Please click and answer each of the following questions below to figure out your next steps. Verify that you are considered a nonresident tax filer by following the instructions. If you are considered a resident for tax purposes, please check out our Federal Income Tax Filing for Residents page instead for more information and your next steps. Please continue on the next step. U.S. source income may refer to any money provided to you from a U.S. institution, organization, or company such as: Financial support, such as a sabbatical salary or a scholarship, from your home country or an organization outside the U.S. is not considered U.S.-source income. All tax filers with U.S.-source income will need either a Social Security Number (SSN) or an Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN) to file a tax return. Please read the instructions on our Applying for a Social Security Number or ITIN page to request an appointment to submit your Social Security application. Please continue on the next step. If you have (or when you get) an SSN or ITIN, report your number in person to the appropriate department. Before you begin preparing your tax return, you must collect all applicable IRS forms (see table below). Depending on your circumstance, you may have multiples of one form and/or more than one type of income statement. Sprintax Calculus will list the required documents in the Document exchange tab. The specific documents you will need to provide depend on your individual situation. When you receive these forms, check that your name and SSN/ITIN are correct on these income statements. If you have not previously been issued or reported an SSN or ITIN, or if you reported it close to the end of the year when the university gets ready to issue tax forms, Yale will auto-populate the SSN/ITIN field on your W-2 with your student ID (SID) number. These Yale-issued numbers are for internal use ONLY and cannot be used for tax filing purposes. You must contact the Employee Services and have a corrected W-2 (W-2C) issued. If the same is confirmed when Yale issues a 1042-S form for you (in March), the university will leave the SSN/ITIN field blank. Please contact Ask Finance and have your 1042-S form re-issued. Just so you know, the university can only re-issue 1042-S forms within the same calendar year. Ask Finance can no longer re-issue prior year 1042-S forms. This form reports your wage earnings if you worked. You should get a W-2 from each employer if you had more than one employer. Make sure all employers from last year have an up-to-date address for you, and contact them if you did not receive a W-2. It is issued by the end of January 2026 for wages earned in 2025. Instructions on how to get your Yale W-2 form. If you are unable to access your Yale W-2 form electronically or did not receive these forms, don't hesitate to get in touch with Yale Payroll at employee.services@yale.edu or call 203-432-5552, and include the following information for a copy of your W-2 form: This form is used to report: If you received this income from Yale, the 1042-S will be mailed to you by the end of the second week of March. If you can access the FNIS system, your 1042-S form will be available to download there. If you are unable to access your 1042-S electronically or did not receive it by mail, please get in touch with askfinance@yale.edu (or call (203) 432-5394) and include the following information for a copy of your 1042-S: If you received a U.S.-source fellowship from another grantor, please contact them if you have not received the 1042-S. Only Nonresident Aliens receive this form. If your tax status changed last year to a Resident Alien because you spent more than five years in the U.S., you will not get a 1042-S. In addition to passport stamps, you can review or print your US travel history at the DHS I-94 website. If you are unable to access your 1099-MISC electronically, or did not receive it by mail, please get in touch with askfinance@yale.edu (or call 203-432-5394) and include the following information for a copy of your 1099-MISC: OISS provides subsidized access to Sprintax tax preparation software for Yale international students and scholars who are nonresident tax filers that received U.S. source income. In late February, OISS will email instructions for accessing the Sprintax software. The software helps users prepare all the paper forms needed for federal tax filing, which must be printed out and mailed to the IRS. Learn how to file your federal return with Sprintax. You may also be required to file taxes in states where you received income. Sprintax offers e-filing options for many tax forms, so you can file your returns from home using their software. If you are preparing your forms or filling them out yourself, you must print, sign, and date the forms, attach the appropriate copies of your income statements, and follow the instructions given to mail them to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). If you owe money, make your check payable to the United States Treasury. Always keep a copy of your annual tax filing (in case your return gets reviewed and there is a problem or if the IRS audits you in the future). You can save the PDFs to your computer or print an extra copy. Do not rely on Sprintax to store copies of your tax returns, as you may not be able to access them in the future. If you have determined that you are due a refund for federal income tax purposes, it will take the IRS some time to process your refund. If you submit your return(s) on or close to the filing deadline, waiting several weeks (sometimes 16 to 20 weeks) before receiving your refund or a notice is not uncommon. You can check the status of your return at the IRS's website.Federal Income Tax Filing (Nonresident)
Getting Ready to Prepare Your Tax Return
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
Reporting your SSN or ITIN to Yale.
Document Checklist
Document
Description
Needed?
Passport
Yes
Visa/Immigration information
Including Form I-20 (F status) or Form DS-2019 (J status).
Yes
SSN or ITIN
Yes
W-2 (Wage & Tax Statement)
Yes
1042-S (Foreign Person’s U.S. Source Income Subject to Withholding)
Yes
U.S. entry and exit dates for current and past visits to the U.S.
Yes
1099-MISC
Issued by the end of January for certain payments made to U.S. Citizens, U.S. Permanent Residents and Resident Aliens for tax purposes. Yale will send you your 1099-MISC by email.
Yes
1098-T
Any student who pays tuition receives this form from the University. It is usually mailed to your home country address. Resident taxpayers use this form to claim education tax credit. Nonresident aliens for U.S. tax purposes (those individuals filing an 1040NR form) are not eligible to claim any education-related tax credits or deductions for which the Form 1098-T is intended to serve as documentation.
No
1095-A, 1095-A, 1095-B, 1095-C
These forms report different types of healthcare coverage and are not needed for a Nonresident tax return.
No
Preparing Your Federal Tax Return
Preparing Your State Tax Return
Submitting Your Return(s)
E-File
Print, Sign, and Mail
Keep Copies!
Where's My Refund?
Federal Income Tax Filing (Nonresident)
Important Note:
Never email your SSN or a scan of your Social Security card in an email.
Important Note:
If you receive both a W-2 and a 1042-S form, you must wait until you have all your income statements before preparing your tax return.
Important Note:
Please do not use tax preparation software commonly used by resident tax filers, like TurboTax or H&R Block, as they will not prepare the correct forms for you. You must use either Sprintax or file the forms yourself.
Important Note:
The deadline for filing both federal and state taxes for the 2025 tax year is April 15, 2026.
Disclaimer:
This information is intended only for international students and scholars with income sources and level typical of students and scholars at Yale University. Although the information contained in this site has been reviewed carefully and should be adequate to assist most international students and scholars, it is not a substitute for advice obtained from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or a qualified tax accountant. If your visa status has changed in the past year, or you believe you have a complicated tax issue, please consult the IRS or a qualified tax accountant.
In addition, while the tax preparation software Sprintax is being provided to help you with your tax filing obligations, you are individually responsible for verifying that the correct information has been entered into the tax preparation software and included on all forms and/or other documents printed or derived from the tax preparation software, and ultimately responsible for any errors or omissions.
