Schedule NEC on Form 1040-NR for Cryptocurrency and Stock Capital Losses?

The rules for reporting capital gains/losses as a nonresident alien can be tricky. As an F-1 student filing Form 1040-NR, you're generally only taxed on income that is "effectively connected" with a U.S. trade or business (which your student status creates) or income that is from U.S. sources. For capital gains/losses, nonresident aliens typically only report transactions that are effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business. Since your cryptocurrency and stock trading were likely personal investments and not part of a trade or business, you generally wouldn't include these on your 1040-NR. You're correct that you typically don't need to file Schedule D or Form 8949 as a nonresident alien for these types of transactions. However, if you received the 1099 from Robinhood, the IRS also received it, so you might want to include a statement with your return explaining why you're not reporting those transactions on your tax return to avoid potential questions later.

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Former international student advisor here. One thing to consider is that many nonresident aliens on F-1 visas hit the "substantial presence test" after about 5 years in the US and become resident aliens for tax purposes. If you've been here for multiple years, double-check if you're still a nonresident alien under the tax definition. If you've become a resident alien for tax purposes, you would file Form 1040 instead of 1040-NR and would need to report worldwide income including all capital gains/losses.

Also make sure you check if your home country has a tax treaty with the US that might affect how your investment income is taxed. Some treaties have specific provisions for students that override the general nonresident alien rules.

Just wanted to add another perspective here - I had a similar situation last year as an F-1 student with crypto losses. After going through all the research and even consulting with a tax professional, I can confirm what others have said: your crypto and stock losses generally don't need to be reported on Form 1040-NR since they're not effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business. However, I'd strongly recommend keeping detailed records of all your transactions anyway. Even though you're not reporting them this year, if your tax status changes in the future (like when you potentially become a resident alien), having that transaction history will be crucial for calculating your basis in any remaining positions. Also, regarding the missing Coinbase 1099 - they sometimes don't issue them if your total proceeds are under certain thresholds or if you only had losses. You can usually download your transaction history directly from their platform for your records. One last tip: if you're worried about the IRS questioning why you received a 1099 but didn't report the transactions, you can attach Form 8833 (Treaty-Based Return Position Disclosure) if your home country has a relevant tax treaty, or just include a simple statement as others mentioned.