Visa holders · Form 1040-NR
Form 1040-NR is the federal tax return a nonresident alien files in place of Form 1040.
Form 1040-NR, the U.S. Nonresident Alien Income Tax Return, reports only US income and income tied to a US business. Pay for US work is taxed at the same graduated rates residents pay. Every Form 1040-NR includes Schedule OI, where you record your visa and your days in the US.
Updated · Sources
Form 1040-NR, tax year 2026
- April 15
- is the due date if you had wages subject to US income tax withholding. Without such wages, it is June 15.
- $0
- is the standard deduction for most nonresidents, so more of their pay is taxed than a resident’s.
- 30%
- is withheld from US dividends paid to a nonresident, unless a treaty sets a lower rate.
For a 2026 return, both dates fall in 2027. Form 4868 adds six months to file, but the tax is still due on the original date.
Who must file, according to the Form 1040-NR instructions?
Under the 2025 instructions, for returns filed in 2026, a nonresident alien files Form 1040-NR if any one of these is true.
You worked or ran a business in the US
Working in the US counts as a US trade or business, so you generally must file, even with treaty-exempt pay. The main exception is a visit of 90 days or less, with no more than $3,000 of pay. That pay must come from a foreign employer with no US business, or from a US firm’s office abroad. A single student or business apprentice from India under Article 21(2) is also excused if 2025 gross income was $15,750 or less.
You had a taxable scholarship or fellowship
On an F, J, M or Q visa, the taxable part of a scholarship counts as US business income. So you must file, even if the payer withheld tax at 14%.
Tax on your other US income was not all withheld
With no US work or business, US dividends and similar income generally need a return only when the payer withheld too little tax.
You are owed a refund of tax withheld
After the year ends, you generally get back tax withheld beyond what you owe by filing, even if no return is otherwise required. That includes tax taken from pay or a scholarship that a treaty exempts.
On an F, J, M or Q visa with no taxable US income, a student, teacher or trainee does not file Form 1040-NR. They still file Form 8843 on its own, by the Form 1040-NR due date.
A nonresident on a $40,000 salary pays tax on $14,100 more of it than a resident.
Resident alien, Form 1040
$23,900
The $16,100 standard deduction comes off the salary.
Nonresident alien, Form 1040-NR
$38,000
Only the $2,000 of state tax comes off, itemized on Schedule A (Form 1040-NR).
Student from India, Form 1040-NR
$23,900
The US-India treaty lets students and business apprentices take the standard deduction.
Each figure is taxable income, the amount the graduated rates apply to. A resident takes the standard deduction because $16,100 is more than the $2,000 of state tax they could itemize. The India row rests on Article 21(2) of the treaty. The 2026 instructions are not out yet, so that row assumes the IRS keeps its 2025 approach.
How does Form 1040-NR differ from Form 1040?
Two tests mainly decide which return you file: the green card test and the substantial presence test. Elections and treaty rules can change the result. Figures are for 2026.
| Form 1040 | Form 1040-NR | |
|---|---|---|
| Who files | US citizens and resident aliens | Nonresident aliens |
| Income taxed | Worldwide income | US income Plus some foreign income tied to a US business |
| Standard deduction | $16,100 For a single filer | None for most filers |
| Filing status | Any of five Including married filing jointly and head of household | Single or married filing separately Qualifying surviving spouse only in a few cases |
| Child tax credit | Allowed With a valid SSN | Only for some filers US nationals and residents of Canada or Mexico, with limits for residents of South Korea and India. A valid SSN is required. |
In the year you arrive or leave, you can be a resident for only part of the year. The return for that year is a dual-status return. It goes on Form 1040 if you are a resident on December 31, and on Form 1040-NR if not. The other form can serve as a statement for the rest of the year.
Which Form 1040-NR mistakes raise your tax or hold up your return?
Filing Form 1040 while still a nonresident
A nonresident who files Form 1040 usually claims a standard deduction the law does not allow. Tax software built for Form 1040 may not support Form 1040-NR, so confirm it does first. To correct the return, file Form 1040-X with a corrected Form 1040-NR attached.
Assuming an H-1B arrival year is a Form 1040-NR year
An H-1B worker who arrives by July 2 and stays to December 31 usually files a dual-status return on Form 1040. Those dates give 183 days, which meets the substantial presence test. Arrive later with no earlier US days, and you usually file Form 1040-NR for that year. You can still choose to be treated as a resident.
Itemizing on Schedule A (Form 1040-NR) as a resident would
The nonresident Schedule A has no line for medical costs or mortgage interest. Its main lines are state and local income tax on US business income, and gifts to US charities. Most other deductions count only if they relate to your US business income.
Leaving treaty-exempt pay off Schedule OI
Pay a treaty exempts goes on line 1k of Form 1040-NR, not with your taxable wages. You also report it in item L of Schedule OI, naming the treaty country and article. If your employer withheld tax on that pay anyway, attach a statement with the details a Form 8233 would have given.
Expecting to file jointly
Form 1040-NR has no joint return, so a married nonresident generally files as married filing separately. With a US citizen or resident spouse, the two of you can elect to file jointly on Form 1040. If you stay a nonresident, that election taxes you both on worldwide income for as long as it lasts. Once it ends, neither of you can make it again.
Looking for Form 1040-NR-EZ
Form 1040-NR-EZ, the short version, was last used for tax year 2019. Every return for 2020 or later goes on the full Form 1040-NR. A late return goes on the form for its own year, such as the 2023 Form 1040-NR for 2023. Past years’ forms are on the IRS’s prior-year forms page.
Filing with an expired ITIN
Form 1040-NR asks for a Social Security number or, if you cannot get one, an ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number) from the IRS. An ITIN not used on a federal return for three years in a row expires. Renew it on Form W-7 when you next need to file.
Filing too late to keep deductions
File within 16 months of the due date, or you may lose your deductions and credits. They count only on a true and accurate return that the IRS treats as filed on time. You never lose the credit for tax withheld.
We prepare Form 1040-NR and the dual-status return for your arrival year.
Valim’s CPAs prepare Form 1040-NR for nonresident visa holders, and the dual-status return for the year they arrive or leave.
- We confirm your status from your visa history and US days, then prepare the federal and state returns your year needs.
- We claim treaty exemptions your employer or school did not apply, and include the Form 8843 your exempt days require.
- We figure estimated tax on Form 1040-ES (NR) for income with no withholding.
- We compare filing alone with electing to file jointly with a US citizen or resident spouse.
- Notices from the IRS or a state on returns we prepared are handled within your fee. A notice challenging your nonresident status or a treaty claim counts too.
- Individual return
- from $195
- Business return
- from $495
We quote a flat fee before work starts. We do not bill hourly.
Form 1040-NR questions.
Who must file Form 1040-NR?
A nonresident alien who worked or ran a business in the US generally must file Form 1040-NR, even with no taxable income. Some short work visits and some low-income students from India are excused. A taxable scholarship also brings a duty to file, as does other US income whose tax was not fully withheld. Filing is also how a nonresident gets back tax withheld beyond what they owe. A student, teacher or trainee on an F, J, M or Q visa with no taxable US income files Form 8843 alone.
Can I file Form 1040-NR online?
Yes, you can e-file Form 1040-NR, and a paid preparer filing more than 10 returns a year generally must. A dual-status return, usually for the year you arrive or leave, cannot be e-filed for tax year 2025. The IRS’s Free File Fillable Forms do not include Form 1040-NR. Paper returns go to the address in the instructions’ Where To File section, which differs if you enclose a payment.
Should an F-1 student file 1040 or 1040-NR?
An F-1 student usually files Form 1040-NR for the first five calendar years in the US, and Form 1040 from the sixth. For those five years, OPT included, the student is an exempt individual, whose days do not count toward residency. The arrival year counts as one of the five, however late you arrive. A student with US income files Form 8843 with each of those returns. A student who shows no intent to stay permanently can remain exempt after the fifth year.
Is a nonresident required to file a return?
A nonresident with no US job or business generally needs no return if the payers withheld all the tax due. Working in the US usually brings a duty to file, even when no tax is due. Getting back tax withheld beyond what you owe also takes a return.
What is the difference between 1040NR and 1040?
Form 1040 is the resident tax return, for US citizens and resident aliens taxed on worldwide income. Form 1040-NR is the nonresident return, and it taxes only income from US sources or from a US business. A nonresident cannot file jointly, and only students and business apprentices from India get a standard deduction. US dividends outside a US business are taxed at a flat 30%, or at a lower treaty rate. Form 1040-NR has four schedules of its own, including Schedule P for some sales of partnership interests. Schedule OI holds your visa and day counts, Schedule A your itemized deductions and Schedule NEC your US income outside a business. The return also uses Form 1040 schedules, such as Schedule 1, Schedule C for self-employment and Schedule D for capital gains.
Sources
- IRS, Instructions for Form 1040-NR (2025)
- IRS, Publication 519 (2025), U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens
- 26 C.F.R. § 1.6012-1, Individuals required to make returns of income
- 26 U.S.C. § 871, Tax on nonresident alien individuals
- 26 U.S.C. § 864, Definitions and special rules
- 26 U.S.C. § 63, Taxable income defined
- 26 U.S.C. § 1441, Withholding of tax on nonresident aliens
- 26 U.S.C. § 6013, Joint returns of income tax by husband and wife
- 26 U.S.C. § 6072, Time for filing income tax returns
- 26 U.S.C. § 7701, Definitions
- IRS, Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (2026 inflation adjustments)
- IRS, About Form 1040-NR-EZ, U.S. Income Tax Return for Certain Nonresident Aliens With No Dependents
Reviewed and updated September 2026. General information, not advice for your situation.