Where to mail Form 1040-NR and Form 8843 in 2027

Where do I mail Form 8843 if I had no US income?

Mail Form 8843 by itself to Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service Center, Austin, TX 73301-0215, postmarked by Tuesday, June 15, 2027. Both the address and the date rule are in "When and Where To File" on the 2026 draft Form 8843, unchanged from 2025.

A Form 8843 filed alone must be complete, and you sign it in the "Sign here" box. You do not need an SSN or ITIN: the form asks for a US taxpayer identification number "if any". Each person files their own Form 8843, so a spouse or child on F-2 or J-2 completes a separate one (F-2 and J-2 dependents). Line by line help is in Form 8843 for tax year 2026.

Where do I mail Form 1040-NR in 2027?

Mail your 2026 Form 1040-NR to the address in the 2026 Form 1040-NR instructions, which the IRS has not published yet. For returns filed in 2026, it was Austin, TX 73301-0215 without a payment and P.O. Box 1303, Charlotte, NC 28201-1303 with one (full addresses in the table above).

Attach Form 8843 to the return and send them together; the separate Form 8843 address is only for people who do not file a return. Mail the envelope by Thursday, April 15, 2027 if you had 2026 wages on a W-2, or by Tuesday, June 15, 2027 if you did not (tax deadlines for 2027).

The 2026 draft Form 1040-NR sends people who owe tax to www.irs.gov/ModernPayments, though the IRS still accepts checks and money orders. We recommend paying online, so that the envelope holds no payment.

What goes in the envelope, and in what order?

Copies of your W-2 and 1042-S go on the front of page 1 of Form 1040-NR. Behind the signed return, put each schedule and form in order of the "Attachment Sequence No." printed at its top right; Form 8843 is sequence 102.

The rule is under "Assemble Your Return" in the 2025 Form 1040-NR instructions. The left margin of page 1 of the 2026 draft also says where the W-2 and 1042-S go.

The numbers for Schedules NEC and OI come from the 2025 forms, because the IRS has not posted 2026 drafts of those two.

Sign and date Form 1040-NR in the "Sign Here" box and enter your occupation. An unsigned return is not a valid return. Do not write or staple anything in the "IRS Use Only" box at the top right of page 1.

If you enclose a check, put it in loose: the instructions say to enclose, not attach, a payment. Add no letters or other papers unless an instruction asks for them.

An attached Form 8843 needs no signature, because your signature on the return covers it. You can skip its lines 1a to 4a when Schedule OI gives that information: write "Information provided on Form 1040-NR" on line 1a, then complete line 4b and the rest. Line by line help is in how to fill out Form 1040-NR.

How do I prove I mailed my return on time?

A Form 1040-NR or Form 8843 sent by US Postal Service counts as filed on time if its postmark is on or before the deadline, even if it arrives later. Certified Mail or Registered Mail gives you a receipt that proves the mailing date.

The rule is 26 U.S. Code 7502. The envelope must be properly addressed, with the postage paid. For Certified Mail, ask the clerk to postmark your receipt: the regulation treats the date on that receipt as the postmark date. It adds that Certified Mail or Registered Mail removes the risk that the envelope is not postmarked on the day you mail it.

We recommend Certified Mail for every Form 1040-NR and every Form 8843. It also comes with a tracking number, so you can see when the envelope is delivered. Before you seal the envelope, copy everything in it. Keep the copy with the postmarked receipt for at least three years, the usual time limit for amending a return to claim a refund.

Can I send my tax return by FedEx, UPS or DHL?

You can send Form 1040-NR by a private carrier only if you use a service the IRS has designated and the IRS street address for private delivery services. A designated service counts for timely filing in the same way as a US postmark.

The IRS has designated certain services of DHL Express, FedEx and UPS, and the current list is at IRS.gov/PDS. A service is not designated just because one of those companies offers it (Notice 2016-30). The carrier can tell you how to get written proof of the mailing date.

A private carrier delivers to a street address, not to the mailing address. For a Form 1040-NR, with or without a payment, that is Internal Revenue Submission Processing Center, 3651 S IH35, Austin, TX 78741 (IRS street addresses for private delivery services). The IRS says a private delivery service takes every return, including one with a payment, to the street address of the center for that type of return. Check the page again before you send.

What if I am mailing from outside the US?

From outside the US, use a designated private delivery service, or mail early enough that the return arrives before the deadline. The timely-mailing rule covers mail deposited with the US Postal Service, and its regulation says it does not apply to another country's mail service.

Revenue Ruling 2002-23 covers mail from abroad (Internal Revenue Bulletin 2002-18). In it, the IRS said it accepts a return as filed on time if it carries an official foreign postmark dated by the due date. That is an IRS policy, not part of the timely-mailing law, and the IRS can ask you to prove the mailing date if the envelope arrives late. Do not rely on a foreign postmark close to the deadline.

For returns filed in 2026, the 1040-NR addresses were the same wherever you mailed from, and both ended with "USA". You can also e-file Form 1040-NR through commercial tax software, which avoids the mail. If you are leaving the US, keep a US bank account open until your refund arrives (leaving the US after graduation).

Where do I mail my state tax return?

Mail your state return to your state's tax agency, in its own envelope, at the address in that state's 2026 instructions. California, New York, Illinois and Massachusetts have not published their 2026 forms, so we do not print their addresses here.

Their 2026 returns are expected to be due Thursday, April 15, 2027, but none of the four has published its 2027 date yet. For tax year 2025, all four were due April 15, 2026 (California, New York, Illinois, Massachusetts). Only New York followed the federal June 15 date: its instructions gave a nonresident alien who qualified for it the same June 15 deadline (special condition code E4). California gave June 15 only to people living or traveling outside the US on April 15. Each state's instructions also say which federal pages, if any, to include. Whether you need a state return at all is covered in state income tax for international students.

Where do Form W-7, Form 843, Form 1040-X and Form 4868 go?

A Form W-7 goes with your original Form 1040-NR to the ITIN Operation in Austin. A Form 843 for a FICA refund goes to the IRS in Ogden, Utah.

If you are applying for an ITIN, mail Form W-7, your original return and the identity documents the W-7 instructions ask for together to Internal Revenue Service, ITIN Operation, P.O. Box 149342, Austin, TX 78714-9342. Do not send them to the 1040-NR address. The W-7 instructions are dated December 2024, so check for a newer revision. F1TaxReturn does not prepare Form W-7 (SSN vs ITIN).

Form 843 with Form 8316 claims back Social Security and Medicare tax withheld in error. The Form 843 instructions send nonresident aliens to Publication 519 for the address. Chapter 8 of the 2025 edition gives Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service Center, Ogden, UT 84201-0038. Your Form 1040-NR goes to a different address, so mail Form 843 in its own envelope (FICA refunds for F-1 students).

A paper Form 1040-X that amends a Form 1040-NR goes to the Austin address in the table, with the corrected 1040-NR attached (filed Form 1040 instead of 1040-NR). For a paper Form 4868, the 2025 form (for extensions filed in 2026) sent 1040-NR filers to P.O. Box 1303, Charlotte, NC 28201-1303 with a payment, and to Austin, TX 73301-0215 without one. The 2026 Form 4868 is not published yet, so check its address before you mail, or file the extension electronically.

What to do next

1. Wait until you have every W-2 and 1042-S. Your employer must send your W-2 by Monday, February 1, 2027, and a Form 1042-S must be sent to you by Monday, March 15, 2027 (Form 1042-S vs W-2).
2. If you file Form 8843 only, sign it and use Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service Center, Austin, TX 73301-0215.
3. If you file Form 1040-NR, check the address in the 2026 instructions at irs.gov/form1040NR when they appear.
4. Sign and date the return, assemble it in the order in the table above, and copy everything.
5. Mail it by Certified Mail and keep the postmarked receipt. The deadline is Thursday, April 15, 2027 if you had 2026 wages on a W-2, or Tuesday, June 15, 2027 if you did not.
6. The IRS says refund status for a paper return shows in "Where's My Refund?" about 4 weeks after you file (IRS: refunds). Keep your US bank account open until the refund arrives (your 1040-NR refund).

F1TaxReturn prepares a student's Form 1040-NR and Form 8843 for free, with a mailing page that tells you what to sign and attach and where to send it. It is not built for J-1 scholars or researchers. You print and sign the forms, then mail them yourself. It prepares 2026 returns once the IRS publishes the final 2026 forms and instructions. Create an account.