Form 1040NR-EZ is the tax return form most frequently used by international students in United States. If you were a nonresident student during 2009 who had any U.S. source of income in 2009, you must file your tax return on IRS Form 1040NR-EZ of Form 1040NR. You must also attach a special supplemental statement - IRS Form 8843, to your Form 1040NR or Form 1040NR-EZ.

Form 1040NR-EZ is an easy to use option for filing a 2009 nonresident tax return. Most international students who receive one or multiple Form W-2 (for wages and salaries) and/or Form 1042-S (for nonservice scholarship) file their tax return on Form 1040NR-EZ. On average it takes less than 20 min to file a 2009 nonresident tax return on Form 1040NR-EZ. ISTAXES provides online help as well as the IRS official 1040NR-EZ instructions to help you file Form 1040NR-EZ.

For 2010, you can use Form 1040NR-EZ only if  all the requirements below apply to you (most international students meet all these conditions):

• You do not claim any dependents. (do not claim a wife or children on your tax return. Only students from certain countries - residents of Canada, Mexico, Japan, Korea and students from India only can claim dependents on their U.S. tax return)
• You cannot be claimed as a dependent on someone else's return (ex: spouse, parent).
• You are not claiming any tax credits.
• If you are married, and you do not claim an exemption for your spouse.
• Your taxable income is less than $100,000.00.
• You do not claim any itemized deductions other than for state and local income taxes.
• You are not claiming any adjustments to income other than scholarship and fellowship grants excluded.
• You do not owe any "other taxes"
• Your only U.S. income was from wages, salaries, and tips, refunds of state and local income taxes, and scholarship or fellowship grants.

  Note:

  • Income received as an independent contractor on Form 1099 is not considered wages or salaries and can not be reported on Form 1040NR-EZ.
  • If you had taxable interest or dividend income, you cannot use this form.
  • Bank interest is not taxable for non-residents and is not counted towards income.

When to use Form 1040NR-EZ

• You are not claiming dependents: file Form 1040NR-EZ
• You do not claim an exemption for your husband or wife - Form 1040NR-EZ
• You are not claiming any tax credits – Form 1040NR-EZ
• Your taxable income is less than $100,000.00
• You do not claim any itemized deductions other than for state and local income taxes.
• You do not owe any other type of taxes: file Form 1040 NR-EZ
• Your only U.S. income was from:
• wages, salaries, and tips – Form W-2
• refunds of state and local income taxes
• scholarship or fellowship grants – Form 1042-S

When to use Form 1040NR

• You do claim dependents on your tax return – (residents of Canada , Mexico , Japan , Korea and students from India only) 1040NR
• You are claiming tax credits: file Form 1040 NR
• You claim an exemption for your wife or husband - Form 1040NR
• Your taxable income is more than $100,000.00: file Form 1040 NR
• You claim itemized deductions including medical expenses, charitable contributions, and unreimbursed employee expenses – 1040NR
• You owe any other type of taxes Form 1040NR
• Your worked as an independent contractor
• You have different types of income from various sources including dividends, investments and real estate transactions

If you do not qualify to file Form 1040NR-EZ for 2009, you must file Form 1040 NR. ISTAXES currently supports only Form 1040NR-EZ. If you must file Form 1040NR, we recommend the use of a tax professional.

If you are not certain whether you should File Form 1040 NR-EZ or 1040 NR you should select the Which form do I file? menu and then proceed for a step-by-step determination interview before registering to file Form 1040NR-EZ online. This will allow you to ensure that you are filing your nonresident tax return on the appropriate form – Form 1040 NR or Form 1040 NR-EZ.

The deadline to file Form 1040NR-EZ is April 15, 2010.

Remember: You must also attach supplemental Form 8843 to Form 1040NR-EZ.

Note: If you have received interest income from a U.S. bank account and have no other U.S. source of income in 2009, you may still use only Form 8843. (U.S. bank interest received by nonresidents is considered foreign source of income and is not taxable)

When to File Form 1040NR-EZ

If you were an employee and received wages subject to U.S. income tax withholding, file Form 1040NR-EZ by April 15, 2010. If you have filed an extension for Form 1040NR-EZ before April 15, the next tax filing deadline for Form 1040 NR-EZ is October 15, 2010.

Extension of Time to File Form 1040 NR-EZ

If you cannot file your Form 1040NR-EZ by the due date, you should file Form 4868 to receive an extension of time to file. You must file Form 4868 by the regular due date of the return.

Note: Form 4868 does not extend the time to pay your income tax. The tax is due by the regular due date of the return.

Efile 1040NR-EZ

Unfortunately, for 2010 the IRS does not allow efile services of 2009 nonresident alien tax forms – Form 1040NR-EZ and Form W-7. All nonresident tax returns on Form 1040NR-EZ are required to be mailed to the Internal Revenue Service. Currently, there is no actual date when the efile services for Form 1040NR / Form 1040NR-EZ and Form W-7 will be offered to international students and scholars nonresident aliens for tax purposes.

Where to File Form 1040NR-EZ