Non Resident Alien Independent Contractor Tax forms

As a non-resident alien in the U.S. you are required to pay taxes on any and all income earned in the U.S., regardless of who pays you that money.

As an independent contractor, the IRS considers any compensation paid to you in that capacity to be self-employment income.

Before you can be paid, you are required to provide those hiring you with your ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number) before they can actually pay you. So the W-9 is required. In you case, on the W-2 where it asks for the Social Security Number, you will enter your 9-digit ITIN number.

Now if you have a separate number for your business, which is referred to as an FEIN number (Federal Employer Identification Number) then you will enter that separate 9-digit number in the box labeled "Employer Identification Number"

You are required to provide your ITIN, but you are not required to provide the FEIN.

Next, the employer will not be issuing you a 1099-MISC. Instead they will be issuing you a 1042-S with code 17 in box 1 of that form to identify that you were paid as an independent contractor (self-employed).

You can check out the form 1042-S yourself if you like (with instructions) at https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1042s.pdf

Do note that it is the employer, and not you that will be filling out the 1042-S. The person or entity who pays you is required to provide you this form at tax filing time, so you can use it to complete and file your U.S. non-resident return, which you will complete on IRS Form 1040-NR.

Note that no version of the TurboTax software can be used by non-resident aliens to file a tax return of any type.