How to Efile a form 1040 Client with Form 1042S Salary paid

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
June 28, 2025
2 replies
24 views

Question:

I’m working with a potential client who is a scientific researcher at a federal institute. He received a Form 1042-S with federal income tax withholding. He is classified as a resident alien for tax purposes.

When I attempt to file his Form 1040 using ProConnect, I receive several critical diagnostics, mainly indicating that the return cannot be e-filed due to the form 1042-S.

Has anyone encountered a similar situation with a resident alien receiving income reported on Form 1042-S?
If so, how were you able to successfully e-file the return through ProConnect?

Thank you in advance for your insights and suggestions!

ProConnect Tax

Best answer by workhard2022

Thank you for sharing your insight—this seems like a very creative approach to handling the challenge of reporting 1042-S income on a Form 1040.

I’m curious if anyone has actually implemented this method successfully, or if there are alternative solutions within ProConnect that others have found effective.

Thanks again!

T

TaxGuyBill

Level 15

I don't use ProConnect, so I can't comment on specifics.

But don't rely on the forms, rely on the information. If it is "salary", enter it as a salary or a W-2. Enter the Withholding. Don't worry about it being on a 1042-S, but enter the pertinent information into the software.

If there is withholding, I would attach the 1042-S as an attachment.

W

workhard2022AuthorAnswer

Level 5

Thank you for sharing your insight—this seems like a very creative approach to handling the challenge of reporting 1042-S income on a Form 1040.

I’m curious if anyone has actually implemented this method successfully, or if there are alternative solutions within ProConnect that others have found effective.

Thanks again!

T

TaxGuyBill

Level 15

Many people have done just as I have said.

Whether or not there are alternatives in ProConnect, I'm not sure, but the fact you are getting several Critical Diagnostics seems to indicate the only way to do it is to do what I suggested (or paper-file the return, after ensuring the correct information is on the correct lines of the tax return).

In my opinion, too many tax preparers are concerned with entering informational "forms" into software, rather than preparing a tax return with the correct information on the correct lines of the tax forms.