Table of Contents
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Forms aliens must file,
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When and where to file,
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Penalties,
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Amended returns and claims for refund, and
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Transportation of currency or monetary instruments.
Forms (and Instructions)
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1040 U.S. Individual Income Tax Return
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1040A U.S. Individual Income Tax Return
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1040EZ Income Tax Return for Single and Joint Filers With No Dependents
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1040NR U.S. Nonresident Alien Income Tax Return
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1040NR-EZ U.S. Income Tax Return for Certain Nonresident Aliens With No Dependents
See chapter 12 for information about getting these forms.
What return you must file as well as when and where you file that return, depends on your status at the end of the tax year as a resident or a nonresident alien.
Resident aliens should file Form 1040EZ, 1040A, or 1040 at the address shown in the instructions for that form. The due date for filing the return and paying any tax due is April 15 of the year following the year for which you are filing a return (but see the Tip, later).
Under U.S. immigration law, a lawful permanent resident who is required to file a tax return as a resident and fails to do so may be regarded as having abandoned status and may lose permanent resident status.
Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service Center
Austin, TX 73301-0215
Nonresident aliens who are required to file an income tax return should use Form 1040NR or, if qualified, Form 1040NR-EZ.
If you are any of the following, you must file a return.
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A nonresident alien individual engaged or considered to be engaged in a trade or business in the United States during 2008. (But see Exceptions, later.)
You must file even if:
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Your income did not come from a trade or business conducted in the United States,
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You have no income from U.S. sources, or
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Your income is exempt from income tax.
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A nonresident alien individual not engaged in a trade or business in the United States with U.S. income on which the tax liability was not satisfied by the withholding of tax at the source.
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A representative or agent responsible for filing the return of an individual described in (1) or (2).
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A fiduciary for a nonresident alien estate or trust.
You must also file if you want to:
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Claim a refund of overwithheld or overpaid tax, or
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Claim the benefit of any deductions or credits. For example, if you have no U.S. business activities but have income from real property that you choose to treat as effectively connected income (discussed in chapter 4), you must timely file a true and accurate return to take any allowable deductions against that income. For information on what is timely, see When to file for deductions and credits under When To File, later.
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Your only U.S. trade or business was the performance of personal services, and
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Your wages were less than $3,500, and
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You have no other need to file a return to claim a refund of overwithheld taxes, to satisfy additional withholding at source, or to claim income exempt or partly exempt by treaty, or
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You were a nonresident alien student, teacher, or trainee who was temporarily present in the United States under an “F,” “J,” “M,” or “Q” visa and you have no income that is subject to tax, such as wages, tips, scholarship and fellowship grants, dividends, etc.
You can use Form 1040NR-EZ if all of the following conditions are met.
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You do not claim any dependents.
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You cannot be claimed as a dependent on someone else's U.S. tax return.
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If you were married, you cannot claim an exemption for your spouse.
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Your taxable income is less than $100,000.
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You are not claiming any itemized deductions (other than for state and local income taxes).
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Your only U.S. source income is from wages, salaries, tips, taxable refunds of state and local income taxes, and scholarship or fellowship grants. (If you had taxable interest or dividend income, you cannot use this form.)
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You are not claiming any adjustments to income other than the student loan interest deduction or scholarship and fellowship grants excluded.
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You are not claiming any tax credits.
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This is not an “expatriation return.” See Expatriation Tax in chapter 4.
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The only taxes you owe are:
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The income tax from the Tax Table.
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The social security and Medicare tax from Form 4137 or Form 8919.
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You are not claiming a credit for excess social security and tier 1 RRTA tax withheld.
If you do not meet all of the above conditions, you must file Form 1040NR.
If you are an employee and you receive wages subject to U.S. income tax withholding, you will generally file by the 15th day of the 4th month after your tax year ends. If you file for the 2008 calendar year, your return is due April 15, 2009.
If you are not an employee who receives wages subject to U.S. income tax withholding, you must file by the 15th day of the 6th month after your tax year ends. For the 2008 calendar year, file your return by June 15, 2009.
Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service Center
Austin, TX 73301-0215
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The date that is 16 months after the due date for filing your 2008 return, or
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The date the IRS notifies you that your 2008 return has not been filed and that you cannot claim certain deductions and credits.
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Credit for withheld taxes.
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Credit for excise tax on certain uses of gasoline and special fuels.
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Credit for tax paid by a mutual fund (or other regulated investment company) or a real estate investment trust on undistributed long-term capital gains.
Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service Center
Austin, TX 73301-0215
Virgin Islands Bureau of Internal Revenue
9601 Estate Thomas
Charlotte Amalie
St. Thomas, VI 00802
Department of Revenue and Taxation
Government of Guam
P.O. Box 23607
GMF, GU 96921
Division of Revenue and Taxation
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
P.O. Box 5234 CHRB
Saipan, MP 96950
The law provides penalties for failure to file returns or pay taxes as required.
If you do not file your return and pay your tax by the due date, you may have to pay a penalty. You may also have to pay a penalty if you substantially understate your tax, file a frivolous tax submission, or fail to supply your taxpayer identification number. If you provide fraudulent information on your return, you may have to pay a civil fraud penalty.
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You show “negligence” or “disregard” of rules or regulations, or
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You substantially understate your income tax.
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Substantial authority, or
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Adequate disclosure and a reasonable basis.
If you find changes in your income, deductions, or credits after you mail your return, file Form 1040X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return. Also use Form 1040X if you should have filed Form 1040, 1040A, or 1040EZ instead of Form 1040NR or 1040NR-EZ, or vice versa. If you amend Form 1040NR or Form 1040NR-EZ or file the correct return, attach the corrected return (Form 1040, Form 1040NR, etc.) to Form 1040X. Print “Amended” across the top. Ordinarily, an amended return claiming a refund must be filed within 3 years from the date your return was filed or within 2 years from the time the tax was paid, whichever is later. A return filed before the final due date is considered to have been filed on the due date.
FinCEN Form 105 (formerly Customs Form 4790), Report of International Transportation of Currency or Monetary Instruments, must be filed by each person who physically transports, mails, or ships, or causes to be physically transported, mailed, or shipped, currency or other monetary instruments in a total amount of more than $10,000 at one time from the United States to any place outside the United States, or into the United States from any place outside the United States. The filing requirement also applies to each person who receives in the United States currency or monetary instruments totaling more than $10,000 at one time from any place outside of the United States.
The term “monetary instruments” means the following:
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Coin and currency of the United States or of any other country,
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Travelers' checks in any form,
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Investment securities or stock in bearer form or otherwise in such form that title to them passes upon delivery,
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Negotiable instruments (including checks, promissory notes, and money orders) in bearer form, endorsed without restriction, made out to a fictitious payee, or otherwise in such form that title to them passes upon delivery, and
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Checks, promissory notes, and money orders which are signed but on which the name of the payee has been omitted.
However, the term does not include:
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Checks or money orders made payable to the order of a named person which have not been endorsed or which contain restrictive endorsements,
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Warehouse receipts, or
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Bills of lading.
A transfer of funds through normal banking procedures (wire transfer) that does not involve the physical transportation of currency or bearer monetary instruments is not required to be reported on FinCEN Form 105.
Commissioner of Customs
Attention: Currency Transportation Reports
Washington, DC 20229
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