Tax withholding

My country has a tax treaty with the U.S., so why was my paycheck taxed?

You'll need to complete the Sprintax Calculus profile and upload relevant forms, making sure to select the correct income type(s) (your country's tax treaty with the U.S. may not cover the relevant income type). Your Sprintax Calculus forms then have to be processed by the IPTC office, as treaty benefits are not granted automatically.

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...

Since I already had taxes withheld from my paychecks, do I need to file a tax return?

Yes, you should still file a tax return. The U.S. tax system is a “pay as you go” one, where taxes are withheld from your paychecks as you receive them (based on information you gave your employer at the time of hire). You should file a federal and/or a state income tax return to determine if you paid too much tax and are due a refund, or if you did not pay enough and owe tax.

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...

Making Payments to Foreign Individuals

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...

Independent Contractor Payments

Whether an individual is an actual independent contractor, and not an employee, has important implications for the policies, procedures and payment processing requirements that should be taken into consideration.

For IRS information, see IRS Publication 1779 Independent Contractor or Employee
Independent Contractor policy

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At what rate should my income be taxed?

In most cases, taxes are automatically withheld from your pay. Such tax withholding may include Federal, State and Social Security/Medicare taxes that can range from 14-30% of your total income. The amount of tax withheld depends on the type of income you receive and your tax status in the United States. Most incoming F and J visa holders are considered non-residents (students for the first five years in the United States and J-1 scholars for the first two years). But there are of course other visa types, and exceptions, so it’s important that the Nonresident Alien Tax Office classifies...

Payments

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.

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...

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...

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...