All payments made to or on behalf of a foreign national are generally subject to income tax withholding unless specifically exempted either by U.S. tax law or an income tax treaty. The payments are generally required to be reported to the IRS. Example of such payments include, but are not limited to
If a foreign national is eligible to claim an exemption from withholding on compensation, refer to the information below.
Services provided by self-employed (self-employment) individuals. Use IRS Form 8233 to claim a tax treaty exemption and/or the personal exemption amount.
Services provided by a student, professor or teacher, researcher, or business. Use IRS Form 8233 to claim a tax treaty for any part of your compensation that is exempt from withholding.
This is for individuals who want to claim personal exemption withholding. Use IRS Form W-4, the Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate.
For an individual who wants to claim an exemption from withholding for a nonqualified scholarship/fellowship. Use IRS Form W8 BEN, Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding and Reporting (Individuals).
SPRINTAX is a secure web-based tax compliance system Temple University uses to gather all pertinent information regarding payments made to foreign nationals. The system helps determine tax residency status, withholding tax rates and tax treaty eligibility for the foreign individual.
If required, during the new employee onboarding process the employees will receive instructions on how access and enter the required information into the system.
For a nonemployee foreign national receiving a payment from the university, contact Accounts Payable for instructions and next step(s).
For additional information on taxation of a foreign national, please refer to the IRS section for International Taxpayers.
If you have any questions, contact the HR foreign national tax specialist at 215-926-2244 or email [click-for-email].
