2026 federal rates

Take-home pay on F-1 OPT and H-1B: the FICA exemption

Most F-1 students on OPT pay no Social Security or Medicare while they are nonresident aliens for tax. That changes the size of a paycheck, and it ends. Here is what the rule is, who it covers, and how much it moves the number.

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Not tax advice

Whether you are a nonresident alien depends on your own days in the US and your visa history. This page explains the rules the IRS publishes and shows the arithmetic; it cannot decide your status. If the figure matters for a filing, check it with a tax professional.

The rule

Who does not pay FICA, and for how long

FICA is Social Security at 6.2% and Medicare at 1.45%, taken from almost every US paycheck. The IRS exempts one group of people from it: students in F-1, J-1 or M-1 status who are nonresident aliens for tax, on work that USCIS allows them to do. That includes on-campus jobs, curricular practical training and optional practical training, OPT, whether on or off campus.

“Nonresident for tax” is not the same as your visa. Students are generally exempt from counting days toward the substantial presence test for their first five calendar years in the US, so most F-1 students stay nonresident for that long. Calendar years, not twelve-month periods: arriving in August uses up a whole year. Once you count as a resident alien, the exemption ends even if you are still on F-1 OPT.

It also ends when your status changes. An H-1B worker pays FICA like anyone else, so the day a change of status from F-1 to H-1B takes effect (often 1 October, for people moving from OPT under cap-gap), Social Security and Medicare start coming out. Spouses and children in F-2, J-2 or M-2 status are not covered either.

Worked example

$80,000 a year, three ways

One salary, filing as single, run through our calculator with each tax residency. 2026 federal rates, no state tax.

Federal take-home on $80,000
	Citizen or resident	Nonresident student	Nonresident student from India
Standard deduction	$16,100	$0	$16,100
Federal income tax	$8,770	$12,312	$8,770
Social Security and Medicare	$6,120	$0	$0
Take-home a year	$65,110	$67,688	$71,230
Take-home a month	$5,426	$5,641	$5,936

A citizen or resident, including most people on H-1B, takes the $16,100 standard deduction and pays $6,120 in Social Security and Medicare, leaving $65,110.

A nonresident student pays no FICA, which saves $6,120. But a nonresident alien cannot take the standard deduction, so all $80,000 is taxable and federal income tax is $3,542 higher. The net effect is $2,578 more a year, not the full $6,120 people sometimes expect.

A student from India who is eligible for Article 21(2) of the US-India tax treaty can take the standard deduction anyway, so they keep both advantages: $71,230 a year, or $5,936 a month. That is the largest of the three, and it is also the one that drops most sharply when OPT turns into H-1B.

Open the calculator as a nonresident student, or as a nonresident student from India, and put in your own salary and 401(k).

Payroll mistakes

If FICA was taken anyway

Payroll systems often withhold FICA from OPT pay by default, especially at employers that rarely hire students. Look for Social Security and Medicare lines on your first payslip. If they are there and you are still a nonresident, ask your employer's payroll team to stop and refund it. IRS Publication 519 describes the route if they will not: a claim on Form 843, with Form 8316 explaining that the employer did not refund it. Your school's international office has usually seen this before.

Limits

What the calculator does not do

It does not decide whether you are a nonresident. You choose; the substantial presence test and your visa history decide.
It does not apply treaty exemptions on income. Some treaties exempt part of a student's pay; the India option only adds back the standard deduction.
It does not include state or local income tax, which most states charge on wages earned there, nonresident or not.
It does not model a dual-status year, when you are nonresident for part of the year and resident for the rest.
It works out the tax for the year, not what your employer withholds each paycheck, which can differ for nonresidents.

Looking for a job that keeps you in status? Jobs for you quotes what each posting says about sponsorship, the US sponsorship page lists employers in the Department of Labor's H-1B data, and the job tracker keeps your applications in order while the OPT clock runs.

Sources

IRS pages, fetched and read on 2026-10-31. Federal rates are from IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32, as cited on the calculator.

IRS: Foreign student liability for Social Security and Medicare taxes, F-1, J-1 and M-1 students who are nonresident aliens are exempt on work USCIS allows, including practical training; the exemption ends when they become resident aliens
IRS Publication 519, U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens, nonresident aliens cannot claim the standard deduction, except students and business apprentices eligible for Article 21(2) of the US-India treaty
IRS: Substantial presence test, how days in the US decide whether someone is a resident alien for tax

Questions

Frequently asked questions

Do F-1 students on OPT pay Social Security and Medicare?

Not while they are nonresident aliens for tax and the work is allowed by USCIS, which includes OPT and STEM OPT. The IRS exemption covers F-1, J-1 and M-1 students. It ends when the student becomes a resident alien or changes to a status that is not exempt, such as H-1B.

How long does the exemption last?

For as long as you are a nonresident alien. Students are generally exempt from the substantial presence test for their first five calendar years in the US, counted by calendar year, so a student who arrived in August has used one of the five by December.

Do H-1B workers pay FICA?

Yes. H-1B is not an exempt status, so Social Security and Medicare come out from the first H-1B paycheck, whether or not you are a resident for income tax. The calculator’s Citizen or resident option is the right one for most H-1B workers.

Why does the calculator drop the standard deduction for nonresidents?

IRS Publication 519 says nonresident aliens cannot claim it. The exception is a student or business apprentice eligible for Article 21(2) of the US-India tax treaty, which is why there is a separate option for students from India.

Can I file jointly with my spouse while on OPT?

Not as a nonresident alien. Nonresidents cannot file jointly or as head of household, so the calculator uses the single rates when a nonresident option is picked.

My employer took FICA from my OPT pay. What now?

Ask payroll to stop it and refund what was withheld. If the employer will not, Publication 519 describes a claim to the IRS on Form 843, with Form 8316. Your school’s international student office can usually help with the paperwork.

Does my home country’s treaty change the numbers?

It can. Some tax treaties exempt part or all of a student’s wages from federal income tax for a period. The calculator does not apply those exemptions, so if one covers you, your income tax is lower than it shows.

Does this include state tax?

No. The calculator covers federal income tax and FICA only. Most states tax wages earned there, nonresident or not, so subtract your state’s tax from the figure.

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