What is Form 1042-S? A guide for non-US recipients

What Form 1042-S reports

Form 1042-S, Foreign Person’s U.S. Source Income Subject to Withholding, reports two things: US-source income paid to a foreign person, and any US tax withheld from it. The payer, which the IRS calls a withholding agent, files one copy with the IRS and gives you the recipient copies.

The income on a 1042-S is mostly what the IRS calls FDAP income from US sources: interest, dividends, rents, royalties, scholarships, pensions and some pay for services. The default is 30% withholding on most of it, taken by the payer before you’re paid, unless a treaty or a rule in the tax code lowers the rate.

A 1042-S doesn’t mean tax was taken. The instructions tell payers to file one “even if you did not withhold tax” because the income was exempt under a treaty or the tax code, so a form showing $0 withheld is normal.

Who sends a 1042-S

Any withholding agent that paid you reportable US income sends one. The IRS requires a separate form for each recipient, each type of income, and each tax rate, so two payers, or two kinds of income from one payer, mean two or more forms. Common senders:

• Platforms that pay royalties. Google sends year-end tax forms such as the 1042-S to creators who submitted tax info and received eligible payments, and Amazon’s tax interview decides whether your payments are reported on Form 1099-MISC or Form 1042-S.
• Payers of scholarships and fellowship grants, such as universities, which use income code 16.
• Brokers and banks paying dividends and some interest.
• US employers of treaty-exempt workers. The 1040-NR instructions explain that if you gave your employer a Form 8233 to claim a treaty exemption, the exempt pay goes on a 1042-S instead of your W-2.

Reading your 1042-S box by box

The layout below is the 2026 form. Forms for earlier years label some of the address boxes differently, because the 2026 version split the address into separate boxes.

Box 10 is the number that matters if you claim a refund. The instructions give the arithmetic: $600 in box 7a, $120 in box 8 and ($50) in box 9 make $670 in box 10.

Box 3b is worth a second look. The instructions tell payers to enter the correct rate for the income “even if you withheld at a different rate,” so if box 7a is more than box 2 (or box 6, where there’s a withholding allowance) times the box 3b rate, too much was probably withheld. Ask the payer about it.

Common income codes (box 1)

The income codes match the ones used in the IRS tax treaty tables, which makes it easier to check what treaty rate applies to each form.

Chapter 3 exemption codes (box 3a)

If box 3a shows 04, your country code in box 13b has to be a country that has an income tax treaty with the US. From 2026, payers must enter an exemption code whenever the tax withheld is less than 30%.

1042-S vs 1099: why you got one and not the other

You get a 1042-S because the payer has you on file as a foreign person. The 1042-S instructions tell payers not to use it for items that belong on a Form W-2 or Form 1099, and 1099s go to US persons.

Platforms follow the same split. Google issues Form 1099-MISC to US creators, and Upwork issues 1099-Ks only to freelancers who are US persons. If you’re not a US person and you received a 1099, check which tax form the payer has on file for you.

Do you need to file a US tax return?

Getting a 1042-S doesn’t by itself mean you have to file. Publication 519 says a nonresident must file Form 1040-NR if they were engaged in a US trade or business during the year, or if they weren’t but had US income on which “the tax liability was not satisfied by the withholding of tax at the source.”

So if the right amount was withheld and you have no US business, the 1042-S is a record of tax already paid. You still might want to file, because the IRS says you must file a return to claim a refund of over-withheld tax. Your home country may also tax the same income, and Google’s help page reminds creators that “local income tax laws may still apply.”

Too much withheld? Claiming a refund on Form 1040-NR

If the payer withheld more than you owed, for example 30% instead of your treaty rate, the difference can come back to you. The quickest route is usually through the payer, if it can still correct it. Otherwise, it’s a US tax return.

1. 1

   Ask the payer first

   Publication 515 lets withholding agents that discover over-withholding adjust it with you directly, using what the IRS calls the reimbursement or set-off procedures. Google, for example, says it may refund in limited cases if you give updated tax info by December 10 of the same year. Update your W-8BEN either way, so next year’s payments get the right rate.

2. 2

   Get an ITIN if you don’t have one

   The refund claim needs an SSN or ITIN. If you have neither, you apply by attaching Form W-7 to the front of the Form 1040-NR you file for the refund.

3. 3

   File Form 1040-NR with the 1042-S attached

   Report the income on Schedule NEC at the rate that should have applied, enter the tax from box 10 of each 1042-S on line 25g, complete Schedule OI (including item L for a treaty claim), and attach a copy of each 1042-S to the front of the return.

4. 4

   Wait for the refund(up to 6 months)

   The 1040-NR instructions say refunds of tax reported on Form 1042-S may take up to 6 months to be issued.

The 1040-NR instructions have a simplified procedure for people whose only reason to file is a refund of tax withheld at source. You can use it if you were a nonresident, weren’t engaged in a US trade or business at any time, had no effectively connected income, and your US tax was fully paid through withholding. Their own example is someone whose only US income was dividends reported on 1042-S forms, where one payment was withheld at 30% instead of 15%. Under that procedure you report every payment of the income type that had the problem, not just the one that was over-withheld.

Don’t correct a 1042-S by hand. The instructions warn that the IRS may disallow a refund claim if the 1042-S attached to it differs from the copy the payer filed. If the form is wrong, ask the payer for an amended one.

You need an ITIN to claim that refund

A refund claim runs on a US taxpayer identification number. The 1042-S instructions say a US TIN is required on a 1042-S “used by a recipient to claim credit for (or a refund of) the withholding,” and the W-7 instructions list nonresidents filing a return to claim a refund among the people who must apply for an ITIN if they can’t get an SSN.

If this is your first ITIN, the W-7 goes on top of your paper 1040-NR. If you mail the package, it goes to the IRS ITIN Operation in Austin, not to the address in the 1040-NR instructions. You can’t e-file a return with an ITIN in the calendar year the ITIN is assigned. The IRS says to allow 7 weeks for the ITIN, or 9 to 11 weeks if you apply from outside the US or between January 15 and April 30, and it processes the return after assigning the number. Form 1040-NR covers the return itself, and Form W-7 covers the application.

The IRS doesn’t charge for an ITIN. TheITINapp prepares and submits the W-7 part for a fee. We don’t prepare Form 1040-NR or claim the refund for you, so you’ll need the return from a tax preparer or your own work.

Form 1042-S instructions for payers

If you’re the one paying foreign persons, the Instructions for Form 1042-S and Publication 515 are the full rules. The main points:

• Who files. Every withholding agent must file a 1042-S for reportable amounts paid to foreign persons, even when nothing was withheld. An individual paying outside their trade or business, with no withholding required, doesn’t have to.
• Deadline. File with the IRS and furnish recipient copies by March 15 of the following year. Form 8809 gives an automatic 30-day extension to file, and Form 15397 requests a one-time 30-day extension to furnish recipient copies.
• One form per recipient, income type and rate. Use a separate 1042-S for each.
• E-filing. You must e-file if you file 10 or more information returns in the year, if you’re a partnership with more than 100 partners, or if you’re a financial institution. IRIS replaces the FIRE system and must be used for 2026 forms, due March 15, 2027.
• Form 1042 too. Anyone filing 1042-S forms must also file Form 1042, and paper 1042-S forms go in with Form 1042-T.
• Exemption codes. From 2026, a chapter 3 exemption code is required whenever the tax withheld is less than 30%.
• Penalties. Late or incorrect forms cost $60 to $340 each depending on how late they are, with higher penalties for intentional disregard.