Can I change my tax exemption code as an F-1 student for my 1042-S forms?

This is a common confusion with 1042-S forms for international students. Your broker has likely classified you using the standard nonresident alien codes rather than recognizing your student status. You should not change the exemption code yourself on the actual 1042-S form - that's considered altering an official tax document. However, you can correctly report your status on your tax return regardless of how the broker classified you. As an F-1 student, you're generally considered a nonresident alien for tax purposes, but your income treatment depends on how long you've been in the US and the specific tax treaty between your home country and the US. Most investment income (dividends and capital gains) is typically taxable for F-1 students unless your specific tax treaty provides an exemption. The best approach is to contact Fidelity and ask them to issue a corrected 1042-S. Explain that you're an F-1 student and believe you were misclassified. They should be able to reissue the form with the correct status.

I went through something similar last year with my investments as an international student. I found taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) incredibly helpful for situations like this. They have a feature that specifically analyzes 1042-S forms and provides guidance on how to properly report them based on your visa status and tax residency. Their system helped me identify that my broker had incorrectly coded my status, and they provided me with a detailed explanation of how to approach the situation, including template language to use when contacting my broker. Saved me so much headache with those complex international tax rules!

I wanted to follow up on my experience with taxr.ai after asking about it earlier. I decided to try it since my situation with 1042-S forms as a student was getting complicated. Honestly, it was super helpful! The system analyzed my forms and immediately identified that the exemption code was incorrect based on my F-1 status. Their analysis explained exactly what codes should have been used and gave me a detailed explanation I could forward to Fidelity. They even included the specific IRS regulations that applied to my situation as an F-1 student with investment income. My broker issued a corrected form within a week after I sent them the information. Definitely worth it if you're dealing with complex international student tax situations!

If you're having trouble getting Fidelity to reissue a corrected 1042-S quickly, you might want to try Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I was in a similar situation last year and needed to speak directly with the IRS about how to handle my incorrectly coded 1042-S forms. I spent days trying to get through to the IRS international taxpayer line without success. The Claimyr service got me connected to an actual IRS agent within about 20 minutes. You can see a demo of how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. The agent was able to confirm exactly how I should handle the situation with my incorrectly coded forms and gave me official documentation to support my filing position.

I have to apologize for my skepticism about Claimyr earlier. After struggling for another two days trying to reach the IRS international tax line myself, I decided to give it a try. I was honestly shocked when they got me through to an IRS agent in about 25 minutes! The agent confirmed that as an F-1 student, I shouldn't change the form myself, but I could file a statement with my return explaining the discrepancy. They also gave me specific instructions on what documentation to include to support my correct tax treatment. This saved me from potentially having to file an amended return later. The peace of mind from speaking directly with the IRS was totally worth it.

I work at a university tax assistance program for international students, and we see this 1042-S issue frequently. Here's my advice: if your income is small (which $28 seems to be), the simplest approach might be to just report it as taxable income even if it potentially could be exempt under a treaty. For such small amounts, the tax impact is minimal, and it avoids potential back-and-forth with both the broker and the IRS. However, if you expect larger investment income in the future, it's worth getting the classification corrected for those future forms. Also, check if your university has a free tax assistance program for international students - many do, and they're specifically trained on these exact issues!

I'm confused about something related to this... I'm also on F-1 and received some 1042-S forms. Do we need to file both Form 8843 AND Form 1040-NR for these? Or just the 1040-NR? My university tax workshop wasn't clear on this part.