Independent Contractor Payment

Payment made to non-employee of the University in return for services provided.

How should I answer questions in Calculus if I have no U.S. presence in the current calendar year but expect payments from Harvard for US activities that occurred in a prior year?

If you were unable to complete Sprintax Calculus before the end of the calendar year that corresponds to your recent visit to Harvard, and you are expecting payments relating to that visit, then you will need to indicate at least 1 day present in the U.S. this calendar year to complete your Sprintax Calculus profile.

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What is the “Location of Activity” when processing a payment in Accounts Payable, and why is it important to include?

Harvard is required to indicate the “location of activity”, particularly when paying income to foreign individuals and foreign entities, to comply with IRS tax withholding and reporting regulations. A clear indication of the location of the activity (such as the country) is necessary on all supporting documentation for the payment to be correctly classified for tax purposes. This applies to both service and non-service income.
Generally, the location of...

Where can I find information on how to process payments to a foreign individual?

Please see Making Payments.

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...

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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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.

Honorarium, Royalty, Prize, or Other Payment

The following are generally subject to a 30% tax withholding rate paid to nonresident aliens, in the absence of tax treaty benefits:

An Honoraria is defined as a gratuitous payment of money, or any other thing of value, to a person for the person’s participation in a usual academic activity for which no fee is legally required. They are payments made at the discretion of the University as compensation for professional services, including guest lectures. If an honoraria is a performance-related payment from the University, and exceeds $5000 per year in the aggregate, the...

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...