Foreign Visitors from certain countries may be able to use IRS Form 8233 to claim exemption from some or all withholding because of a tax treaty.
Before You Start
To claim the tax treaty, the foreign visitor must have a U.S. issued Social Security Number or Individual Taxpayer ID Number (ITIN). If the foreign visitor does not have this ITIN, there is no benefit to completing the form.
- To be eligible to claim a tax treaty for honorarium, the applicant must be:
- A nonresident alien
- In the U.S. on a B-1, WB or J-1 visa, andFor a description of visitor categories and allowable visa types, refer to Topic Overview: Inviting and Paying Foreign Visitors.
- A resident of one of the Countries with Treaty Benefits for Scholarship or Fellowship Grants immediately preceding their arrival in the U.S
- For a list of tax treaties by country of residence and requirements for maximum presence in U.S. and maximum amount of compensation, refer to Resource: Tax Treaty Table for Independent Personal Services Performed in the United States.
- Open 8233 Form
- Download and/or print form You may refer to Instructions for Form 8233.
- Enter the applicable calendar year when compensation is expected
- Enter responses in Numbers 1-4 of the 8233 form. Enter your permanent address in your country of residence on line 4.
- Enter information in Numbers 5-9 of the 8233 form from the information on your I-94 form Enter the date of the first arrival in the U.S. for this current trip (exclude tourist visits) on line 8.
Complete the following fields on Part II of the Form:
- 11a - Provide a description of the type of service being provided
- 11b - Enter an estimate of the total compensation expected to receive in this calendar year for this honorarium
- 12a - Enter the tax treaty you are basing the exemption from withholding (e.g., U.S.-Canada tax treaty), and enter your eligible country of residence
- 12b - Enter the tax treaty article on which you are basing the exemption from withholding (e.g., Article 7).
- The article number can be found in the Resource: Tax Treaty Table for Independent Personal Services Performed in the United States.
- 12c - Enter the amount of compensation that is exempt from withholding. This amount can be the same as the amount entered for 11b.
- 12d - Enter your country of residence. This should be the same country as Part I, line 4.
- 14 - Provide details of services provided in 11a making sure to give enough detail to allow the IRS to determine the tax treaty benefit being claimed and that requirements have been met
- Read the Certification in Part III
- Sign and date the form
- Submit the completed 8233 to Payment Services via the secure Supplier and Payee Request Portal If you have not received an email to be able to access the Supplier and Payee Request Portal, please submit a Support Request to the Financial Support Center.
In addition to the completed 8233, foreign visitors, or their authorized agent, will be required to upload copies of the Stanford LA-6 form, visa, passport and I-94 card.
All confidential and banking information for payees must be submitted via the secure Supplier and Payee Request Portal, not uploaded as back-up documentation to a Non-Purchase Order (PO) Payment Request transaction.
- Once the Vendor Services team completes the setup of the payee in the supplier database, please submit a Non-PO Payment request via the Expense Requests system, selecting honoraria as the category.
- The Business Expense team will process the Non-PO Payment Request and issue a check to the visitor.
