Business Expense Reimbursement - Foreign Individual (BER Supplier)

Process Overview 

  • Foreign Individuals who do not have a prior payment relationship with Harvard and are only being reimbursed for legitimate business expenses (e.g., travel expenses) may be set up through the Buy-to-Pay Supplier Portal using vendor type “Business Expense Reimbursement – Foreign Individual (BER)”. 
  • As always, prior to any formal agreements being offered, departments must confirm any foreign individual is legally allowed to be paid by Harvard. See Most Commonly Seen Visa Types of Foreign National Guest Speakers for guidance. 
  • Use of this vendor type does not require the individual to complete Sprintax Calculus; however, the paying department must instead obtain from the individual a copy of the required documentation as listed in the chart below. Additionally, B-2 visa holders or individuals on a Visa Waiver for Tourism must also submit a signed certification form. Signed certification forms and required copies of immigration documents must be submitted with each Non-Employee Reimbursement (NR) Payment Request. Payments cannot be processed without this information. Do not send documents to Vendor Set-up for this process. 
  • An active foreign vendor showing under the “BER- Foreign Individual” vendor type can be paid multiple business expense reimbursements during the 90-day active period. 
  • Once inactive, a “BER- Foreign Individual” vendor can be reactivated only for additional business expense reimbursements without a Sprintax Calculus submission. Administrators must collect required documentation, as indicated below, to submit with each Non-Employee Reimbursement Payment Request (and a certification form in some cases) in order to remain compliant with federal regulations 

Instructions 

Determine whether a payment is actually a business expense reimbursement. Please refer to the following Harvard Financial Administration Policies:  

If the payment is a business expense reimbursement, and the individual has a visa type allowed to receive payments from Harvard (see Table 1), then use the following process to issue the payment: 

  1. If the individual already exists as a 1042-S vendor: 
    1. You must follow the normal process for requesting Non-Employee Reimbursement payments on the vendor record already established in the Buy-to-Pay Supplier Portal. 
    2. If the vendor record is inactive or you need to add a new site to an existing vendor, Sprintax Calculus will still be required. Please proceed with the usual steps for adding a new site to, or reactivating, a 1042-S vendor record. 
  2. If the individual is receiving a business expense reimbursement and is not an established 1042-S vendor in Oracle:  
    1. Create a new vendor in the Buy-to-Pay Supplier Portal.  
      1. Select the vendor type of “Business Expense Reimbursement – Foreign Individual,” complete the remaining fields, and submit the request. 
      2. Include details in the “Notes to CRT” field confirming the nature of the payment you intend to process, such as “for business expense reimbursement.”  
      3. Selecting this vendor type will not result in a Sprintax Calculus email being sent to the recipient. 
      4. The vendor will be approved by Vendor Set-up for payment. Once approved, vendor type will show and remain as “BER- Foreign Individual.” 
      5. The vendor record will be active for 90 days after approval. 
    2. After the vendor is approved by Vendor Setup, please initiate the Non-Employee Reimbursement (NR) Payment Request in the Buy-to-Pay Supplier Portal.   
      1. Check the box to certify that the payment is a Non-Employee Reimbursement, for valid University business expenses. 
      2. Since the supplier will only be active for 90 days, once the vendor is approved, please be prepared to process all reimbursements as soon as possible. 
      3. Submit the required immigration documentation, certification forms (if necessary), and permission letters with the Non-Employee Reimbursement Payment Request, as indicated in the chart below. Reimbursements cannot be processed without this required information included. Do not send documents to Supplier Onboarding for this process. 
      4. Income payments (fellowship, royalty, honorarium, prize, etc.) cannot be made to “BER- Foreign Individual” suppliers. Income payments submitted as Non-Employee Reimbursement Payment Requests, will be cancelled. Departments must correctly resubmit as a Payment Request after Supplier Onboarding has received a completed Sprintax Calculus submission. 
  3. To reactivate an inactive “BER- Foreign Individual” vendor: 
    1. Submit reactivation request to the Supplier Onboarding Team. 
      1. Indicate in “Notes to CRT,” the type of payment to be processed (“business expense reimbursement”, “honorarium”, “fellowship”, “prize”, “royalty”, etc.).  If making an income payment, include an email address in the reactivation request so the payee can access Sprintax Calculus. 
      2. Supplier Onboarding can further assist with supplier updates.
Table 1: Visa types and reimbursements
Visa Type Allowed Reimbursement? Documentation required with Payment Request
B-1, ESTA, WB (Visa Waiver Business) Yes A copy of the I-94 (see Note 1) document 
B-2 or WT (Visa Waiver Tourism) Yes A signed certification form, and a copy of the I-94 (see Note 1) document
DACA Yes Employment Authorization Card 
F-1 Yes Form I-20 
H-1B, G-1, O-1, O-2, or TN  Possibly  A copy of the I-94 (see Note 1), and written permission must be obtained from the responsible officer at the immigration office of the sponsoring institution 
J-1 or J-2  Yes Form DS-2019 
TN Possibly A copy of the I-94 (see Note 1), and written permission must be obtained from the responsible officer at the immigration office of the sponsoring institution 
All Other Visa Types (such as A-1 or A-2)  No Please contact International Payee Tax Compliance to determine whether payment to any other visa type would be allowed 

Note 1: If the most recent I-94 is required, as indicated above, this may be accessed and downloaded by the individual from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection website.

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