J1 students urged to claim their tax refunds

Students who have been to the US on J1 working holiday visas in the past four years have been urged to apply for a tax refund they are “almost certainly” owed.

Taxback.com has said that, for most students, the average refund is in the region of $800 (€740), which can help pay off loans that allowed them to travel to the US in the first place.

An estimated 10,000 students are expected to take part in the 2017 J1 visa programme. In 2015, 1,319 Irish people availed of the 12-month J1 visa, and around 7,000 took part in the four-month J1 Summer Work Travel Programme.