What do I do with the 1042-S?

Form 1042-S is used to report amounts paid to foreign persons that are subject to income tax withholding, even if no amount is deducted and withheld from the payment because of a treaty or exception to taxation, or if any amount withheld was repaid to the payee. It is also used to report amounts withheld under Chapter 3 of the Internal Revenue Code.

Sometimes, this form is mailed out strictly for informational purposes and therefore does not need to be included on your return. This is often the case when Resident Aliens receive this form. 

The significant items  on the 1042-S form are Box 7 and Box 10. Box 7 is US Federal Tax Withheldand Box 10 is Withholding Credit.

If both of those boxes are 0, then nothing was withheld and there is no withholding credit and the 1042-S form is just for your informational purposes. 

• Income Code 06 on Form 1042-S is used to report Dividends paid by U.S. corporations – general.

• Complete instructions for filing your income reported to you on Form 1042-S for tax year 2015, as well as descriptions of all other income codes reported on this form, can be found at the following IRS site: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1042s.pdf

• TurboTax does not directly support the filing of Form 1042-S, but since yours is reporting U.S. corporate-paid dividends, you can report these amounts in TurboTax under Investment Income. You will enter your information in TurboTax under dividend income reported on Form 1099-DIV.