r/tax•
iakanoe

Received 1042-S for $1 of bank deposit interest. Do I need to file taxes?

Unsolved

I have a US bank account that HSBC opened for me (as part of a thing they offer when they can open accounts anywhere to existing clients) to be able to receive international wire transfers. I have some money in there that I know doesn't need to be filed as taxes.

However, as the title says, I have received a Form 1042-S with income code "29" ("Deposit interest") and a gross income of $1.00. The tax rates on boxes 3b and 4b are both 0, and I have exemption code "02" ("Exempt under IRC") for chapter 3 and "15" ("Payee not subject to chapter 4 withholding") for chapter 4.

I checked my bank account, and it looks like I made a dollar on interest throughout the year.

I don't understand much about this, given that English isn't even my first language, and I don't live in the US (I think from what I read I qualify as a "non-resident alien").

Should I file my taxes for that dollar (which has a tax rate of 0)? Is something going to happen if I don't? Will they withhold all my money? Will they withhold only one dollar? Am I committing a crime if I don't? Will that appear on some database?

I don't care if they withhold that dollar anyway; it's just one lol. But I don't want all of my money withheld.

And in case I must file taxes, are there some instructions for dummies on how to do it? I read that I would have to file Form 1040NR, but for that, I would need to also get a Tax ID number or something (since I don't have an SSN). How do I do that? How long does it take? Am I too late, today being April 8th? If I have to, will I be able to file it later?

I'm sorry for the number of questions. I received this form yesterday, and I'm clueless about this. (I guess they sent it a while ago, but international mail takes a bit of time to enter my country.)

Posted Apr 8, 2025, 9:21 PM UTC

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