US Tax Treaty Benefits for International Students by Country: Pub 901 Caps, Time Limits and How to Claim

China's treaty shields up to $5,000 of your wages a year, India's exempts no wages but adds the standard deduction, and Brazil, Vietnam and Nepal have no treaty at all. Find your country's row.

Part of our guide to US taxes on F-1, OPT and H-1B.

A tax treaty for international students can make part of your US income tax-free, but only if your country has one, only up to its cap, and only within its time limit. Status as of November 1, 2026 (in effect): under IRS Publication 901 (Rev. 09/2024, still the edition on IRS.gov), China exempts up to $5,000 of US wages a year, Bangladesh $8,000, Germany $9,000, and South Korea and Indonesia $2,000. India exempts no wages; its Article 21 gives you the standard deduction instead. Brazil, Vietnam, Nepal, Taiwan and Nigeria have no US income tax treaty. You claim at payroll on Form 8233, or later on Form 1040-NR.

Every row below was checked against Publication 901 and the IRS Tax Treaty Tables in November 2026, not copied from older university charts.

Which countries have a student tax treaty with the US?

Most US income tax treaties have a student article, but only some exempt US wages. Among the largest F-1 sending countries, China ($5,000 a year), Bangladesh ($8,000) and South Korea ($2,000) exempt some wages; India and Canada exempt only money from abroad, though India adds the standard deduction; Brazil, Vietnam, Nepal, Taiwan and Nigeria have no treaty.

Here is how the ten largest senders line up. The counts are active F and M records in SEVIS for October 2026 (our sums of the DHS SEVIS Data Mapping Tool tables), not enrollment.

Table 1. The ten largest SEVIS countries and their US treaty status, as of 2026-11

Half of the top ten have no treaty. If your country is not on the IRS list of tax treaties (Table 3, updated through September 26, 2025), no form creates a benefit; Iran, Saudi Arabia, Ghana and Kenya are not on it either. Pub 901 says: "If there is no treaty between your country and the United States, you must pay tax on the income in the same way and at the same rates shown in the Instructions for Form 1040-NR."

Tax treaty for international students: wage caps and time limits by country

A student article can do three things: exempt money sent from abroad for your maintenance and study, exempt scholarships or grants, and exempt a capped amount of US wages. Only the third touches most CPT, OPT and on-campus paychecks.

Table 2. Student articles that exempt some US wages, as of 2026-11 (Pub 901 Rev. 09/2024 and IRS Tax Treaty Table 2; "5 tax years" follows the Pub 519 Appendix A statements)

Table 3. Student articles with no US wage exemption, as of 2026-11

Not listed here? Read your country's entry under "Students and Apprentices" in Pub 901, then the treaty article itself. Three country notes:

• India. The $5,000 figure online belongs to China. India's benefit is the standard deduction, which other nonresidents cannot take, and Pub 15-T (2026) spares Indian students the extra payroll withholding add-on used for other nonresident employees. See the India Article 21 guide.
• China. Article 20 also covers grants from governmental, scientific, educational or other tax-exempt organizations, and it does not apply to Hong Kong (Pub 901). See the China $5,000 exemption guide.
• Russia. The articles covering students and apprentices have been suspended since 2024-08-16 (Announcement 2024-26, per Pub 901), until the two governments decide otherwise.

How the 5-tax-year count works

For the countries marked "5 tax years", the Pub 519 Appendix A statements count calendar years, starting with the tax year that includes your arrival date. A Korean student who lands on August 20, 2024 uses 2024, 2025, 2026, 2027 and 2028, so four months of 2024 burn a full year. If that student is on STEM OPT in 2029, the $2,000 exemption is gone, even though nothing about their visa changed.

Residence, not citizenship, decides which treaty applies

Most student articles look at where you lived for tax purposes just before you arrived. The Form 8233 instructions say that under a student or trainee article "you generally only need to have been a resident of the treaty country immediately before (or at the time) you came to the United States." An Indian citizen who lived and paid tax in Germany before starting a US master's may be looking at the German article, not the Indian one. Take facts like these to a tax professional who handles nonresident returns before you sign a Form 8233.

How do I claim a treaty exemption from my employer?

You have two routes. Give your employer Form 8233 so less tax is withheld during the year, or skip it and claim the exemption on Form 1040-NR when you file, getting the over-withheld tax back as a refund. Either way, the treaty-exempt amount ends up on 1040-NR line 1k, with Schedule OI item L.

1. Confirm your country, article, cap and time limit in Pub 901 and IRS Tax Treaty Table 2, generally using your residence immediately before arrival.
2. Get a US taxpayer ID. Form 8233 line 2 needs your SSN (or an ITIN); if you have applied but not received one, the instructions let you attach a copy of the completed SS-5 or W-7. OPT holders apply to SSA on or after the EAD start date.
3. Complete Form 8233 for the specific tax year, one form per employer, and attach the student statement for your country from Pub 519 Appendix A (for a country not listed, a statement in a similar format).
4. Submit it to the employer's payroll or tax office, the withholding agent. If it accepts, it signs Part IV and sends a copy to the IRS within 5 days, then waits at least 10 days for any IRS objection; the exemption still applies back to the first payment the form covers.
5. Fill in Form W-4, using Notice 1392 for nonresident aliens, for wages above your cap.
6. Check your year-end forms. The exempt amount should appear on Form 1042-S and the rest in box 1 of your Form W-2.
7. File Form 1040-NR (for tax year 2026, due April 15, 2027 if your wages had withholding, otherwise June 15, 2027, by our count while the 2026 instructions are unposted) plus Form 8843, which F-1 students file even with no income. Our Form 1040-NR walkthrough covers the attachments.
8. Repeat Form 8233 before the first paycheck of each new tax year, because one form covers one tax year.

Missed step 3? In the 2025 Form 1040-NR instructions, a French F-1 student, Jean, earns $8,000 from an internship and reports $3,000 on line 1a and $5,000 on line 1k either way; without a Form 8233, Jean also attaches a statement with the information the form would have carried. For a scholarship that is not pay for services, Pub 519 says to give the payer Form W-8BEN instead, unless you are also claiming a wage exemption on Form 8233.

Do I need Form 8833 for a student treaty claim?

No. Among the situations where Form 8833 is not required, Publication 519 (2025) lists a claim that a treaty reduces or modifies the taxation of "income of artists, athletes, students, trainees, or teachers. This includes taxable scholarship and fellowship grants." Form 8833 covers other positions; one of Pub 519's examples is using a treaty rather than the tax code to decide your country of residence when payments total more than $100,000. When the form is required and missing, Pub 519 lists a $1,000 penalty for each failure.

Does a treaty exempt me from FICA or state tax?

Neither, by itself. Income tax treaties reduce federal income tax; they say nothing about Social Security and Medicare, and states decide for themselves whether to follow them.

FICA. Nonresident F-1, J-1 and M-1 students are exempt from FICA on allowed work (on-campus, CPT, OPT, STEM OPT) under IRC 3121(b)(19), whatever their country. The IRS student FICA page explains that the exemption ends when you become a resident alien or change to a non-exempt status such as H-1B; F-2, J-2 and M-2 dependents never qualify. Social security totalization agreements are a separate system: the US has 31 (Romania's took effect 2026-09-01), and none with India or China.

State tax. California is the clearest case. FTB Publication 1031 (2025) says: "Generally, unless the treaty specifically excludes the income from taxation by California, the income is taxable." Its own example is a Chinese researcher whose treaty-exempt wages are still taxed by California. Other states differ, so check your state's nonresident return instructions; if a job offer means moving, our guide to states with no income tax for H-1B workers shows what changes.

What happens to treaty benefits when I switch to H-1B?

For most people, the student article ends. Student articles require you to be in the US primarily (for China, solely) to study or train, and an H-1B worker is here to work. H-1B days also count toward the substantial presence test, so you usually become a resident alien.

Residence brings in the "saving clause". Pub 519 says resident aliens generally cannot claim treaty benefits because most treaties let the US tax its residents as if the treaty did not exist, but many treaties make exceptions: some for all resident aliens (China), others only for residents who are not green card holders. An exception helps only if you still meet the article's own conditions and time limit.

China is Pub 519's worked example: a Chinese student who arrived January 1, 2021, became a resident alien on January 1, 2026, and kept Article 20 through the saving-clause exception in the 1984 Protocol. That person is still a student, and Article 20 requires being present "solely to obtain training, education, or special technical experience" (Pub 901), which in our reading does not describe H-1B employment.

• Timing. Pub 519 says treaty provisions generally apply only to the part of the year you were a nonresident, so the change year may be a dual-status tax year with the treaty limited to the student months.
• FICA starts with H-1B wages, regardless of the treaty.
• Teaching or research jobs may fall under a separate teacher article for a while: up to 3 years under the China treaty, and under the India treaty only if the visit is 2 years or less (Pub 519). Some teacher articles exclude anyone who used the student article just before (Pub 901), so read yours.

Your immigration attorney handles the change of status; a tax professional handles the payroll forms.

Worked example: one $20,000 OPT paycheck, three countries

Three single nonresident F-1 graduates each earn $20,000 of OPT wages in tax year 2026. Our arithmetic uses the 2026 brackets (10% up to $12,400, then 12%, per Rev. Proc. 2025-32), federal income tax only, before itemized deductions and credits.

At this income, India's deduction is worth more than China's $5,000 exclusion. None of the three pays FICA, but that comes from their F-1 student status, not the treaty. If they worked in California, the state would start from the full $20,000 for all three, because the China and India treaties do not reach California tax (and Vietnam has no treaty); California's own deduction and rates then apply.

Common mistakes

• Claiming $5,000 under the India treaty. That cap is China's. India gives a standard deduction.
• Going by passport instead of residence. The test is generally where you were resident just before arrival, and a Hong Kong resident is outside the China treaty.
• Claiming a treaty that does not exist. The Form 8233 instructions list this among the common errors; Vietnam, Taiwan, Brazil, Nepal and Nigeria have no treaty.
• Treating one Form 8233 as permanent. You need a new one each tax year and for each employer.
• Forgetting that the arrival year counts. A December arrival uses up one of your 5 tax years.
• Staying past Germany's 4 years. A longer visit loses the exemption for the whole visit unless the two governments agree otherwise.
• Treating payroll's acceptance as final. If the IRS objects, the employer must start withholding immediately.

Frequently asked questions

Which countries have a student tax treaty with the US?

As of November 2026, IRS Publication 901 (Rev. 09/2024) lists every US treaty with a student article. Among the largest F-1 sending countries, China exempts up to $5,000 of US wages a year, Bangladesh $8,000 and South Korea $2,000, while India and Canada exempt only money from abroad (India adds the standard deduction). Brazil, Vietnam, Nepal, Taiwan and Nigeria have no US income tax treaty.

How do I claim a treaty exemption from my employer?

Give your employer's payroll office a Form 8233 for the current tax year with your country's student statement from Publication 519 Appendix A, plus a Form W-4 for wages above the cap. File a new Form 8233 each tax year and for each employer. If you missed it, claim the exemption on Form 1040-NR line 1k with Schedule OI item L.

Do I need Form 8833 for a student treaty claim?

No. Publication 519 (2025) lists treaty claims on income of students, trainees and teachers, including taxable scholarships and fellowships, among the situations where Form 8833 is not required. Form 8833 covers other positions, such as using a treaty rather than the tax code to decide your country of residence when payments total more than $100,000.

Does a tax treaty exempt me from FICA or state income tax?

Not FICA. Nonresident F-1 students are exempt from Social Security and Medicare tax on allowed work under IRC 3121(b)(19), a rule in US law rather than any treaty, and it ends when you become a resident alien or change to a non-exempt status such as H-1B. State tax depends on the state, and California taxes treaty-exempt income unless the treaty specifically excludes California (FTB Pub 1031, 2025).

What happens to treaty benefits when I switch to H-1B?

Student articles generally stop once you are no longer in the US to study or train. H-1B days also count toward the substantial presence test, so you usually become a resident alien, and Pub 519 says resident aliens generally lose treaty benefits to the saving clause unless the treaty makes an exception. China's exception keeps Article 20 alive for a resident who is still studying, but in our reading not for H-1B employment. Ask a tax professional before your first H-1B payroll.

Sources

• IRS, Publication 901, U.S. Tax Treaties (Rev. 09/2024)
• IRS, Tax Treaty Tables, including Table 2 (compensation for personal services) and Table 3 (list of tax treaties)
• IRS, Publication 519 (2025), U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens
• IRS, Instructions for Form 8233 (Rev. 12/2025)
• IRS, Instructions for Form 1040-NR (2025)
• IRS, Publication 15-T (2026)
• IRS, Foreign student liability for Social Security and Medicare taxes
• IRS, Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (2026 brackets)
• California FTB, Publication 1031 (2025)
• DHS Study in the States, October 2026 SEVIS Data Mapping Tool data

How we checked this: we read each country's entry in Pub 901 and IRS Tax Treaty Tables 2 and 3, plus Pub 519, Pub 15-T, the Form 8233 and 1040-NR instructions and FTB Pub 1031, on irs.gov and ftb.ca.gov at the start of November 2026.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice; the treaty text, your own documents and a tax professional who handles nonresident returns govern your situation, and your DSO remains the person for questions about your F-1, CPT or OPT dates.

Taxes are one part of the OPT-to-H-1B path; finding an employer that will sponsor you is the other. If you want help with that side, talk to F1Jobs.