Use these guidelines to determine the tax residency of a foreign individual present in the US: 

A nonresident alien for tax purposes (as defined by the IRS):

• Does not have a green card (Permanent Residence card), and

• Does not satisfy the substantial presence test

  • The substantial presence test is a calculation used by the Internal...

Social Security and Medicare taxes, or "FICA" tax (approx. 7.5% of gross income), are collected by Harvard University but administered independently by the U.S. Social Security Administration. Non-student U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, and resident aliens (as designated by the Sprintax Calculus tax compliance system) are subject to FICA taxes on salary and wages earned as an employee. 

It may be possible to refund FICA taxes incorrectly withheld by the University: 

• To determine if FICA taxes were incorrectly withheld in the current...

Nonresident aliens for tax purposes and foreign entities, unlike U.S. persons and U.S entities, are only subject to tax withholding on income that is considered U.S.-sourced and not foreign-sourced. In order for Harvard to consider income as foreign sourced, the foreign payee must have attested to their foreign status by submitting a completed W-8. Instructions for form W-8BEN for foreign individuals is accessible directly from the IRS website.

Harvard is required to indicate the “location of...

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...

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...