Yes. If you meet the filing requirements, you must file an individual income tax return even when income tax has been withheld from your pay. Withholding alone does not remove your filing obligation.
Withholding and Your Tax Return Serve Different Purposes
Income tax withholding is a way to pay your annual income tax in advance.
Your return determines your final tax liability based on reportable income, deductions, and credits, and reconciles it with withholding and estimated payments. You may receive a refund or owe additional tax.
Reference: IRS — Publication 505
What Determines Whether I Must File?
For U.S. tax residents, filing requirements depend on income, filing status, age, dependency status, and other circumstances. Nonresidents are subject to different rules, and working in the United States may create a filing obligation.
Even without a filing obligation, you may need to file to claim a refund of income tax withheld.
References: IRS — Publication 501, IRS — Taxation of Nonresident Aliens
What If My Employer Pays My Taxes?
Your personal filing requirements must still be reviewed even if your employer calculates gross-up pay and covers your taxes. The employer’s payroll tax filings and your individual income tax return are separate procedures.
Payroll reporting, your individual return, and any employer–employee reconciliation should be coordinated in accordance with the employer’s tax-payment policies.
How We Can Help
We support expatriate individual income tax filings and coordination with payroll and gross-up calculations, including arrival and departure years and situations involving income other than salary.
This answer primarily addresses U.S. federal income tax. State and local filing requirements must be reviewed separately. Individual circumstances determine the applicable treatment.
Information reviewed: October 14, 2026
