Owe tax on your 2026 Form 1040-NR? How to pay the IRS, step by step, even from abroad

Which way of paying fits you?

Two facts decide it: whether you have a US bank account, and whether you filed a federal return before. Line 37 points to IRS.gov/ModernPayments, which says to use "existing forms and procedures" until further notice.

Unless a check goes in the envelope, mail your return to the 1040-NR address for returns without a payment (where to mail).

How do you pay with IRS Direct Pay?

Direct Pay takes a free payment from a US checking or savings account after checking your identity against an earlier federal return. Its help page says you cannot use it if you are "making a payment on your first federal tax return".

1. Open Direct Pay. Choose "Balance due", apply it to the individual income tax return (the IRS list includes "-NR"), and enter tax year 2026.
2. Verify yourself with an earlier return: type your name and address "exactly as they appear" on it.
3. Enter a US routing number and account number. Direct Pay "does not accept SWIFT codes".
4. Choose a date by your due date; the payment counts on that date even if the bank withdraws later.
5. Save the confirmation number and choose the email copy; Direct Pay cannot retrieve the number later.

How do you pay by card, even without a US bank account?

Pay online or by phone through Pay1040 or ACI Payments, the processors on the IRS card page; each charges a fee.

1. Choose a processor.
2. Follow its screens for a 2026 balance due; if they do not name Form 1040-NR, ask the processor before you pay.
3. Ask your bank whether your card will work; the IRS card page lists China Union Pay, JCB and Maestro among Pay1040's cards.
4. Keep the confirmation; your statement shows "United States Treasury Tax Payment". A card payment needs no Form 1040-V.

How do you pay by check or money order with Form 1040-V?

Mail a check or money order payable to "United States Treasury", with Form 1040-V, in the envelope with your return. The IRS still accepts these "for now" (IRS Q&A), but one "must be drawn on a U.S. financial institution" (2025 Form 1040-NR instructions).

1. Write your amount on the right side of the check, like "$ 612.00", with no dashes or lines (2025 Form 1040-V).
2. On the check, write "2026 Form 1040-NR", your SSN or ITIN, your name and address, and your daytime phone number.
3. Fill in Form 1040-V. Line 1: your SSN or ITIN. Line 3: the amount. Line 4: your name and address as on your return. Leave line 2 (joint returns) blank; use the 2026 form once posted.
4. Put the return, check and voucher loose in the envelope (not stapled or attached).
5. Mail it by regular mail to the 1040-NR payment address for returns filed in 2026: Internal Revenue Service, P.O. Box 1303, Charlotte, NC 28201-1303, USA. Check the 2026 instructions first.
6. Ignore the other addresses on page 2 of Form 1040-V; the 1040-NR instructions name only Box 1303.
7. Do not send it by DHL, FedEx or UPS: "only the U.S. Postal Service can deliver to P.O. boxes" (2025 Form 1040-NR instructions).

How do you wire the payment from a bank outside the US?

Fill in the Same-Day Wire Taxpayer Worksheet and give it to your bank, which wires US dollars to the Treasury. The 2025 Form 1040-NR instructions send filers without a US account to the IRS foreign payments page, which warns that a wire "can be costly".

1. Download the worksheet. Line 1, the amount; line 2, your SSN or ITIN as 9 digits; line 3, "last name, first name".
2. Line 4, tax type 10407, which the IRS lists under Form 1040 (its only individual form) for a "Subsequent Payment (on return or IRS Notice)".
3. Line 5, 2026-12-31. Line 6, MM12: Form 1040's "Fiscal Year Month" is 12 for a calendar year. If unsure, ask the IRS before you wire.
4. Give your bank both pages, with routing number 091036164 (US TREAS SINGLE TX). The account number 20092900IRS is optional.
5. Ask about fees and timing: your bank needs a relationship with a US bank. A wire received after 5 p.m. Eastern time is "rejected and returned", and errors can get it returned too. If your bank is unsure, the IRS says it may call 314-425-1810 (not toll-free).
6. Once the wire arrives, the Federal Tax Collection Service (800-382-0045) gives your 15-digit EFT number.

What if you cannot pay the whole amount by the due date?

File on time even if you cannot pay it all, then pay the rest through a plan. Paying late usually costs 0.5% of the unpaid tax a month (IRS), and filing late 5% a month (IRS).

A return filed more than 60 days late owes at least $535, or the whole balance if less (Revenue Procedure 2025-32). If Ama files on time but pays on June 15, 2027, two months late, the penalty is $612 times 0.5% times 2 = $6.12, plus interest.

1. Pay what you can by the due date.
2. For up to 180 days, ask for a short-term plan online or at 800-829-1040. From abroad, call the IRS international line for balances owed, 267-941-1000 (not toll-free; IRS).
3. For longer, apply online if you owe $50,000 or less and have filed all required returns.
4. Online plans need an IRS Online Account. The IRS says it works with international addresses, and that anyone with an ITIN or living abroad signs in through ID.me with a photo ID such as a passport.
5. Otherwise attach Form 9465 (Rev. December 2026) to the front of your return; name Form 1040-NR and tax year 2026 on it. Its automatic debit takes only a routing number starting 01 to 12 or 21 to 32.
6. If you filed on time, the penalty falls to 0.25% a month while an approved plan runs; interest continues.

How do you prove the IRS got your payment?

Keep the confirmation each way gives you, then check that the money arrived.

Without an Online Account, ask for a "tax account transcript" (Direct Pay help page); after a form other than Form 1040, the IRS says to use Form 4506-T.

Do you also owe your state, and how do you pay it?

Pay a state balance to the state, online or by check with the state return, not through the IRS. California, Illinois and Massachusetts 2026 returns are expected to be due Thursday, April 15, 2027, and most New York ones too.

For 2025, New York gave a nonresident alien with a June 15 federal date until June 15 to file (code E4); it did not say payment could wait too.

California gave anyone outside the US on April 15 until June 15 to file and pay; interest still ran from April 15. It asked for "Outside the USA on April 15, 2026" in red ink atop the return (FTB).

What to do next

1. Read line 37 on your 2026 Form 1040-NR (draft line numbers; check the final form).
2. Pay by Thursday, April 15, 2027, or Tuesday, June 15, 2027 with no wages subject to withholding.
3. Keep your proof until the IRS shows the balance paid.
4. To owe less next year, ask for extra withholding in Step 4(c) of a new Form W-4 (IRS Notice 1392).

F1TaxReturn prepares Form 1040-NR and Form 8843 for free once the IRS publishes the final 2026 forms. A California, New York, Illinois or Massachusetts return costs one payment of $30 plus a $2 processing fee. You print, sign and mail them, and pay any balance yourself.