HI,

I am living and working in NYC since October 2005 with an H1B visa.
Last year I have filled form 1040EZ but I have now realized now that I should use 1040NR as non-resident alien.
What are the differences between the 2 forms (besides interest/dividends)?
I did not receive any notice about sending the wrong form last year.

Can you confirm that I must use 1040NR for federal taxes and IT-201 for NY state taxes?

Thanks in advance for your help

Paolo

Yes, you should have filed either Form 1040NR or 1040NR-EZ for 2005. The IRS may or may not catch it (they will not start reviewing 2005 returns for another three months), but you WANT to fix it as it may be an issue if you apply for a green card down the line.

Tax-wise, you would probably owe some taxes as you cannot claim the standard deduction. However, living in NYC, you also paid rather high state and city income taxes, so the itemized deduction may have exceeded the $5,000 standard deduction. If so, then you would owe ZERO additional taxes.

Thanks very much for your confirmation, I have already prepared the 1040 for 2006 but I am going to download 1040NR with the instructions and will fill it next weekend.
Do you mean I have less deduction as non-resident alien?

You probably will have less deductions as a non-resident alien.