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Tax Information for Foreign Nationals

All foreign nationals with earned income and nonresidents on F or J visas without income comply with U.S. tax laws. Use these pages to learn about tax requirements:

Annual tax filing

Each year, you must file a U.S. tax return for the previous year:

Complete rules and tax deadlines can be found on the 1040NR instructions.

Tax forms issued by HR Payroll & Benefits

It is important to understand what tax forms you will receive each year and assure you have them in hand before filing your tax returns.  Many students and scholars might receive different tax forms from year-to-year.     

  • Form W-2 is issued to those who earned employment income from Northwestern and are mailed by January 31 of the following year.  This would include any income from assistantship wages, temporary wages, supplemental payments, teaching and research wages.   This does not include any income exempt from taxes under a tax treaty or non-employment wages such as scholarship/fellowship (see 1042-S below).
  • Form 1095-C is a new form required for all benefits-eligible employees and students as part of  Affordable Care Act (ACA) laws.  Benefits eligible Northwestern employees receive 1095-C from the University and students receive 1095-B from AETNA. 
  • Form 1042-S is issued to nonresidents receiving scholarship/fellowship, independent contractor, royalties, prizes and award payments and any payments receiving tax treaty benefits.  Payroll mails them by March 15 of the following year for use in preparing annual tax returns.  Once a student becomes a tax resident, they are no longer issued a 1042-S for these income types unless they are on a tax treaty.  Please see our tax page for more detail on taxation for tax resident scholarships.  

State tax forms

You are required to complete a State Tax Return for each state in which you worked in the previous year. If the state you worked in is not on our list, try googling the state name and "state tax return."