Tax treaty

Income tax treaties between the U.S. and other countries that provide partial or full exemption from tax.

When should I update my Sprintax Calculus record?

Updates to your immigration status, residency, certain biographical information, and obtaining a U.S. tax ID can greatly impact accurate tax withholding or reporting to federal and state government agencies. It's important that you act with urgency to maintain all of your records at Harvard, which includes Sprintax Calculus.

Examples of required Calculus updates include: extensions to your immigration status, changes in the type of income you will receive from Harvard, obtaining a new U.S. tax ID number, changes in your country of residency or permanent address, etc. If any...

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I am a nonresident performing services outside the United States, will I be taxed at 30%?

The Sprintax Tax Summary Report indicates the tax withholding amount that will be applied to payments for services performed in the United States. If you are a foreign individual or entity performing services exclusively outside of the United States, there will be no tax applied to payments for those services. Please note that payments for royalties are treated as U.S. sourced if the intellectual property is used inside the United States. U.S. sourced royalty payments are taxed at 30% unless a tax treaty applies and is granted.

Why didn't I receive a 1042-S tax reporting document for tax treaty benefits claimed last year, even though my fellowship/stipend/scholarship was not taxed?

Non-service fellowship income, in the absence of tax treaty benefits, is also exempt from tax withholding when paid to a resident alien. First, confirm your residency status, and only if you were a nonresident alien, last year, should you look into updating your mailing address and requesting a reprint of the document.

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Tax Treaty Renewal

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.

Per IRS regulations, tax treaties must be renewed annually for employees that will continue their work for Harvard in the U.S., into the next calendar year 2024. To meet these requirements and claim a tax treaty exemption for 2024 (if previously...

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Why am I paying taxes when I’ve submitted all the required forms to claim tax treaty benefits?

This could be due to one or more of the following factors:

  • Sprintax Calculus has indicated that you're eligible for tax exemption on a dollar limit for the tax year, however, administrative/technical restrictions at Harvard prevent us from granting treaty benefits when there's a dollar limit.
  • On average, it takes around 1 month to process tax classification/treaty forms, and your submission is still in the queue.  Once it has been processed, however, your earnings will be tax exempt and we can...
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Social Security Number (SSN) and Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN)

General Information

Foreign national individuals, both resident aliens and nonresident aliens, may have either a Social Security Number (SSN) or an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN)

A Social Security Number (SSN) is:

  • A nine-digit number assigned by the Social Security Administration to an individual for tax and wage reporting purposes

An Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) is:

  • A nine-digit number assigned to an individual who is required to have...

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Salary/Wages

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...
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Stipend, Scholarship, Fellowship, or Grant

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...

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Tax Treaties and Deadlines

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...

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Tax Withholding and Payments to Foreign Individuals

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...

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