Filing Taxes – Form 8843 for No US Income

Yes, at the very minimum you have to file FORM 8843 even if you did not earn any taxable income.

Form 8843 is not a U.S. income tax return. It is an informational statement required by the IRS for non-residents for tax purposes. It should be filled out for every non-resident present in the U.S. for the previous year, including spouses, partners, and children.

• Generally, most international students and scholars who are on F and J visas are considered non-residents for tax purposes.
• J-1 and F-1 students are considered non-resident tax filers for their first five calendar years in the U.S.
• J-1 and F-1 students usually become resident tax filers after being present in the U.S. for five calendar years.

If you are a non-resident tax filer, and have NO U.S. source income you only need complete the IRS Form 8843 to fulfil your federal tax filing obligation.

Having no U.S source income means you did not receive wages, salary, awards, prizes, or taxable scholarship or fellowship (i.e. the amount of scholarship or fellowship that exceeds the amount of your tuition [consider only your tuition; do not include any other expenses such as books, or room and board) from a U.S. institution, organization, or company. Financial support, such as sabbatical salary or a scholarship, from your home country or an organization outside the U.S. is not considered U.S. source income.

Additionally, you only need to complete FORM 8843 as a non-resident alien student, if you have income ONLY from:

1. Foreign sources; (generally speaking students on F-1 visas do not have to declare, and will not be taxed on international income sources)
2. Interest Income from a:
   1. U.S. bank
   2. U.S. savings & loan institution
   3. U.S. credit union
   4. U.S. insurance company
3. An investment that generates Portfolio Interest (Described in Chapter 3 “Exclusions From Gross Income” – “Interest Income” – “Portfolio interest” of Publication 519, U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens);
4. A scholarship or fellowship grant that is entirely a Tax Free Scholarship or Fellowship Grant as described in Chapter 1 of Publication 970, Tax Benefits for Education; and/or
5. Any other income that is non-taxable under the Internal Revenue Code. However, income that is not taxable because of an income tax treaty must be reported on a U.S. income tax return even though no income tax is due on the U.S. income tax return.

See here for details

You only need to fill out certain parts of Form 8843 depending on your visa status. Read the following sections for information specific to your status.

First, obtain Form 8843:

1. Download the form from the IRS website. You should not reuse any version you filled the previous year as the form changes every year.
   
2. Next, Fill out the form* on your computer using Adobe Acrobat and print OR Print the form and fill it out* manually very clearly using a pen.

*When filling out the form, use the instructions below to determine which sections you must fill out and which you can leave blank. If you need further guidance, pg 3 and pg 4 of the form has detailed instructions. What follows below is a simplified version of the same.

Top Portion:

• Complete the top portion of the form with your name and addresses.
• If you have an SSN (Social Security Number) or ITIN (Individual Tax identification Number), you can write it in the top right box (Your U.S. taxpayer identification number, if any). However, you do not need an SSN or ITIN if you are only filing Form 8843. You can leave this box blank if you do not have either of them.

Part I: General Information

Answer each question. Here are tips to help clarify some of the questions:

• Line 1a: Write your visa status for your most recent entry the U.S. and the date of your most recent entry as per your i-94
• Line 1b: Write your current nonimmigrant visa status (mostly the same as line 1a)
• Line 4a: Write the actual number of days you were physically present in the U.S. for the years indicated
• Line 4b: Write the same number of days you wrote in 4a for 2023.

Part II: Teachers and Trainees; Skip this section.

Part III: Students

Answer each question. Here are tips to help clarify some of the questions:

• Line 9: Write 155 South Grant Street Young Hall, Room 525, West Lafayette, IN 47907
• Line 10: Write Christine Collins, Program Director – Telephone Number: 765-496-3538
• Line 11: Write your visa status only for the years you were present in the U.S. Otherwise leave blank.
• Line 13: Note that if you have applied for Diversity Lottery ie Green Card Lottery, you should only mark YES IF you have “won” the lottery and have applied for the Green Card already; otherwise you would still mark NO.

Part IV: Professional Athletes; Skip this section.

Part V: Individuals With a Medical Condition or Medical Problem; Skip this section.

Bottom Portion: Sign and date on the last line of page 2.

• Deadline is APRIL 15th every year.
• Make a copy of the completed form and save it for your records
• Mail the form to the IRS using this address: Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service Center, Austin, TX 73301-0215
• The easiest and cheapest way to send the Form 8843 is via USPS (United States Postal Service) at University Book Store on State Street. Cost for certified mail was $9.85 with tracking. Call them on 765-743-9618 ext 225 for Postal queries. The customer service persons here are experienced and will know exactly what to do because a ton of students mail their tax documents from here.
• You may also use UPS at PMU but it will be more expensive.
• It’s recommended that you choose tracking and receipt confirmation when you mail as the receipt conformation will be your only form of proof that you have mailed Form 8843. IRS will not send you any confirmation of receipt.
• You must mail each individual 8843 to the address above. Everyone must submit their own 8843 in a separate envelope. Do not include any other forms (such as your friends etc) in your envelope.