Where to find Federal Itemized Deductions on 1040NR for State Refund Reporting
I filed a 1040NR using Sprintax for my 2023 taxes since I was a nonresident alien at that time. Now I'm trying to use TurboTax for my 2024 taxes, but I'm hitting a roadblock. When I try to enter my 1099G State Refund information, TurboTax is asking me to enter the amount of itemized deductions from my 2023 federal return. The problem is I can't figure out where to find this on my 1040NR form. The form looks totally different from the regular 1040, and I'm completely lost. I looked through all the schedules and worksheets from last year, but I'm not seeing anything that specifically says "itemized deductions." Did I even have itemized deductions as a nonresident? The refund was about $720 from New York state if that matters. Can anyone help me figure out where to find this information on my previous 1040NR return? I'm getting frustrated because TurboTax won't let me proceed without entering this number. I don't want to enter zero if that's not correct and trigger an audit or something.
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Ava Williams
The 1040NR form does handle itemized deductions differently than the standard 1040. On your 1040NR from 2023, look at Schedule A (Form 1040-NR) which is specifically for itemized deductions for nonresident aliens. The total of your itemized deductions would be on line 8 of Schedule A, and this amount should also appear on line 12 of your main 1040NR form. If you didn't itemize and instead took the standard deduction (which is more limited for nonresidents), you wouldn't have a Schedule A attached. For state tax refunds, they're only taxable if you itemized deductions on your federal return AND took a deduction for state income taxes paid. If you didn't itemize on your 2023 return, then your state refund isn't taxable income for 2024.
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Dmitry Petrov
•Thanks for your help! I found Schedule A, but I'm still confused. On line 1a it shows I paid about $3,100 in state taxes, but I don't see anything specifically labeled as "itemized deductions total" on line 8. There's a number there but it's different from what's on line 12 of the main form. Does that mean I did itemize? And if so, which number should I enter in TurboTax?
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Ava Williams
•If you have an amount on line 8 of Schedule A, that's your total itemized deductions. If that number carried to line 12 of your 1040NR, then yes, you did itemize. The amount you should enter in TurboTax is the number from line 8 of Schedule A. The difference between line 8 of Schedule A and line 12 of the main form sometimes happens because of income limitations or other adjustments. Use the Schedule A number since that represents your actual itemized deductions, which is what TurboTax needs to determine how much of your state refund is taxable.
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Miguel Castro
Just wanted to share my experience with this exact situation. I spent hours trying to figure out where to find my itemized deductions from my previous 1040NR until I discovered taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai). It's an AI tool that can analyze your tax documents and point you to exactly where information is located. I uploaded my previous year's 1040NR and other tax forms, and it immediately identified my itemized deductions amount and explained that for nonresident aliens, certain deductions are limited or calculated differently. It even explained which parts of my state refund would be taxable based on my specific situation as a former nonresident. The tool basically reads your tax forms and translates all the confusing jargon into plain English. Saved me a ton of time and prevented a potential mistake!
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Zainab Ibrahim
•Does it actually work with international tax forms like 1040NR? Most tax tools I've tried are pretty useless for anything outside standard US resident situations. Can it handle complicated scenarios like treaty benefits or foreign tax credits?
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Connor O'Neill
•I'm skeptical about uploading my tax documents to some random AI tool. How secure is this? And does it actually give accurate information for complex tax situations? The IRS rules for nonresidents are super specific.
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Miguel Castro
•It specifically works great with international forms like 1040NR - that's exactly what I used it for. It understands all the various schedules and attachments that come with nonresident returns, including things like treaty benefits and exemptions. It's especially helpful with identifying the differences between 1040 and 1040NR structures. Regarding security, they use encrypted uploads and don't store your documents after analysis. I was hesitant at first too, but they explain their security measures on their site. The information it provided matched exactly what my tax professional told me, but I got the answers instantly instead of waiting days for an appointment. It's specifically designed to handle the complexities of international taxation.
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Connor O'Neill
I have to admit I was wrong about taxr.ai. After struggling with my own nonresident tax situation for weeks, I finally tried it out of desperation. It immediately identified that my Schedule A (Form 1040-NR) itemized deductions from last year were what TurboTax was asking for. But more importantly, it explained that since I only deducted state taxes as part of my itemized deductions (no charitable contributions or other deductions), 100% of my state refund would be taxable income this year. That was something TurboTax didn't clearly explain. The analysis was surprisingly detailed - it even pointed out a mistake I made when entering my treaty benefits. For anyone dealing with nonresident or international tax situations, it's definitely worth using.
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LunarEclipse
For those struggling to get answers about nonresident tax returns, I had a similar issue and couldn't get through to an IRS agent for weeks. I finally used Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) to get connected to the IRS International Taxpayer line, and it was a game-changer. I was skeptical at first, but after watching their demo (https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c), I figured it was worth a try. The service basically navigates the IRS phone tree for you and calls you back when an actual agent is on the line. Got connected to a specialist who deals with 1040NR issues within 25 minutes, instead of the hours I'd wasted on hold before. The agent walked me through exactly where to find my itemized deductions on my previous 1040NR and explained how the state tax refund would affect my current year taxes. Turns out my situation was more complicated because I had changed residency status mid-year.
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Yara Khalil
•Wait, how does this actually work? Does it just keep calling the IRS for you? I've spent literally hours on hold with the international tax line and eventually just gave up. How much did it cost?
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Keisha Brown
•Sounds like a scam. There's no way to "skip the line" with the IRS. They're notoriously understaffed and everyone has to wait. Plus, giving some random service your phone number and tax details seems like a privacy nightmare.
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LunarEclipse
•It doesn't skip the line - it basically waits in the queue for you. They have a system that navigates the IRS phone menu and holds your place in line. When a human IRS agent finally picks up, that's when Claimyr connects the call to your phone. It's like having someone else do the holding for you. They don't need any of your tax details - they just need your phone number to call you back when an agent is on the line. I was connected to the International Taxpayer assistance line which typically has shorter wait times than the general line, but still would have meant an hour+ on hold. The whole process was actually pretty straightforward and worked exactly as shown in their demo video.
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Keisha Brown
I need to eat my words about Claimyr being a scam. After another failed attempt to reach the IRS on my own (2 hours on hold before being disconnected), I decided to try it. Got connected to an actual IRS international tax specialist in about 40 minutes. The agent explained that for my 1040NR from last year, the itemized deductions were indeed on Schedule A, line 8. But the agent also pointed out something important - since I was in a treaty country and had used the foreign tax credit, I needed to treat my state refund differently. The service saved me hours of frustration, and the information prevented me from making a serious error on my return. For complicated international tax situations, being able to actually speak with a knowledgeable IRS agent makes a huge difference.
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Paolo Esposito
Just a tip from a former international student who dealt with this exact issue: Save yourself time and switch from TurboTax to Sprintax for this year's return as well. TurboTax is designed for residents and often gets confused with nonresident situations. Even if you've become a resident alien now, TurboTax struggles with handling the previous nonresident filings. Sprintax will automatically pull forward the relevant info from your previous 1040NR and knows exactly how to handle state refunds for people who filed as nonresidents in the previous year. They're a bit more expensive but worth it for the headache avoidance.
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Dmitry Petrov
•Does Sprintax handle regular 1040 filing too? I'm actually a resident for tax purposes this year (passed the substantial presence test), so I need to file a regular 1040, not a 1040NR. That's why I was trying to use TurboTax.
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Paolo Esposito
•Yes, Sprintax can handle your transition from nonresident to resident status. They have a feature specifically for people who were nonresidents in previous years but are now residents. It's called Sprintax Federal and can prepare regular 1040 returns. They're particularly good at dealing with the complications that come with that transition, like handling income from before and after your status change, properly reporting state tax refunds from nonresident years, and applying the correct treaty benefits if you're still eligible for any. Their system is designed to understand international tax situations even after you become a resident.
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Amina Toure
I'm super confused by all this tax stuff too! I was a student on F-1 and filed 1040NR last year but now I'm on OPT and TurboTax is asking me weird questions about itemized deductions. Does anyone know if the standard deduction for nonresidents is the same as itemized deductions? I think I took the standard deduction last year because my only income was from my campus job. Will my state refund still be taxable?
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Oliver Weber
•No, the standard deduction for nonresidents on 1040NR is not the same as itemized deductions. As a nonresident on F-1 last year, you were only eligible for a limited standard deduction (around $12,950 for 2023 if you were single). If you took the standard deduction (which most students do), then your state tax refund is NOT taxable this year. State refunds are only taxable if you itemized AND claimed state taxes as part of those itemizations in the previous year.
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Amina Toure
•Oh that makes sense! I definitely took the standard deduction then because I remember the software recommending it since I didn't have enough deductions to itemize. So I can just put $0 for the taxable portion of my state refund?
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