2008 Federal U.S. Nonresident Alien Income Tax Return Form 1040NR
As an international person who needs to file a federal tax return you need to fill out either Form 1040NR or 1040NR-EZ. Clear instructions for filling out this form are provided in the instructions for either form which can be found on the IRS website or here http://www.middlebury.edu/administration/tax/info/irs_forms/. DISCLAIMER: These instructions are very generic applying to many nonresident aliens but not to all – you always need to read the instructions yourself to ensure that you are answering the questions correctly, it is not our responsibility if you do not file your tax return correctly or timely. The following instructions are for Form 1040NR SECTION 1 • Personal Information (REMEMBER: YOU are the “taxpayer”) • Check that you are an Individual • Present Home Address: Use your foreign address if you are not in the US, otherwise use your current US address • Type of Entry Visa: Visa you came to the US with last time you where in US (or your current visa), i.e., F-1, J-1 • Country: Country you lived in for 365 days before coming to US • Citizen country: Country of passport • 2 other address lines follow instructions SECTION 2 Filing Status • Line 2: Unless you are from Canada or Mexico or Korea, use this line, check box and mark column 7a next to it • “No. of boxes checked on 7a and 7b”: is 1 unless you are from Canada, Mexico or Korea (check instructions for those countries) • Line 7d: “Add numbers entered on lines above”: 1 • Line 8: Take your W-2 and / or 1099MISC and / or 1042S (use information form 1042S only if income code in Box 1 is 16 or 20 and you were taxed, i.e., exemption code in Box 6 is 0 and there is an amount in Box 7) and enter total amount • Line 23: add Lines 8 through 21, most likely equal to Line 8 • Line 34: add Lines 24 through 33, most likely equal to 0 • Line 35: Line 34 minus Line 23 • Line 36: equals Line 35 from front page • Line 37: numbers from Schedule A, line 17 – see further down for instructions for Schedule A • Line 38: Line 36 minus Line 37 • Line 39: $3,500 for 2008 • Line 40: Line 38 minus Line 39
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Line 41: go to instructions of 1040NR http://www.irs.gov/pub/irspdf/i1040nr.pdf , find your income as of Line 40 in one bracket starting from page 33 (use first column, i.e., you are single), e.g., Line 40 = $3,422.36, therefore tax is $343) and enter in Line 41 Line 42: 0 Line 43: = Line 41 Line 50: 0 unless you are claiming a child and child expenses, see instructions for that Line 51: Line 43 plus Line 50 Line 57: usually = Line 51 Line 58: From Form W-2 amount in Box 2, Form 1099MISC amount in Box 4 (very rare that there is an amount), Form 1042-S amount in Box 7 = sum of these amounts Line 69: usually 0 Line 70: enter here if Line 58 minus Line 57 greater than 0 Line 71a: = Line 70 Line 71b etc: we recommend to fill this out if you have a checking account in the US, otherwise leave blank Line 72: 0 Line 73: enter here if Line 58 minus Line 57 is smaller than 0, enter absolute amount here and send check to the IRS for that amount. Here is some information on how to pay taxes if you do not have a US checking account http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=174251,00.html Sign Here: Sign and Date and enter your profession, e.g., student, professor, lecturer, artist, etc.
PAGE 3: SCHEDULE A – ITEMIZED DEDUCTIONS • Line 1: Enter state income tax from Form W-2 Box 17 • Line 3: = Line 1 • Line 4 – 6: Enter if you gave $s to a US charity • Line 7: Sum of Lines 4 through 6 • Line 8: Most likely 0 • Line 9: You can use this line only if the expenses claimed are related to the job for which you are filing taxes, e.g., if you come as a summer faculty you can deduct your trip to Middlebury or Mills and back (train, cab, flight, mileage for the car etc. but probably also visa cost), you can also deduct supplies for the job, e.g., paper, books, slides, etc. as well as dues paid to professional organizations or subscriptions to professional journals • Line 10: Cost of tax program or accountant who did your taxes • Line 11: other expenses • Line 12: Sum of Lines 9 through 11 • Line 13: = Line 36 from Form 1040NR • Line 14: = Line 13 * 0.02
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Line 15: Line 12 minus Line 14 Line 16: usually 0 Line 17: usually check “No” and enter Sum of Line 3 plus Line 7 plus Line 8 plus Line 15 plus Line 16 ---- enter the total on Form 1040NR Line 37
PAGE 4: TAX ON INCOME NOT EFFECTIVELY CONNECTED WITH A U.S. TRADE OR BUSINESS • You usually do not need to fill this out PAGE 5: OTHER INFORMATION • Line A: passport country • Line B: usually no • Line C: e.g., teaching Spanish, studying Spanish, giving lecture, performing music • Line D: 2008 visa you are on or if you left the US, visa you used to visit US • Line E: see form • Line F: usually no • Line G: see form • Line H: you can get those days from Form 8843 which is available on the FNIS website https://fnis.windstar.cc/middlebury/ • Line I: only for residents of Canada, Mexico, Korea • Line J: see form • Line K: see form • Line L: usually no • Line M: leave empty if you are not claiming treaty benefits • Line N: usually N/A • Line O: usually leave blank • Line P: usually No • Line Q: usually No • Line R: unfortunately usually leave blank Attach Form 2106-EZ if applicable and Form 8843 to the back of your tax return. Attach Form W-2 and if applicable Form 1042S to the front of your tax return and mail to Department of the Treasury Internal Revenue Service Center Austin, TX 73301-0215 USA
Last Updated: August 4, 2009