Hoping someone can tell me what the "right" way to do this is.
I'm a non-resident alien for US purposes (Canadian who did some work in the US). Work was in short stints over multiple states, and I had maybe 30 days max in the US. My Canadian employer gave me W2's for each State I worked in, but they show Box 16 State wages, with nothing reported in Box 1 for Federal wages.
I was googling, and I guess Article XV(2) says I'm exempt from reporting my "W2" income for US Federal tax purposes.
But I don't have anything in Box 1 on the W2's. Does this mean I just file a blank 1040 with zeroes? Or do I add up what was US-Source (My combined State income) and put that on Line 1a, and then deduct it via Line 1k?
Report, Or Not-Report, W2 wages?
Moderator: Mark T Serbinski CA CPA
Re: Report, Or Not-Report, W2 wages?
There is a difference between non-taxable and not reportable. Your W-2 income is to be reported in US, and then exempted by the treaty article you mention.
You would report it on a 1040NR.
You would report it on a 1040NR.
nelsona non grata. Non pro. Please Search previous posts, no situation is unique as you might think. Happy Browsing 
Re: Report, Or Not-Report, W2 wages?
Your State W2 income is US-source, meaning it's Federal income too. But assuming you're under 183 days, and have a foreign employer making the payments to you, that income would be Treaty-exempt.
The correct way to report that income for Federal purposes is on Schedule OI. It then flows through to Line 1K, where it kinda sits as a "Declaration", but doesn't impact the 1040NR taxable income calculations. Nothing should be on Line 1A.
You also will have a bunch of State filings, but you probably already know that.
NewbFiler wrote:
> Hoping someone can tell me what the "right" way to do this is.
>
> I'm a non-resident alien for US purposes (Canadian who did some work in the
> US). Work was in short stints over multiple states, and I had maybe 30 days
> max in the US. My Canadian employer gave me W2's for each State I worked
> in, but they show Box 16 State wages, with nothing reported in Box 1 for
> Federal wages.
>
> I was googling, and I guess Article XV(2) says I'm exempt from reporting my
> "W2" income for US Federal tax purposes.
>
> But I don't have anything in Box 1 on the W2's. Does this mean I just file
> a blank 1040 with zeroes? Or do I add up what was US-Source (My combined
> State income) and put that on Line 1a, and then deduct it via Line 1k?
The correct way to report that income for Federal purposes is on Schedule OI. It then flows through to Line 1K, where it kinda sits as a "Declaration", but doesn't impact the 1040NR taxable income calculations. Nothing should be on Line 1A.
You also will have a bunch of State filings, but you probably already know that.
NewbFiler wrote:
> Hoping someone can tell me what the "right" way to do this is.
>
> I'm a non-resident alien for US purposes (Canadian who did some work in the
> US). Work was in short stints over multiple states, and I had maybe 30 days
> max in the US. My Canadian employer gave me W2's for each State I worked
> in, but they show Box 16 State wages, with nothing reported in Box 1 for
> Federal wages.
>
> I was googling, and I guess Article XV(2) says I'm exempt from reporting my
> "W2" income for US Federal tax purposes.
>
> But I don't have anything in Box 1 on the W2's. Does this mean I just file
> a blank 1040 with zeroes? Or do I add up what was US-Source (My combined
> State income) and put that on Line 1a, and then deduct it via Line 1k?