Tax year 2026Checked October 22, 2026

Can a free IRS VITA site prepare your 2026 Form 1040-NR?

Only sites with a volunteer certified for foreign students can. How to find one, what it will not prepare, and what to bring in 2027.

By F1TaxReturn Tax Team. Published October 22, 2026. Facts checked against the sources below on October 22, 2026. 6 minute read.

In short

A VITA site prepares Form 1040-NR only if a volunteer certified in the IRS Foreign Student and Scholar course prepares it and a second certified person reviews it (Publication 4011, Rev. 10-2026).
The IRS sets no program-wide income limit for VITA: its page (October 2026) says the program generally serves people who make about $70,244 or less, and each site may set its own limit.
Find a site with the IRS VITA Locator Tool or by calling 800-906-9887, and ask before you book whether it prepares Form 1040-NR and your state return.
Publication 4011 puts dual-status returns and freelance pay on Form 1099-NEC out of scope, and IRS volunteer guides say a site does not prepare a Form 843 claim for Social Security and Medicare tax.
With 2026 wages subject to withholding, your Form 1040-NR is due Thursday, April 15, 2027, and your W-2 is due to you by Monday, February 1, 2027.

Contents, 8 sections

Some IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites prepare a 2026 Form 1040-NR and Form 8843 free for F-1 and J-1 students who are nonresident aliens. They can do it only where a volunteer is certified in the IRS Foreign Student and Scholar course, and many sites have no such volunteer.

The IRS lists help for foreign students and scholars as "limited (select sites only)" (Publication 3676-B). For the whole filing process, start with how to file US taxes as an international student.

Which VITA sites prepare Form 1040-NR?

Only VITA sites with a volunteer certified in the IRS Foreign Student and Scholar course prepare Form 1040-NR: that volunteer prepares the return, and a second certified volunteer reviews it. The rule is in Publication 4011, the IRS guide these volunteers use for 2026 returns.

Find a site with the IRS VITA Locator Tool or by calling 800-906-9887 (IRS). The IRS updates the locator from February through April, and it says services vary with the volunteers each site has. So ask before you book:

Does a certified volunteer here prepare Form 1040-NR and Form 8843, and does a second one review it?
Do you prepare my state's nonresident return?
Do you handle every income form I have, such as a Form 1042-S?

Key facts

Who prepares Form 1040-NR at VITA: A volunteer certified in the Foreign Student and Scholar course, with a second certified reviewer
Income guideline: About $70,244 or less (IRS page, October 2026); each site may set its own
Find a site: IRS VITA Locator Tool or 800-906-9887
Out of scope: Dual-status returns, Form 1099-NEC pay, preparing Form 843; Form W-7 only at sites with a Certifying Acceptance Agent
Form 1040-NR due, 2026 wages subject to withholding: Thursday, April 15, 2027

For: F-1 and J-1 students who were nonresident aliens for all of 2026 and want free help from a person with Form 1040-NR and Form 8843 in 2027.
Not for: Students with a dual-status year in 2026 (a nonresident for part of the year and a resident for the rest): VITA treats those returns as out of scope.

Who qualifies for free help at a VITA site?

The IRS sets no program-wide income limit for VITA, but its page says the program generally serves people who make about $70,244 or less (as of October 2026). Each site may set its own limit, so ask.

Many sites also help taxpayers with limited English (IRS). Your return must also be one the site's foreign student volunteers can prepare. Students on F, J, M or Q visas do not count their days in the US for five calendar years, and in those years they generally file Form 1040-NR. Choose the year you first came to the US to see whether 2026 is one of your five exempt years.

20231 of 5: exempt, days do not count
20242 of 5: exempt, days do not count
20253 of 5: exempt, days do not count
20264 of 5: exempt, days do not count
20275 of 5: exempt, days do not count
20286th: days count

2026 is your 4th exempt year: you are a nonresident alien.

File Form 8843, and Form 1040-NR as well if you had taxable US income. No Social Security or Medicare tax on campus, CPT or OPT pay.

Whether 2026 is one of your five exempt years as a student, by the year you first came. Any part of a calendar year counts as a whole one, and years on F, J, M or Q visas before this one count toward the five (IRC 7701(b)(5)(E)).

Worked example: Kofi, F-1 PhD student with a W-2 and a 1042-S

Kofi (illustrative) first came on an F-1 in August 2023, so 2026 is his fourth exempt year and he files Form 1040-NR with Form 8843 as a nonresident alien.

In 2026 he earned $22,000 as a teaching assistant (on a W-2) and received a $9,000 housing fellowship (on Form 1042-S). His income was $22,000 + $9,000 = $31,000, under the IRS guideline of about $70,244. Publication 4011 lists both kinds of income as in scope, so a site certified for foreign students can prepare his return free. F1TaxReturn cannot, because it does not take Form 1042-S.

What can a VITA site not do for me?

VITA's foreign student program does not prepare dual-status returns, returns with freelance pay on Form 1099-NEC, or a Form 843 claim for Social Security and Medicare tax withheld in error. Publication 4011's scope chart lists the first two, and a few rarer items, as out of scope, which means volunteers may not prepare them.

For Form 843, Publication 4152 says completing it is out of scope, but a volunteer may give you the form and basic information about the process. Publication 4011's Social Security section agrees, although its scope chart marks that row in scope.

What a VITA site certified for foreign students prepares (IRS Publications 4011 and 4152)
Your 2026 situation	At the VITA site
W-2 wages, pay on Form 1042-S under income codes 19 and 20, or a taxable US scholarship or fellowship	In scope
Your state return	Varies; ask the site
A dual-status year: nonresident for part of 2026, resident for the rest	Out of scope; see a paid preparer
Freelance pay on Form 1099-NEC	Out of scope; see a paid preparer
A refund of Social Security and Medicare tax on Form 843	Not prepared; a volunteer may give you the form
An ITIN application on Form W-7	Only at a site with a Certifying Acceptance Agent

What should I bring to a VITA site?

Bring your passport, your I-20 or DS-2019, your Social Security card or ITIN notice, every 2026 income form and your bank details. The site will have you fill in Form 13614-NR, the IRS intake and interview sheet for nonresidents, and the volunteer works from it and your documents (Publication 4011; IRS checklist).

Your passport with your visa, and your I-20 (F-1) or DS-2019 (J-1). The intake sheet also asks for every visa you held since 2020.
Your Social Security card, or the IRS notice with your ITIN if you do not have a Social Security number. The IRS checklist asks for one of them.
The dates you entered and left the US in 2026, and your days in the US in 2024, 2025 and 2026. Your entry dates are on your record at the CBP I-94 website, which the 2026 draft Form 8843 instructions point to.
Every 2026 W-2 and Form 1042-S, any Form 1099, and last year's return if you filed one.
Your US bank's routing and account numbers. The IRS generally stopped issuing paper refund checks after September 30, 2025 (IRS).

Make your appointment once all your forms have arrived. Your W-2 is due to you by Monday, February 1, 2027 (W-2 instructions), and any Form 1042-S by Monday, March 15, 2027 (Form 1042-S instructions).

Were you paid wages in 2026 that are subject to US income tax withholding, such as an on-campus job, CPT or OPT? If a treaty exempted all of your pay, the Treasury regulations point to No.

Yes, I had wagesNo wages

Monday, February 1, 2027Your W-2 is due
Monday, March 15, 2027Your 1042-S is due
Thursday, April 15, 2027Form 1040-NR, if you had wages YoursDue if you were paid wages subject to US income tax withholding in 2026, such as an on-campus job, CPT or OPT reported on a W-2. Attach Form 8843 to it.
Tuesday, June 15, 2027Form 1040-NR with no wages, or Form 8843 aloneDue if you had no wages subject to US income tax withholding in 2026, for example only a taxable scholarship. If Form 8843 is the only thing you file, mail it by this day.

Your Form 1040-NR is due Thursday, April 15, 2027.

When your 2026 forms arrive and when a 2026 Form 1040-NR with wages is due in 2027. Due dates for 2026 returns, from IRC 6072(a) and (c).

VITA, Sprintax or F1TaxReturn: which fits me?

A VITA site fits best when you want a person to prepare your return free and all your forms are in its scope, Form 1042-S included. Software fits when no certified site is near you, though none of the three prepares a dual-status return.

Three routes for a 2026 Form 1040-NR
	VITA site (foreign student certified)	Sprintax	F1TaxReturn (ours)
Federal return	Free	Free with many school codes; from $54.95 without one	Free
State return	Ask the site	From $49.95 each with a federal return	$30 plus a $2 fee, for CA, NY, IL or MA
Form 1042-S	In scope for wages and scholarships	Takes it	Does not take it
How you file	E-filed, or mailed if it cannot be	Federal e-file for eligible filers; state mailed	A paper return that you mail
Dual-status year	Out of scope	Not in its online software	Not prepared
Who prepares it	A certified volunteer, checked by a second	You, with the software	You, with the software; no human review

Sprintax's figures are from its price list and FAQ, checked October 18, 2026. School codes can run out (is Sprintax free?). Tax software for international students compared adds Glacier Tax Prep and paid preparers, and F1TaxReturn vs Sprintax compares those two in detail. F1TaxReturn prepares 2026 returns once the final 2026 forms are published.

What to do next

Use the year chart above to check that 2026 is one of your exempt years. If it is your sixth calendar year or later, read your sixth year on F-1 first.
From February 2027, search the VITA Locator Tool or call 800-906-9887, and ask the three questions above before you book.
If no certified site is near you, or your return is out of scope, tax software compared covers the other routes, paid preparers included. If Form 8843 is your only form, fill it in yourself with our Form 8843 guide.
File by Thursday, April 15, 2027 if you had wages subject to withholding, or by Tuesday, June 15, 2027 if you had none (Internal Revenue Code section 6072; tax deadlines for 2027). Ask the site whether it e-files your return or gives it to you to mail.

Questions students ask

Is VITA free for international students?

VITA sites prepare returns free for the people they serve. The IRS sets no program-wide income limit, but the program generally serves people who make about $70,244 or less, and each site may set its own limit. A nonresident return also needs a volunteer certified for foreign students, so ask the site first.

Can a VITA site prepare my state return?

Ask the site before you book. The IRS says the services each site offers depend on the certified volunteers it has. Publication 4011 also warns that some states may not honor a federal treaty benefit, so a treaty that lowers your federal tax may not lower your state tax.

Does VITA e-file Form 1040-NR?

Publication 4011 (Rev. 10-2026) points volunteers to the program's software for e-filing Form 1040-NR and says returns that cannot be e-filed must be mailed. Ask the site whether it will e-file yours or give it to you to mail.

I only need Form 8843. Should I go to a VITA site?

Usually you do not need to. Form 8843 alone is a short IRS form you can fill in yourself and mail to the Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service Center, Austin, TX 73301-0215, by Tuesday, June 15, 2027.

I am a resident alien for 2026. Can any VITA site help me?

A resident alien files Form 1040, not Form 1040-NR. Publication 4011 says a volunteer who prepares Form 1040 for a foreign student who is a resident alien must also be certified in the Foreign Student and Scholar course, so ask the same question before you book. Its scope chart also lists treaty benefits claimed by a resident alien as out of scope.

Sources

This guide is checked against these 11 documents, most recently on October 22, 2026.