How we research and update our tax guides
The guides on this site are written for students who are nonresident aliens for U.S. tax purposes, mostly people on F-1 and J-1 visas. This page explains where the information comes from and what we do when it changes.
Who writes them
The guides are written by the team that builds F1TaxReturn, the software that prepares Form 1040-NR, Form 8843 and four state returns for international students. Every rule a guide describes is one the software has to apply, so when the IRS changes a form or a figure, we have to find out anyway.
F1TaxReturn Tax Team. We build the software that prepares Form 1040-NR and Form 8843 for international students, so every rule in these guides is one we have had to implement and test. Each figure is checked against the IRS or state publication it comes from, and the sources are listed under every post.
Where the information comes from
We rely on primary sources, and link them under every guide:
- IRS publications and form instructions, mainly Publication 519 (U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens), Publication 901 (U.S. Tax Treaties), and the instructions for Form 1040-NR and Form 8843.
- The text of the tax treaties themselves, as published by the IRS and the Treasury.
- Revenue procedures and notices, for figures that change every year.
- The tax agencies of the states we cover: the California Franchise Tax Board, the New York Department of Taxation and Finance, the Illinois Department of Revenue and the Massachusetts Department of Revenue.
We do not use other tax software companies, forums or blogs as a source for a rule. When an agency has not yet published a figure for the coming tax year, the guide says so rather than guessing.
How guides are checked and dated
Each guide shows the tax year it is written for and the date it was last updated. Before a guide is published, every figure, deadline, form line and mailing address in it is checked against the source it is linked to. We use software tools, including AI writing tools, to help with research and drafting; nothing is published until those checks are done.
We review the guides each autumn, when the IRS releases the next year's figures and draft forms, and again when final forms and instructions come out. When a guide changes in a way that matters to a reader, its “updated” date moves.
What the guides are not
The guides explain general rules. They are not advice about your own situation, and they do not replace a conversation with a tax professional when your case is unusual: for example a dual-status year, income from a business, or a return you need to amend after several years.
F1TaxReturn is a commercial product, and the guides mention it. When a guide compares us with other software, it says what each one does and costs, with the date that was checked, including where another product does something we do not.
Reporting an error
If you find a mistake, email support@f1taxreturn.com with the page and what you think is wrong. We correct factual errors as soon as we have checked them, and note the correction on the page.