Got a 1042-S form as a non-American and completely lost on what to do with it

I just received this 1042-S tax form in the mail and I'm totally confused about what I'm supposed to do with it. I'm not American or living in the US, but I do make money from my YouTube channel through AdSense. I always declare this income properly in my country's tax system (I'm in Australia). Last year when Google asked me to, I filled out a W-8BEN form thinking that would handle all the US tax stuff since I'm not a US resident. But now I've got these two documents labeled 1042-S and I have absolutely no clue what they mean or if I need to do anything with them. The form has all these boxes and numbers that make zero sense to me. Do I need to file something with the IRS even though I'm not American? Is this just for my records? I'm completely lost here and don't want to mess up anything tax-related.

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18 comments

Chloe Boulanger

•8M

You don't need to worry too much about this form. The 1042-S is basically documentation showing that Google (or whoever your AdSense payments come through) has already withheld US taxes from your payments as required for foreign persons earning US-sourced income. Since you filed the W-8BEN correctly, they likely withheld the appropriate treaty rate for Australia (which should be lower than the standard 30% withholding rate). The 1042-S is just documenting what was withheld and paid to the IRS on your behalf. You don't need to file a US tax return unless you have other US-sourced income or activities that would require it. Just keep this form with your tax records, as you may need it to claim a foreign tax credit on your Australian tax return to avoid double taxation on this income.

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Chloe Boulanger

•8M

You don't need to send anything to the US government - the 1042-S is informational for you, and the US tax was already withheld by the payer. Your responsibility ends with having provided the correct W-8BEN form. The amount shown on the form should match the total tax withheld from your payments throughout the year. If you check your AdSense payment records, you should see tax withholding entries that add up to the amount shown on the 1042-S. This is what you'd use to claim foreign tax credits in Germany to avoid being taxed twice on the same income.

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Olivia Harris

•8M

I went through this exact same confusion last year with my AdSense earnings. I spent hours trying to figure out what to do, then I discovered taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) which saved me from the headache. You upload your 1042-S, answer a few questions about where you're from, and it explains everything specific to your situation. For me, it confirmed I didn't need to file anything with the IRS since I'm not a US person, but it showed me exactly how to claim the foreign tax credit in my home country (I'm in the UK). It even creates a personalized report explaining everything in plain language.

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Olivia Harris

•8M

It definitely handles multiple income sources and different withholding rates. The tool will analyze why different companies withheld at different rates - usually it's either because of how you filled out your W-8BEN or because of specific treaty provisions between your country and the US. It shows you exactly what should have been withheld based on your situation. Regarding cost, I don't want to get into specific pricing here, but I found the value was definitely worth it compared to the hours I spent trying to figure things out on my own or what a tax professional would have charged. They have users from all major countries including Mexico, and the tool specifically explains how to handle the US withholding in your local tax system.

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Alicia Stern

•8M

I was super skeptical about tax tools since my situation seemed unique, but I decided to try taxr.ai after seeing it mentioned here. It was honestly a game-changer for my freelance business. I'm from Brazil and get payments from US clients that issue 1042-S forms. The tool explained that the 10% withholding shown on my form was correct based on the Brazil-US tax treaty, and showed me exactly how to claim it as a credit on my Brazilian tax return. Saved me from accidentally double-paying tax on that income! The personalized report also helped me understand which parts of my income were subject to which country's tax rules.

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Gabriel Graham

•8M

If you need to actually talk to someone at the IRS about your 1042-S (which sometimes happens if you think the withholding amount is wrong), good luck getting through to them from outside the US. I tried calling for weeks from Canada last year. Finally found this service called Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) that got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 20 minutes. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c In my case, I discovered that one of my clients had withheld at the wrong rate (30% instead of 10% under the Canada-US treaty). The IRS agent explained exactly what forms I needed to file to get the excess withholding refunded, which I wouldn't have known otherwise.

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Gabriel Graham

•8M

You absolutely can use it from overseas. It works by using their system to navigate the IRS phone tree and wait on hold for you. When they get an agent, you get a call connecting you directly to that agent. Since the IRS phone system is basically impossible to get through during tax season, this saves you from the endless redials and hours on hold. A tax professional is definitely a good option if you have a complex situation, but many issues just need a simple clarification from the IRS that a professional would charge you hundreds to handle. In my case, I just needed to confirm which form to file for a refund of excess withholding, which took 5 minutes once I actually got through to someone.

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Sarah Jones

•8M

I have to admit I was completely wrong about Claimyr. After struggling with incorrect withholding on my 1042-S for months, I finally tried it out of desperation. Within 30 minutes, I was talking to an actual IRS representative who confirmed that the company had withheld at the wrong rate based on the Spain-US tax treaty. She walked me through exactly how to file Form 1040NR with Form 8833 to claim the treaty benefits and get a refund of the excess withholding. This was after my local tax advisor had incorrectly told me I couldn't do anything about it! Already submitted the paperwork and tracking my refund now.

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Sebastian Scott

•8M

Just adding another perspective - you might want to check if your country has a tax treaty with the US. I'm from India, and our treaty specifies different withholding rates for different types of income. For digital advertising revenue like AdSense, it should be 15% not 30%. If the withholding on your 1042-S is higher than your treaty rate, you might be able to file a simplified US tax return to get the difference refunded. I did this last year using Form 1040NR.

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Sebastian Scott

•8M

That 5% withholding rate sounds correct for Australia-US royalty payments (which is how AdSense income is typically classified). Since they've withheld at the correct treaty rate, you don't need to file anything with the IRS to get money back. Just make sure you claim this US tax paid as a foreign tax credit when you file your Australian taxes so you don't end up paying tax twice on the same income. Your Australian tax software or accountant should have a section where you can enter foreign taxes paid to get credit for them.

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