Just received 1042S for tax treaty, but I have efile federal and state tax. What should I do?

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
March 9, 2021
1 reply
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I am a Chinese citizen, and a student here and a Residential alien for 2020 tax year. I am eligible for the tax treaty article 20(c), where $5000 of the income is exempt from federal tax. On my W2, it reflected this treaty: box1 (federal income) is $5000 less than box 16 (state income).

I filed my tax returns via turbotax days ago, and turbotax didn't ask for 1042S. I just filed and all the tax returns have been approved.

Today, I found out I did received 1042S. Should I amend the tax returns? If so, how?

JeffreyR77

Level 10

If the income reported on Form 1042S is separate from the income reported on Form W2, yes you will need to file an amended tax return Form 1040X to report the income and any tax withheld reported on the Form 1042S.

TurboTax expects to be able to begin preparing and filing amended tax returns on March 25th (subject to change - especially with the recently passed American Rescue Plan).

Instructions Form 1042S (see under Purpose of Form reference to Form W2)

miamiaAuthor

Level 3

Thanks, Jeffrey!

The amount on the 1042S is $5000, which is for the Tax Treaty Article 20 (C). https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/china.pdf It is part of the income reported on Form W2. Because this $5000 does not need to pay federal tax, so the amount in Box 1 is $5000 less than in Box 15. ( For example, if on W2, Box 1 value is $15000 and box 15 is $20000).

So even if I did include the 1042S in the tax return, my final tax refund value is correct. This is why I am confused whether I need to amend the tax return.