Social Security and Medicare refund
Is Your FICA Coming Back?
Nonresident F-1 and J-1 students owe no Social Security or Medicare tax on campus, CPT or OPT pay. If your W-2 shows some, enter boxes 4 and 6 to see what you can get back and how.
Example: an OPT W-2 for 2025
You can get this back: $2,295.00
$2,295.002025 was one of your exempt years, so you were a nonresident alien, and pay for work your visa allows is free of Social Security and Medicare tax. Boxes 4 and 6 should be $0.
- Ask your employer first. Payroll can refund it and correct your W-2. The IRS wants you to try this before you claim.
- If they will not refund all of it, file Form 843 with Form 8316, with copies of your W-2, visa, I-94, your I-20 or DS-2019, and your EAD for OPT.
- Mail it by April 15, 2029, on its own, to:Department of the Treasury Internal Revenue Service Center Ogden, UT 84201-0038
The letters asking your employer for it are free in F1TaxReturn. You pay only if you need the IRS claim.
Exempt years are counted from your first year on an F, J, M or Q visa, assuming you were in the US part of every year since. This is information, not tax advice. Checked against IRS sources on . How we research.
Can F-1 students get FICA tax back?
Yes, if it was withheld while you were a nonresident alien, from pay for work your visa allows. Ask your employer to refund it first; if they will not refund all of it, claim it from the IRS on Form 843 with Form 8316.
Employers sometimes withhold it by mistake, often on OPT, when payroll does not know you are a nonresident. The tax is 6.2% Social Security and 1.45% Medicare, so it adds up: on $30,000 of OPT pay it is $2,295.
Who is exempt from Social Security and Medicare tax?
- F-1, M-1 and J-1 or Q-1 students in their first five calendar years, on campus jobs, CPT, OPT and STEM OPT.
- J-1 researchers and scholars in their first two calendar years, on J-1 program work.
- Students working for their own school while enrolled, usually, under a separate rule that does not depend on residency.
Not exempt: F-2 and J-2 family members, H-1B pay, and anyone who has become a resident alien.
How to claim it from the IRS
- Ask your employer in writing for a refund and a corrected W-2.
- If they refuse or do not answer, fill in Form 843 and Form 8316, which says the employer will not refund it.
- Attach copies of your W-2, visa, I-94, I-20 or DS-2019, and your EAD for OPT.
- Mail it on its own to the IRS in Ogden, Utah, not with your Form 1040-NR.
F1TaxReturn writes the employer letters free and prepares Forms 843 and 8316 for $20, one claim for every employer that year. Sprintax charges $19.95, sold only with its federal return. Step by step: filling in Forms 843 and 8316.
Sources
- IRS: Foreign student liability for Social Security and Medicare taxes
- Instructions for Form 843
- Publication 519, chapter 8
- Internal Revenue Code sections 3121(b)(19), 6511(a) and 6513(c)
01Do F-1 students pay Social Security and Medicare tax?
Not while they are nonresident aliens, on pay for work their visa allows. That covers on-campus jobs, CPT, OPT and STEM OPT, under Internal Revenue Code section 3121(b)(19). The same goes for J-1 students, researchers and scholars on J-1 program work. Once you become a resident alien, usually in a student's sixth calendar year, the tax applies.
02How do I get a FICA refund as an international student?
Ask your employer first; if they will not refund all of it, file Form 843 with Form 8316. Mail the claim with copies of your W-2, visa, I-94, I-20 or DS-2019 and, for OPT, your EAD, to the IRS in Ogden, Utah. Employers can refund it through payroll and correct the W-2, which is quicker.
03How much FICA is taken from a paycheck?
6.2% for Social Security and 1.45% for Medicare in 2026, so 7.65% of pay. Social Security stops at $184500 of wages for 2026; Medicare has no cap. Your W-2 shows them in boxes 4 and 6.
04How long do I have to claim a FICA refund?
About three years: until April 15 of the fourth year after the year of the pay. For 2026 pay the last day is April 15, 2030; for 2023 pay it is April 15, 2027.
05Does a tax treaty exempt me from FICA?
Generally not. A treaty can exempt wages from income tax, but relief from Social Security and Medicare tax comes from the F, J, M and Q rule, the on-campus student rule, or a totalization agreement between the US and your home country.
06Do F-2 or J-2 dependents get the FICA exemption?
No. The exemption does not cover F-2, J-2, M-2 or Q-3 family members, H-1B wages, or anyone who has become a resident alien.
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Free letters to your employer, then Forms 843 and 8316 filled in from your W-2 for $20, with your free federal return.