In certain situations, where University and department policies and budgets allow, administrators may wish to “gross up” an income payment to a recipient. The desired outcome may be intended to achieve a specific “net amount”, accounting for required tax withholdings. Gross up payments incur additional expense to the requesting department’s budget, which can be significant.

Reportable income payments processed to or for the benefit of individuals, are reportable for “gross up” amounts paid. Depending on income type and payment circumstances, tax withholding rates can vary...

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...

Use these guidelines to better understand payments to foreign individuals.

Harvard is required to follow:

• Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations that govern the taxation of payments to nonresident aliens, which differ from those that govern payments to U.S. citizens and resident aliens; and
• Regulations set by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) when making payments to certain foreign scholars and students

These regulations, which can be complicated, determine the tax status and proper...

Whether receiving or making payments, Harvard guidelines and U.S. tax/immigration regulations must influence the end result, including how the payment will be taxed. There are various compliance issues of which to be mindful, and numerous laws by which to abide, that will collectively determine the direction one should take. Work authorization, income category, visa type, tax residency status, and tax treaty eligibility are some of the many factors that influence how a payment to a foreign national should be processed.

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The following are generally subject to a 30% tax withholding rate paid to nonresident aliens, in the absence of tax treaty benefits:

An Honoraria is defined as a gratuitous payment of money, or any other thing of value, to a person for the person’s participation in a usual academic activity for which no fee is legally required. They are payments made at the discretion of the University as compensation for professional services, including guest lectures. If an honoraria is a performance-related payment from the University, and exceeds $5000 per year in the aggregate, the...

Stipends, scholarships, fellowships, and grants are meant to support personal scholarly activities. These income payments are often grouped together, for tax purposes, as "non-service fellowship" income. This may include also health insurance paid on behalf of non-employees and "reimbursements" for travel or other expenses that have not been deemed genuine University business expenses (i.e. in direct support of University research or scholarship).

Correctly distinguishing between income and business expense reimbursements has important ramifications for tax withholding and...

Please note: In January 2024, Harvard launched Sprintax Calculus as our tax determination software for international payees (non-U.S. individuals and entities). This software replaced Glacier. Visit our Sprintax Calculus page for more information and resources.

Deadline to claim *new* tax treaty exemption for current calendar year 2024: If GLACIER (see Note 1) determined you were possibly eligible to claim a tax treaty...

Payments from Harvard University may be subject to tax withholding and/ or reporting in accordance with regulations strictly enforced by the U.S. tax and immigration authorities. As a withholding agent, Harvard University is required to collect the appropriate IRS certification form (W-8BEN or 8233) from nonresident aliens to establish their foreign status. Sprintax Calculus will generate the necessary IRS forms when paying a foreign supplier that has U.S. presence. In addition to the payment and reporting details, IRS certification form W-8BEN informs what statutory tax withholding or...