An adopted child is always treated as your own child. An adopted child includes a child lawfully placed with you for legal adoption.

A foster child is any child placed with you by an authorized placement agency, or by judgment, decree, or other order of any court of competent jurisdiction.

Your employer is required to provide or send Form W-2 to you no later than February 2, 2009. If you do not receive it by early February, ask your employer for it. Even if you do not get a Form W-2, you must still report your earnings on line 3. If you lose your Form W-2 or it is incorrect, ask your employer for a new one.

If you received benefits for 2008 under your employer's dependent care plan, you must use Form 1040NR. The benefits should be shown in your Form(s) W-2, box 10.

If you received employer-provided adoption benefits for 2008, you must use Form 1040NR. The benefits should be shown in your Form(s) W-2, box 12, with code T.

Certain types of interest income from investments in state and municipal bonds and similar instruments are not taxed by the United States. If you received such tax-exempt interest income, enter “TEI” and the amount of your tax-exempt interest on the dotted line next to line 3. Include any exempt-interest dividends from a mutual fund or other regulated investment company. But do not include interest earned on your individual retirement arrangement (IRA), health savings account, Archer or Medicare Advantage MSA, or Coverdell education savings account. Also, do not include interest from a U.S. bank, savings and loan association, credit union, or similar institution (or from certain deposits with U.S. insurance companies) that is exempt from tax under a tax treaty or under section 871(i) because the interest is not effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business. Do not add any tax-exempt interest to your line 3 total.

A qualified student loan is any loan you took out to pay the qualified higher education expenses for any of the following individuals.

The person for whom the expenses were paid must have been an eligible student (defined later on this page). However, a loan is not a qualified student loan if (a) any of the proceeds were used for other purposes, or (b) the loan was from either a related person or a person who borrowed the proceeds under a qualified employer plan or a contract purchased under such a plan. To find out who is a related person, see Pub. 970.

Qualified higher education expenses generally include tuition, fees, room and board, and related expenses such as books and supplies. The expenses must be for education in a degree, certificate, or similar program at an eligible educational institution. An eligible educational institution includes most colleges, universities, and certain vocational schools. You must reduce the expenses by the following benefits.

For more details on these expenses, see Pub. 970.

An eligible student is a person who:

If you received tips of $20 or more in any month and you did not report the full amount to your employer, you must pay the social security and Medicare or railroad retirement (RRTA) tax on the unreported tips. You must also pay this tax if your Form(s) W-2 shows allocated tips that you are including in your income on Form 1040NR-EZ, line 3.

To figure the social security and Medicare tax, use Form 4137. If you owe RRTA tax, contact your employer. Your employer will figure and collect the RRTA tax.

You may be charged a penalty equal to 50% of the social security and Medicare tax due on tips you received but did not report to your employer.

If you are an employee who received wages from an employer who did not withhold social security and Medicare tax from your wages, use Form 8919 to figure your share of the unreported tax. Include on line 16 the amount from line 13 of Form 8919. Include the amount from line 6 of Form 8919 on Form 1040NR-EZ, line 3.

If you changed your name because of marriage, divorce, etc., and you made estimated tax payments using your former name, attach a statement to the front of
Form 1040NR-EZ. On the statement, list all of the payments you made in 2008 and show the name(s) and identifying number(s) under which you made them.

If you filed Form 4868 to get an automatic extension of time to file
Form 1040NR-EZ, include in the total on line 21 the amount you paid with that form, or by electronic funds withdrawal, or credit card. If you paid by credit card, do not include on line 21 the convenience fee you were charged. On the dotted line next to line 21, enter “Form 4868” and show the amount paid.

If you owe past-due federal tax, state income tax, child support, spousal support, or certain federal nontax debts, such as student loans, all or part of the overpayment on line 22 may be used (offset) to pay the past-due amount. Offsets for federal taxes are made by the IRS. All other offsets are made by the Treasury Department's Financial Management Service (FMS). For federal tax offsets, you will receive a notice from the IRS. For all other offsets, you will receive a notice from FMS. To find out if you may have an offset or if you have any questions about it, contact the agency to which you owe the debt.

You can request a deposit of your refund to a TreasuryDirect online account to buy U.S. Treasury marketable securities and savings bonds. For more information, go to www.treasurydirect.gov.

The routing number must be nine digits. The first two digits must be 01 through 12 or 21 through 32. Otherwise, the direct deposit will be rejected and a check sent instead. On the sample check above, the routing number is 250250025. Rufus and Mary Maple would use that routing number unless their financial institution instructed them to use a different routing number for direct deposits.

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Sample check

Ask your financial institution for the correct routing number to enter on line 23b if:

Check the appropriate box for the type of account. Do not check more than one box. If the deposit is to an IRA, ask your financial institution whether you should check the “Checking” or “Savings” box. You must check the correct box to ensure your deposit is accepted. For a TreasuryDirect online account, check the “Savings” box.

The account number can be up to 17 characters (both numbers and letters). Include hyphens but omit spaces and special symbols. Enter the number from left to right and leave any unused boxes blank. On the sample check above, the account number is 20202086. Do not include the check number.

You cannot request a deposit of your refund to an account that is not in your name (such as your tax preparer's own account).

Make your check or money order payable to the “United States Treasury” for the full amount due. Do not send cash. Do not attach the payment to your return. Write “2008 Form 1040NR-EZ” and your name, address, daytime phone number, and SSN or ITIN on your payment.

To help us process your payment, enter the amount on the right side of the check like this: $ XXX.XX. Do not use dashes or lines (for example, do not enter “$ XXX–” or
“$ XXX”).

You can use your American Express® Card, Discover® Card, MasterCard® card, or Visa® card. To pay by credit card, call toll-free or visit the website of either service provider listed below and follow the instructions. You will be asked to provide your social security number (SSN). If you do not have and are not eligible to get an SSN, use your IRS issued individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN) instead.

A convenience fee will be charged by the service provider based on the amount you are paying. Fees may vary between the providers. You will be told what the fee is during the transaction and you will have the option to either continue or cancel the transaction. You can also find out what the fee will be by calling the provider's toll-free automated customer service number or visiting the provider's website shown next.

You also can pay using EFTPS, a free tax payment system that allows you to make payments online or by phone. For more information or details on enrolling, visit www.eftps.gov or, if you are in the United States, call Customer Service at 1-800-316-6541. TTY/TDD help is available by calling 1-800-733-4829.

If you cannot pay the full amount shown on line 25 when you file, you can ask to make monthly installment payments for the full or a partial amount. You may have up to 60 months to pay. However, even if your request to pay in installments is granted, you will be charged interest and may be charged a late payment penalty on the tax not paid by the due date. You also must pay a fee. To limit the interest and penalty charges, pay as much of the tax as possible when you file. But before requesting an installment agreement, you should consider other less costly alternatives, such as a bank loan or credit card payment.

To ask for an installment agreement, you can apply online or use Form 9465. To apply online, go to www.irs.gov, use the pull-down menu under “I need to...” and select “Set Up a Payment Plan.” If you use Form 9465, you should receive a response to your request to make installment payments within 30 days. But if you file your return after March 31, it may take us longer to reply.

You will not owe the penalty if your 2007 tax return was for a tax year of 12 full months and either of the following applies.

If your 2007 adjusted gross income was over $150,000 (over $75,000 if you checked filing status box 2 for 2008), item (2) applies only if line 21 on your 2008 return is at least 110% of the tax shown on your 2007 return.

If you are claiming a tax treaty benefit that is determined by reference to more than one date of arrival, enter the earlier date of arrival. For example, you are currently claiming treaty benefits (as a teacher) under article 20 of the tax treaty between the United States and the Republic of Korea (South Korea). You previously claimed treaty benefits (as a student) under article 21 of that treaty. Under article 21, paragraph 4, of that treaty, the combination of consecutive exemptions under articles 20 and 21 may not extend beyond 5 tax years from the date you entered the United States as a student. If article 21, paragraph 4, of that treaty applies, enter in item E the date you entered the United States as a student.