Employment compensation, or a salary, is taxed at marginal graduated rates, meaning income earned over certain levels set by the U.S. tax authorities is taxed at progressively higher rates. Please see the section on income tax withholding tables in IRS Publication 15 to get an idea of how your salary will be taxed by Harvard.
- If eligible for tax treaty benefits, both nonresident aliens and resident aliens can claim exemption from tax withholding by submitting completed tax treaty exemption forms and attachments to our office.
- Tax withholding can also be adjusted by submitting a completed W-4 and/or M-4 (Federal and State tax withholding allowance forms). Nonresident aliens are required to indicate "Single" as their marital status, and a maximum of 1 allowance, when completing the W-4*. Resident aliens are considered U.S. persons for tax purposes, and have not such restriction.
* There are Special Withholding Rules for employees from Canada, Korea, Mexico, the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, and students from India. Please refer to IRS Notice 1392
See also: 1042-S, Employees Abroad, M-4, Nonresident alien, Resident alien, Salary, Tax treaty, Tax withholding, W-4, W-2, Administrators, Individual