Internal Revenue Service United States Department of the Treasury
Level Basic Advanced Military International

Nonresident Income and Deductions

Taxation of Nonresidents

Itemized Deductions

Nonresident students and scholars (except students from India) are not permitted to take the standard deduction. While nonresident students and scholars must itemize deductions, they are limited in the type of expenses they can deduct. Expenses that can be itemized include:

  • State and local taxes (Taxpayers may claim an itemized deduction of up to $10,000 ($5,000 for married taxpayers filing a separate return) for State and local income taxes, property taxes or sales taxes, applicable to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017 and before January 1, 2026.)
  • U.S. Charitable contributions
  • Casualty loss (Out of Scope). Before referring a taxpayer elsewhere, beware that the Tax Reform Act has limited these losses to Federally Declared Disaster Areas only.