Non Resident Alien(Working full time on F1-OPT) new car sales tax deduction

Question

I am an international student on F1(OPT) visa and working full time off-campus. I bought a car last year and was wondering if I am eligible for sales tax deduction on the sales tax I paid for the car when I file my taxes. If so, how can I do that? On Form 1040 NR or when I file the state tax(Nebraska)?

Answer 1

A non-resident alien is only allowed for deductions connected to producing a US-sourced income (See IRC Sec. 873). Thus you can only deduct things that qualify as business expenses, and State taxes on your wages. In addition you can deduct a bunch of stuff explicitly allowed (like tax preparation, charitable contributions, casualty losses, etc) but sales tax is not in that list.

Answer 2

No, if you are a nonresident alien, you cannot deduct sales tax. You can only deduct state income tax. 1040NR Schedule A (which is page 3 of 1040NR) does not contain an option for sales tax, like 1040 Schedule A does.

If you are a resident alien, then you can deduct sales tax.