What is Form 1042-S?
1042-S – The IRS revamped form 1042-S for the 2015 tax year to accommodate FATCA reporting. Payers or withholding agents (a Payer may also be a withholding agent) report payments of US sourced income to foreign persons. Form 1042-S is similar to a 1099 in that it is for income not received as an employee. Types of reportable income may include interest on deposits, corporate distributions, rents, royalties, annuities, and more.
Exceptions to file form 1099-S
Every withholding agent must file an information return on Form 1042-S to report amounts paid during the preceding calendar year that are described under Amounts Subject to Reporting on Form 1042-S. However, withholding agents who are individuals are not required to report a payment on Form 1042-S if they are not making the payment as part of their trade or business and no withholding is required to be made on the payment. However, an individual who is a withholding agent paying an amount that actually has been subject to withholding is required to report the payment. Also, an individual paying an amount on which withholding is required must report the payment, whether or not the individual actually withholds.
For more information on your 1042-S filing instructions visit: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1042s.pdf