Publication 519 |
2000 Tax Year |
Nonresident Aliens
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.
- A nonresident alien individual engaged or considered to be
engaged in a trade or business in the United States during 2000.
You must file even if:
- Your income did not come from a trade or business conducted
in the United States,
- You have no income from U.S. sources, or
- Your income is exempt from income tax.
- 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.
- A representative or agent responsible for filing the return
of an individual described in (1) or (2).
- A fiduciary for a nonresident alien estate or trust.
Note.
If you were a nonresident alien student or trainee who was
temporarily present in the United States under an
"F,""J,""M," or "Q" visa, you are considered
engaged in a trade or business in the United States. You must file
Form 1040NR (or Form 1040NR-EZ) only if
you have income that is subject to tax, such as wages, tips,
scholarship and fellowship grants, dividends, etc.
You must also file if you want to:
- Claim a refund of overwithheld or overpaid tax, or
- 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 and Where To File,
later.
Even if you have left the United States and filed a Form
1040-C, U.S. Departing Alien Income Tax Return, on
departure, you still must file an annual U.S. income tax return. If
you are married and both you and your spouse are required to file, you
must each file a separate return.
Form 1040NR-EZ
You can use Form 1040NR-EZ if all of the following
conditions are met.
- You do not claim any dependents.
- You cannot be claimed as a dependent on someone else's
return.
- If you were married, you cannot claim an exemption for your
spouse.
- Your taxable income is less than $50,000.
- You do not claim any itemized deductions (other than for
state and local income taxes).
- You had only 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.)
- You are not claiming any adjustments to income other than
the student loan interest deduction or scholarship and fellowship
grants excluded.
- You are not claiming any credits.
- The only taxes you owe are:
- The income tax from the Tax Table.
- The social security and Medicare tax on tip income not
reported to your employer.
- The household employment taxes.
If you do not qualify to file Form 1040NR-EZ, you must file
Form 1040NR.
When and Where To File
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 2000 calendar
year, your return is due April 16, 2001, because April 15, 2001, falls
on a Sunday.
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 2000 calendar year, file your return
by June 15, 2001. For information on when and where to make estimated
tax payments, see chapter 8.
File Form 1040NR-EZ and Form 1040NR at the following address.
Internal Revenue Service Center
Philadelphia, PA 19255
When to file for deductions and credits.
To get the benefit of any allowable deductions or credits, you must
timely file a true and accurate return. For this purpose, a return is
timely if it is filed within 16 months of the due date just discussed.
However, if you did not file a 1999 tax return and 2000 is not the
first year for which you are required to file one, your 2000 return is
timely for this purpose if it is filed by the earlier of:
- The date that is 16 months after the due date for filing
your 2000 return, or
- The date the IRS notifies you that your 2000 return has not
been filed and that you cannot claim certain deductions and credits.
The allowance of the following credits is not affected by this
time requirement.
- Credit for withheld taxes.
- Credit for excise tax on certain uses of gasoline and
special fuels.
- Credit for tax paid by a regulated investment company on
undistributed capital gains.
Protective return.
If your activities in the United States were limited and you do not
believe that you had any gross income effectively connected with a
U.S. trade or business during the year, you can file a protective
return (Form 1040NR) by the deadline explained above. By filing a
protective return, you protect your right to receive the benefit of
deductions and credits in the event it is later determined that some
or all of your income is effectively connected. You are not required
to report any effectively connected income or any deductions on the
protective return, but you must give the reason the return is being
filed.
If you believe some of your activities resulted in effectively
connected income, file your return reporting that income and related
deductions by the regular due date. To protect your right to claim
deductions or credits resulting from other activities, attach a
statement to that return explaining that you wish to protect your
right to claim deductions and credits if it is later determined that
the other activities produced effectively connected income.
You can follow the same procedure if you believe you have no U.S.
tax liability because of a U.S. tax treaty. Be sure to also complete
items L and M on page 5 of Form 1040NR.
Aliens from the Virgin Islands.
If you are a bona fide resident of the Virgin Islands on the last
day of your tax year and work temporarily in the United States, you
must pay your income taxes to the Virgin Islands and file your income
tax returns at the following address.
Virgin Islands Bureau of Internal Revenue
9601 Estate Thomas
Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas
U.S. Virgin Islands 00802
Report all income from U.S. sources, as well as income from other
sources, on your return. For information on filing Virgin Islands
returns, contact the Virgin Islands Bureau of Internal Revenue.
Chapter 8
discusses withholding from U.S. wages of Virgin
Islanders.
Aliens from Guam or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana
Islands.
If you are a resident of Guam or the Commonwealth of the Northern
Mariana Islands (CNMI) on the last day of your tax year, you must file
your return and pay any tax due to Guam or the CNMI. Report all
income, including income from U.S. sources, on your return. It is not
necessary to file a separate U.S. income tax return.
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Guam residents should file their Guam returns at the following address.
Department of Revenue and Taxation
Government of Guam
P.O. Box 23607
GMF, GU 96921
Residents of the CNMI should file their CNMI
income tax returns at the following address.
Division of Revenue and Taxation
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
P.O. Box 5234 CHRB
Saipan, MP 96950
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If you are a resident of the United States on the last day of your
tax year, you should file your return with the Internal Revenue
Service Center, Philadelphia, PA 19255. Include with your return any
balance of your tax due on income derived from all sources.
Penalties.
The law imposes penalties for filing your tax return late or for
late payment of any tax due. However, a penalty is not charged if you
can show that there was reasonable cause for your filing or paying
late.
You may be subject to additional penalties for:
- Not supplying a taxpayer identification number when
required,
- Filing a frivolous income tax return, or
- Not including a tax shelter identification number on a
return when required.
Amended Returns
and Claims for Refund
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. Attach Form 1040NR or Form 1040NR-EZ
showing the changes to your original return and write "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.
Transportation of Currency
or Monetary Instruments
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 or attempts to
cause 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:
- Coin and currency of the United States or of any other
country,
- Travelers' checks in any form,
- Money orders,
- Investment securities in bearer form or otherwise in such
form that title to them passes upon delivery,
- Negotiable instruments in bearer form or otherwise in such
form that title to them passes upon delivery, and
- Bank 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 bank checks, travelers'
checks, or money orders made payable to the order of a named person
which have not been endorsed or which contain restrictive
endorsements, warehouse receipts, or 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 Customs Form 4790.
Filing requirements.
Customs Form 4790 filing requirements follow.
Recipients.
Each person who receives currency or other monetary instruments
from a place outside the United States must file Customs Form 4790
within 15 days after receipt, with the Customs officer in charge at
any port of entry or departure, or by mail to the following address.
Commissioner of Customs
Attention: Currency Transportation Reports
Washington, DC 20229
Shippers or mailers.
If the currency or other monetary instrument does not accompany the
person entering or departing the United States, Customs Form 4790 can
be filed by mail with the Commissioner of Customs at the above
address, on or before the date of entry, departure, mailing, or
shipping.
Travelers.
Travelers must file Customs Form 4790 with the Customs officer in
charge at any Customs port of entry or departure, when entering or
departing the United States.
Penalties.
Civil and criminal penalties are provided for failing to file a
report, filing a report containing material omissions or
misstatements, or filing a false or fraudulent report. Also, the
entire amount of the currency or monetary instrument may be subject to
seizure and forfeiture.
More information regarding the filing of Customs Form 4790 can be
found in the instructions on the back of the form.
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