# OPT taxes help!!!



## danielgold123 (May 4, 2021)

I am an international student in the USA who has worked on OPT. For some background, I did my undergrad in five years, as I had taken a gap year. As such, I will be considered as an alien for tax purposes and I am required to pay FICA taxes. After graduation, I have worked across two tax years for OPT, and the income for each of the tax year is below $12,000.

The situation is, for the second tax year (2019), the employer did not deduct the FICA taxes and it was not paid. Now, I am trying to recontact my employer about this situation, as the employer is supposed to pay the FICA (I will pay my share as well). Can I please have some advice on this situation? Will I need to file taxes due to the late payment for FICA as well? Thank you so much for any advice.


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## 255 (Sep 8, 2018)

danielgold123 -- As you know, your employer was in error. (Although you probably should have caught it on your first pay stub.) You are doing what is right by contacting your employer. Your employer should file "corrected" payroll taxes to the IRS and you should be issued a "corrected W-2." If your employer didn't deduct the FICA from your wages, you may have to reimburse him for your overpayment of income (he should have deducted your portion of FICA from your pay.) This is an easy fix for the bookkeeper or payroll services firm to fix (but it does take time and effort.) Depending on the payroll of your employer, he may need to file electronically, so it shouldn't be hard.

You will not be required to file income taxes if you are still under the threshold for filing. However, if the employer is generous and pays your portion of your payroll taxes himself, you may get bumped above the minimum filing threshold for filing Single, under 65, of $12,000.00 for 2019, and may need to file. You won't have to file anything, for the late FICA payment, by your employer, assuming you are still under the threshold. Cheers, 255


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## danielgold123 (May 4, 2021)

255 said:


> danielgold123 -- As you know, your employer was in error. (Although you probably should have caught it on your first pay stub.) You are doing what is right by contacting your employer. Your employer should file "corrected" payroll taxes to the IRS and you should be issued a "corrected W-2." If your employer didn't deduct the FICA from your wages, you may have to reimburse him for your overpayment of income (he should have deducted your portion of FICA from your pay.) This is an easy fix for the bookkeeper or payroll services firm to fix (but it does take time and effort.) Depending on the payroll of your employer, he may need to file electronically, so it shouldn't be hard.
> 
> You will not be required to file income taxes if you are still under the threshold for filing. However, if the employer is generous and pays your portion of your payroll taxes himself, you may get bumped above the minimum filing threshold for filing Single, under 65, of $12,000.00 for 2019, and may need to file. You won't have to file anything, for the late FICA payment, by your employer, assuming you are still under the threshold. Cheers, 255


Thank you so much for your detailed response, I truly appreciate it. I have contacted my employer and they seem to keep avoiding this responsibility, and they asked me to just pay my share to IRS directly. In this situation, do you have any advice on how I should react? Are there any organizations that I should reach out to?


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## danielgold123 (May 4, 2021)

255 said:


> danielgold123 -- As you know, your employer was in error. (Although you probably should have caught it on your first pay stub.) You are doing what is right by contacting your employer. Your employer should file "corrected" payroll taxes to the IRS and you should be issued a "corrected W-2." If your employer didn't deduct the FICA from your wages, you may have to reimburse him for your overpayment of income (he should have deducted your portion of FICA from your pay.) This is an easy fix for the bookkeeper or payroll services firm to fix (but it does take time and effort.) Depending on the payroll of your employer, he may need to file electronically, so it shouldn't be hard.
> 
> You will not be required to file income taxes if you are still under the threshold for filing. However, if the employer is generous and pays your portion of your payroll taxes himself, you may get bumped above the minimum filing threshold for filing Single, under 65, of $12,000.00 for 2019, and may need to file. You won't have to file anything, for the late FICA payment, by your employer, assuming you are still under the threshold. Cheers, 255


^


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## 255 (Sep 8, 2018)

danielgold123 -- The employer is responsible for filing both his portion and your portion of payroll tax. The IRS says to contact them at (800) 829-1040, for folks in your situation. Employer and Employee Responsibilities - Employment Tax Enforcement | Internal Revenue Service (irs.gov) Probably your best bet. Good luck. They're pretty busy these days. Cheers, 255


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