Who files Form 1040-NR? A nonresident tax guide for F-1 and J-1 students, scholars and overseas investors

A nonresident alien files Form 1040-NR if they're engaged in a U.S. trade or business (which includes working here for wages) or have U.S.-source income where the withholding didn't cover the tax. Income effectively connected with a U.S. business (ECI) is taxed at graduated rates, with related expenses deductible. Fixed, determinable, annual or periodical income (FDAP), such as dividends, gross rent and royalties, is generally taxed on the gross amount at 30% or a treaty rate, with no deductions.

• Working in the U.S. counts as a trade or business: an F-1 student's campus job, TA or RA pay, OPT and CPT, and a J-1 scholar's salary are all ECI, reported on page 1 of Form 1040-NR.
• FDAP is usually withheld at the source: dividends, interest and rent from U.S. sources are withheld at 30% or the treaty rate, with a Form 1042-S. If the withholding was right, you may not need to file just for that income; if it was too high, Form 1040-NR gets it back. FDAP goes on Schedule NEC.
• Some income is exempt for nonresidents: U.S. bank deposit interest and most portfolio interest generally aren't taxed. Capital gains on U.S. stocks are generally not taxed either for a nonresident who isn't in a U.S. business and spent less than 183 days in the U.S. that year.
• When you don't have to file: F, J, M and Q students and scholars with no income taxable under section 871 don't need Form 1040-NR, but still file Form 8843. If you want a refund of over-withholding, you file.
• U.S.-source income only: nonresidents report only U.S.-source income, so wages, interest and rent in China don't go on Form 1040-NR. Once you become a resident, worldwide income is reportable.

Tax residency isn't the same as immigration status. A green card holder (lawful permanent resident) is a tax resident. Without a green card, apply the substantial presence test: at least 31 days in the U.S. this year, and this year's days plus 1/3 of last year's plus 1/6 of the year before's total at least 183. If you meet neither test, you're a nonresident alien and file Form 1040-NR.

Description: Read from the top and follow the first row that fits.

Your situation	Result	What you file
You held a green card at any point this year	Resident while you held it	Form 1040 (the year you get it may be dual-status)
No green card; fewer than 31 days in the U.S. this year	Nonresident	Form 1040-NR if you have U.S. income
No green card; F, J, M or Q student in your first 5 calendar years	Exempt individual, days not counted, generally nonresident	Form 1040-NR (with income) + Form 8843
No green card; J or Q teacher or researcher in your first 2 of 6 years	Exempt individual, days not counted, generally nonresident	Form 1040-NR (with income) + Form 8843
No green card; not exempt; the weighted total reaches 183 days	Resident	Form 1040, worldwide income
You reach 183 weighted days but were here fewer than 183 days this year, with a foreign tax home and closer connection	Can be a nonresident under the closer connection exception	Form 1040-NR + Form 8840

Example (hypothetical numbers, to show the method):

• An H-1B engineer: 120 days in the U.S. in 2026, 240 in 2025 and 180 in 2024. 120 + 240 × 1/3 + 180 × 1/6 = 120 + 80 + 30 = 230 days, more than 183, so she's a resident for 2026 and files Form 1040.
• An F-1 student: arrived in August 2021 to study. 2021 through 2025 are 5 calendar years (2021 counts as a full year even though it was a few months), and none of those days count. 2026 is the first year days count. If he's in the U.S. for 183 days in 2026, he's a resident from 2026 on; the earlier exempt days count as zero.

Points to watch:

• Calendar years, not months: an F-1 student's 5 years are calendar years, and the arrival year counts as one no matter how late you arrived.
• The 5 years are a lifetime total: years you were exempt before on F or J status add up. A J-1 scholar who was a student before has a shorter exemption.
• Still nonresident after 5 years? A student who shows no intent to reside permanently and has substantially complied with the visa can keep exempt status, with a statement.
• The closer connection exception: if you were here fewer than 183 days this year, had a foreign tax home and were more closely connected to that country, file Form 8840 and stay a nonresident. It's not available if you applied for, or have a pending application for, a green card.
• Treaty tie-breakers: if you're a resident of both the U.S. and China, the treaty tie-breaker may let you claim nonresident status with Form 8833. The consequences are complicated, so get advice first.

Yes. Anyone who excludes days of U.S. presence as a student, teacher or researcher files Form 8843 every year, whether or not they had income. Attach it to Form 1040-NR if you file one. If you have no income and no return, mail it to the IRS on its own by the Form 1040-NR due date, usually June 15.

• One per person: F-2 and J-2 dependents are exempt individuals too and each file their own Form 8843, children included.
• What happens if you skip it: Form 8843 is how you claim your days don't count. Without it, the IRS can count your days toward the substantial presence test, and you may be treated as a resident.
• Where to mail it: without a return, send it to the IRS service center in Austin (Austin, TX 73301-0215).
• No SSN or ITIN needed: leave the taxpayer ID blank if you don't have one.

If you were a nonresident for part of the year and a resident for the rest, that's a dual-status year. It's common in the year you get a green card, your first year working in the U.S. and the year you leave. You report the two periods separately: worldwide income for the resident period, U.S.-source income only for the nonresident period, with no standard deduction and no joint return.

• The green card year: residency generally starts the day you receive the green card (or first enter the U.S. as a permanent resident that year).
• Your first working year: if you meet the 183-day test, residency starts on your first day in the U.S. that year (ignoring visits of up to 10 days). The time before, abroad, is nonresident.
• The year you leave: if you're more closely connected to another country after your last day in the U.S., you can end residency on the day you left, with a statement.
• How to file: if you're a resident at year-end, file Form 1040 marked "Dual-Status Return" with a Form 1040-NR attached as a statement for the nonresident period. If you're a nonresident at year-end, it's the reverse. Tax software support for dual-status returns is limited, and paper filing is often needed.
• The first-year choice: if you don't meet the 183-day test this year but will next year, you may be able to elect resident status from an earlier date this year, with a statement, if you meet the conditions.
• Filing jointly with a U.S. citizen or resident spouse: a nonresident spouse can join in an election to be treated as a resident (section 6013(g)) and file a joint Form 1040 on worldwide income for the full year. That brings the standard deduction and joint rates, but Chinese income and foreign accounts (the FBAR; see the guide at yclcpa.com/fbar) become reportable, so run the numbers first.

The U.S.–China tax treaty has two key provisions. Under Article 20, students and trainees from China can exclude $5,000 a year of wages earned in the U.S., and grants and scholarships from government, educational and similar institutions are generally exempt, for as long as reasonably needed to complete the education. Under Article 19, scholars who come to teach or do research at a university, college, school or research institution are exempt on that pay for up to 3 years from arrival.

• On Form 1040-NR: treaty-exempt income goes on line 1k, and Schedule OI item L lists the country, the treaty article, the months claimed in prior years and this year's exempt amount.
• Form 8833? Under IRS rules, students, teachers and trainees claiming these treaty exemptions generally don't need to attach Form 8833.
• After 5 years, as a resident? Under the 1984 Protocol, a Chinese student who becomes a resident under the 183-day test can generally keep claiming Article 20 while still completing the education, on Form 1040, with a Form W-9 and statement to the employer. IRS publications don't fully agree on whether Form 8833 is needed in that case, so the cautious approach is to attach the disclosure.
• Green card holders: the analysis is different and needs a case-by-case look.
• Check FICA too: nonresident F-1 and J-1 students and scholars are generally exempt from Social Security and Medicare tax on work allowed under their visa. If your employer withheld it by mistake, ask the employer first; if they won't refund it, file Form 843 with the IRS.

Example (hypothetical numbers, to show the method): Wang is an F-1 Ph.D. student from China. 2026 is his third year in the U.S., so he's a nonresident. The university paid him $30,000 as a TA and withheld $1,200 of North Carolina income tax.

Filing Form 1040 looks like it saves tax, but it uses a standard deduction nonresidents can't take, and may claim education credits by mistake. When the IRS catches it, you owe the tax plus interest, and you may have to explain it later in immigration filings.

Form 1040-NR allows only deductions connected with effectively connected income. There's no standard deduction (except for students and business apprentices from India under that treaty), no joint return and no head of household status. You can itemize state and local income taxes, gifts to U.S. charities and casualty losses in federally declared disasters.

If you had U.S. wages with income tax withheld, it's due April 15 of the following year; otherwise June 15. Form 4868 extends filing to October 15 or December 15, but not the time to pay. Form 1040-NR can be e-filed. Without an SSN, you need an ITIN, and a first application usually goes in with a paper return.

Description: Find your row by whether you had wage withholding, then see the due date, the extended date and the forms that go with it.

Situation	Due date	Extended to	Forms
U.S. wages with income tax withheld (student TA / RA, OPT, first-year H-1B and similar)	April 15, 2027	October 15, 2027	Form 1040-NR, Schedule OI, Form 8843 (students and scholars), Form 8833 (when required)
No wages with withholding (only rent, dividends, a home sale and similar)	June 15, 2027	December 15, 2027	Form 1040-NR, Schedule NEC, FIRPTA withholding statements (home sale)
Students and scholars with no income	June 15, 2027	—	Form 8843 only
Nonresidents who need to pay estimated tax for 2026	Quarterly	—	Form 1040-ES (NR)

• E-filing: Form 1040-NR can be e-filed, and paid preparers generally must e-file it. Many consumer tax programs only handle Form 1040, which is how a lot of students end up filing as residents.
• ITIN: if you aren't eligible for an SSN, apply for an ITIN on Form W-7 with your return, or through a Certifying Acceptance Agent (see the guide at yclcpa.com/itin).
• Refunds: nonresident refunds can go by direct deposit to a U.S. bank account. If you're abroad and can only get a check, see the guide at yclcpa.com/refundcheck.
• State due dates: most states follow April 15 and don't have a June 15 rule, so check each one.

When a nonresident sells U.S. real estate, the buyer withholds 15% of the price under FIRPTA, and you file Form 1040-NR to compute the actual tax and get the excess back. U.S. stock dividends are withheld at 30% by default, or 10% for Chinese tax residents under the treaty; if too much was withheld, Form 1040-NR gets a refund. If you rent out U.S. property, you can elect to be taxed on net income and deduct depreciation and expenses.

• Selling a home (FIRPTA): the 15% is withheld on the sale price, not the profit. The actual tax is on the gain and is often much lower, so you file Form 1040-NR for the difference. You can also apply before closing for a withholding certificate to reduce it (Form 8288-B). See the guide at yclcpa.com/firpta.
• Dividends and refunds: brokers withhold based on the country on your Form W-8BEN and issue Form 1042-S. Without a W-8BEN, or with a wrong one, they may withhold 30%; use Form 1042-S and Form 1040-NR to reclaim the excess. See the guide at yclcpa.com/1042s.
• Rental property: by default, 30% of gross rent is withheld with no deductions. Electing to treat it as business income lets you deduct mortgage interest, property tax, depreciation and management fees and pay graduated rates, which is usually far better, but you file Form 1040-NR every year.
• Held through a company or LLC: the filer and the forms change. A single-member LLC owned by a foreign person also files Form 5472 (see the guide at yclcpa.com/5472).

It depends on the state. State residency follows each state's own rules and won't always match your federal nonresident alien status. If you worked in a state with an income tax, or had rent or a property sale there, you generally file that state's nonresident or part-year return.

• North Carolina: nonresidents with North Carolina income file Form D-400 with Schedule PN to prorate. Whether a student or scholar living in North Carolina long-term is a state resident follows North Carolina's rules. North Carolina starts from federal adjusted gross income, so income exempt federally under a treaty generally stays out of the North Carolina calculation too.
• States that don't follow tax treaties: California, for example, doesn't honor most federal treaty exemptions, so the $5,000 excluded federally may still be taxed there.
• States with no personal income tax: Texas, Florida and Washington, for example, have no individual income tax return.
• Withholding isn't filing: even if your employer withheld state tax, you file the state return to get any excess back.

Use Figure 1 to settle whether you're a resident, a nonresident or dual-status, then look at what U.S. income you have, and find your situation below.

• Situation A: an F-1 or J-1 student or scholar in your exempt years. File Form 1040-NR and Form 8843, claim Article 20 or Article 19, and check whether FICA was withheld by mistake. Each dependent files a Form 8843.
• Situation B: you moved from F-1 to H-1B, or it's your first year working in the U.S. Run the 183-day test year by year to find when residency starts. The year may be dual-status, or a first-year choice may help. If your spouse is a U.S. citizen or resident, weigh electing a joint Form 1040.
• Situation C: you got a green card this year. You're a nonresident before and a resident after, which usually means dual-status. From residency on, your accounts in China belong on the FBAR, and Chinese funds may be PFICs (see the guide at yclcpa.com/8621).
• Situation D: you live abroad with U.S. rent, stocks or a home sale. Electing net-basis taxation for rent usually pays off; a home sale means filing Form 1040-NR under FIRPTA to recover excess withholding; over-withheld dividends come back using Form 1042-S.
• Situation E: you filed the wrong form, or skipped years. A student who filed Form 1040 corrects it with Form 1040-X and the right Form 1040-NR attached. Refund claims are generally limited to about 3 years from the original due date. If tax is owed, file as soon as you can to limit penalties and interest.