Form 1040-NR: The Tax Return for Nonresidents, Explained

Last reviewed: November 2026

On this page: Am I a nonresident? · How it's different · Florida rentals · Selling property (FIRPTA) · Snowbirds · Students and visa workers · Deadlines

Am I a nonresident for tax purposes?

Your tax status isn't the same as your immigration status. For U.S. tax, you're generally a nonresident if you aren't a U.S. citizen and you pass neither of these two tests:

• The green card test: you had a green card at any time during the year.
• The substantial presence test: a count of the days you were in the United States.

Example: Spend about 4 months (120 days) here every winter, and your count is 120 + 40 + 20 = 180. That's under 183. Stay about 5 months (150 days) every year, and it's 150 + 50 + 25 = 225, so you meet the test unless an exception applies.

Some visa holders' days don't count, and the year you arrive or leave can be a split "dual-status" year. Those cases need a closer look.

How a 1040-NR is different from a regular 1040

• Only U.S. income is reported, and it falls into two groups. Income connected to a U.S. job or business is taxed at the normal rates. Investment-type income, like U.S. dividends, is generally taxed at a flat 30% unless a tax treaty lowers it.
• Most filers get no standard deduction. The main exception is students and business apprentices from India, under the U.S.–India treaty.
• No joint returns. A nonresident married to a U.S. citizen or resident can choose to be treated as a resident and file a joint Form 1040 instead. That choice has trade-offs, so look at it before you file.
• Tax treaties can change the answer. The U.S. has income tax treaties with many countries, including Canada. It has no income tax treaty with Brazil.
• You need a taxpayer number. No Social Security number? You'll need an ITIN, applied for on Form W-7, usually with your first return.
• No Florida return. Florida has no personal state income tax, so Florida income usually needs only the federal return.

Own a Florida condo or rental from abroad?

Without any election, U.S. rent paid to a nonresident is taxed at 30% of the gross rent (or a lower treaty rate), with no deductions at all. The property manager or tenant is often supposed to withhold it.

The better route for most owners is the election to treat the rental as "effectively connected" income. Then you can deduct expenses like mortgage interest, property taxes, HOA fees, insurance, repairs, management fees and depreciation, and you pay tax only on what's left. You make the election on your Form 1040-NR. It stays in place in later years unless you revoke it.

Selling Florida property as a nonresident (FIRPTA)

When a foreign person sells U.S. real estate, a law called FIRPTA generally makes the buyer withhold 15% of the sale price. That's 15% of the whole price, not of your profit. The buyer sends it to the IRS on Forms 8288 and 8288-A.

• Lower rates: If the buyer will live in the home and the price is $1 million or less, the rate is 10%. At $300,000 or less, with the buyer living there, no withholding may be required.
• Withholding isn't the tax. You file a 1040-NR for the year of the sale, report the real gain, and claim the amount withheld. If more was withheld than you owe, the IRS refunds the difference.
• Before closing: You can ask the IRS for a withholding certificate on Form 8288-B to lower the amount withheld. Talk to your closing agent and to us early.

Snowbirds: Canadians and others who winter in Florida

Stay long enough and the day count can make you a U.S. resident for tax, which would mean reporting your worldwide income here. Many snowbirds avoid that with Form 8840, the Closer Connection Exception Statement.

• You generally qualify if you were here fewer than 183 days this year, kept your tax home in your home country, and had a closer connection there than to the U.S.
• It's due by the 1040-NR due date. File it late and you can lose the exception.
• Green card holders, and people who have applied for one, generally can't use it.
• Rent out your Florida place when you're not there? You may also need a 1040-NR for that rent.

Over 183 days this year? A tax treaty, like the one with Canada, may still help. Ask us.

International students, scholars and visa workers

• Students on F, J, M or Q visas: your days generally don't count toward the day test for your first 5 calendar years. Teachers and trainees on J or Q visas usually get 2 of the last 6 years.
• Form 8843: if your days don't count, you file Form 8843 for each year, even with no income.
• Had U.S. income? Wages, a stipend or a taxable scholarship usually means a 1040-NR too.
• A common mistake: filing a regular 1040, often with software built for residents. That can claim a standard deduction and credits you don't qualify for, and it may need an amended return to fix.
• Social Security and Medicare: nonresident F-1 and J-1 students are often exempt on qualifying work. If they were taken out by mistake, ask your employer first.

Students: check with your school's international office first. Many schools offer free nonresident tax software or help.

Deadlines for 2026 returns

• Had U.S. wages with tax withheld: April 15, 2027.
• No U.S. wages: June 15, 2027.
• Need more time? Form 4868 extends the time to file, not the time to pay.

What FL Tax Experts does, and doesn't do

• We prepare and e-file Form 1040-NR, with Form 8843, Form 8840, the rental income election and FIRPTA withholding credits when they apply. We can include Form W-7 with your return if you need an ITIN.
• You hear the price first. Every nonresident return is quoted before we start.
• We don't give immigration advice or prepare your home country's tax return. Your home country may tax this income too, so check with a tax professional there.
• IRS representation: FL Tax Experts' in-house team are tax preparers, not EAs, CPAs or attorneys. When you need someone to represent you before the IRS, we bring in a contracted Enrolled Agent or CPA from our network.

Common questions

Official sources: IRS Publication 519, U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens, Instructions for Form 1040-NR, IRS: FIRPTA withholding and IRS: Closer connection exception.