HELP - Filing tax - F1 student with 0 income - non-resident alient

[aashish98432]

My friend is a full-time student on F1 visa who came to the US in 2024 and has 0 income for the year 2024. When looking for online resources on how to file taxes, she learned that even to file a tax with 0 income, she needs an ITIN. Since she did not have an ITIN when the tax deadline was near, she filed for an extension using form 4868 from freetaxusa.com. The assumption was that it would give her time to apply for an ITIN and get one so that she can file tax before the extended deadline of October 2026. However, now, when researching online, she learned that since she has 0 income, she probably isn't eligible for an ITIN and can just fill out form 8843 and mail it to IRS and that is all that is needed. I am asking on her behalf since she does not know about Reddit. Here are some questions that she has:

1. Is filing the 8843 all that is needed from her side for tax year 2024 now ?

2. Since she applied for an extension using form 4868, she is assuming that she is on the safe side since she has the extended deadline of October 2026. Is that a right assumption ?

3. Is there anything else that she has to consider/know ?

[pk]

@aashish98432 , Namaste ji

(a) if your friend had no income for the tax year 2024, why do you think she needs to file a return ?

(b) which country is she from ( India ? )?

(c) if you do not wish to discuss the situation in this public forum , you can always PM me ( just not PII -- Personally Identifiable Information).  I ask because there  seems to be more  than meets the eye here.

pk