Tax residency

Forum|Forum|11 months ago
October 16, 2025
3 replies
39 views

I am on F1 OPT and I am getting an opportunity to work 1099 contractor while giving them information for tax what should I give as country of tax residence my home country or USA. ( I came to USA last year)

pk_

Level 15

@anomymous ,

(a) please confirm that your EAD actually allows you to work as 1099 -- non-employee /contractor. Generally OPT is focused on a specific training entity ( where you are a trainee and not employee).

(b) your tax-home while in the US is US and not your home country. You will be taxed as a US person but generally no FICA ( as a trainee / student).

Which country are from? Are you attached to an university/college for your F-1 ?

Is there more I can do for you ?

anomymousAuthor

Level 2

Thank you for your response. I recently graduated from a university, and I wanted to confirm—since I have been in the U.S. for less than five years, I should be completing the W-8BEN form, correct?

pk_

Level 15

@anomymous , generally if you came in as a F-1, you are considered an exempt person ( from counting days present towards SPT ) for five calendar years including the year you entered. So when did you first enter US with F-1 ? Was this your very first entry with three prior years ?

Note that if you are still NRA then you will have to file your return on form 1040-NR ( not supported by TurboTax -- use SprinTax or similar services or tax professional familiar with international taxation ).

BTW -- which country are you from ?

And yes generally NRAs use W8-BEN and therefore receive a 1042-S.