Off-Campus Email Process
Why do we provide such a process?
The following are groups of persons not on-campus during the normal tax return preparation season:
- Notre Dame international students studying abroad.
- Notre Dame students graduating in the tax year and not on campus during the tax season relating to their year of graduation.
- Visiting faculty, scholars, researchers, or those in U.S. work-study programs that generate income for the participants and who no longer reside in the U.S. during the tax season.
The Process Described
With the understanding that the requested information will be provided, forms completed, and employer financial reports received, the TAP commits (subject to the TAP's income limit ) to prepare, sign, copy, and mail the required tax returns to the government taxing authorities and send the required copies of same to the tax payer. To participate in this service the tax payer must follow the steps below.
- In December of each tax year send an email requesting this service. The email must describe the applicant by indicating full name, connection to Notre Dame during the tax year, and the tax year(s) for which help is requested. The email must also provide an email address that will be active thru October of the year following the tax year for which help is requested.
- Follow all the instructions given in the file of instructions sent back to the requestor.
- Complete fully the personal information request form sent as a result of the request for return preparation assistance and send it to TAP.
- Provide copies of the prior year tax returns that were filed, assuming tax returns were filed for the prior tax year. The TAP is not allowed to keep copies of tax returns, so the requestor must send the required copies.
- Provide copies of all employer income earned reports (Forms W-2, 1042-S, 1099, etc) for any income earned anywhere in the U.S. during the tax year. Note: form 1099-MISC will likely be given you only if you worked as an independent contractor. Form 1042-S is usually issued when you have requested income exemption from tax due to treaty benefit. Form W-2 must be sent to you by each employer for whom you worked during the tax year. It is your responsibility to obtain the form(s). Usually if a form is not received, the employer does not have your current mailing address. In such case you must contact the employer, supply a current address, and request a replacement W-2.
- Provide copies of other evidence of income received if applicable, such as broker statements of stock transactions, bank reports of interest earned, state government statements of refunds sent to the taxpayer during the tax year, prizes, awards, lottery proceeds received, etc. Note: the US taxes all scholarships that exceed your tuition obligation. You must report all such scholarships. You are not taxed on tuition scholarships; do not report tuition scholarships. Example: total scholarship is $35,000; tuition is $30,000; taxable living expense scholarship is $5,000; you report just $5,000 as taxable living expense scholarship.
- Complete federal forms 2848 and 8821 and Indiana form POA-1 exactly as directed in the instructions sent to the requestor. Those forms must be sent back to TAP before work on the tax returns can begin.
- Tax returns deal with highly sensitive data. In order to protect the privacy and integrity of the data, secure procedures must be used to make that data available to the tax return preparers. Please follow the procedures at this link to assure that the secure procedures are used to transmit the data.
- Sometimes tax client responses to the forms sent may be insufficient to complete a return. This lack causes the TAP to ask additional questions. All such need to be answered in order for proper and complete return to be filed.
For those who may exceed the TAP's income limit, please go to this link and review Case 3. You may then send an email to Ken Milani requesting a review of your case.