.

F1TaxReturn prepares Form 1040-NR and Form 8843 for W-2 wages, free and on paper, once the final 2026 forms and instructions are published. It does not take Form 1042-S or prepare Forms 843 and 8316.

Questions students ask

How much tax refund will I get as an F-1 student?

There is no typical amount, because the refund is your own withholding minus your own tax. Add the federal income tax withheld in W-2 box 2 and on any Form 1042-S, then subtract the total tax on your 2026 Form 1040-NR. The take-home calculator estimates the tax on wages.

Do I have to file a tax return to get my refund?

You do. Publication 519 says you must file a return to claim a refund of tax that was overwithheld, so the money stays with the IRS until you file Form 1040-NR. Attach Form 8843 to it.

My employer did not apply my tax treaty. Do I get that tax back?

Usually, on Form 1040-NR. The 2025 Form 1040-NR instructions say to leave the exempt pay out of line 1a, report it on line 1k with Schedule OI, and attach a statement with the information Form 8233 would have asked for. The tax withheld is credited on line 25a of the 2026 draft form. Check the 2026 instructions when the IRS publishes them.

Sources

This guide is checked against these 10 documents, most recently on October 22, 2026.