1. Payments made to Foreign Nationals or Nonresident Aliens (NRA) are subject to withholding tax requirements on their U.S. source income. Therefore, all payments made to Foreign Nationals or NRAs must be approved by University Tax Services by completing the UF - Foreign National Tax Information Form found on the University Tax Services website.

2. IRS regulations 1441, 1442, and 1443 require federal NRA withholding taxes made to foreign persons. Generally, the NRA withholding requirement is 30 percent unless the Internal Revenue Code stipulates a reduced rate or exemption based on U.S. tax treaty benefits. In addition, these regulations provide for a 14 percent Federal withholding tax on the portion of scholarships paid for living expenses, 30 percent Federal withholding tax on honoraria payments made to foreign visitors and scholars, and 30 percent Federal withholding taxes paid to NRA independent contractors.

3. Nonresident aliens must also follow special instructions for IRS Form W-4 which is discussed in IRS publication 515, page 24, (i.e., single, one allowance, and write "NRA" above dotted line on line 6). Nonresident aliens may not claim "exempt" for the withholding status on IRS Form W-4.

4. There are also U.S. income tax treaties with certain countries that either exempt or reduce the Federal withholding taxes on payments made to NRAs. IRS forms 8233 or W-8 BEN, depending on the classification of the payment, must be approved by University Tax Services. Many of these tax treaties have dollar amount limitations. The following is a list of IRS publications which detail these regulations:

   IRS Publication 901, U.S. Tax Treaties
   http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p901.pdf

   IRS Publication 515, Withholding of Tax on Nonresident Aliens and Foreign Entities
   http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p515.pdf

   IRS Publication 519, U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens
   http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p519.pdf