Stanford students, postdoctoral scholars and other fellowship recipients who are residents of a foreign country maintaining a tax treaty with the U.S., can submit a W-8BEN Tax Treaty Form plus attachments to Payroll for reduced federal taxation on their fellowship payments.
Claim Tax Treaty for Fellowship Payments
Before You Start
A Social Security number or Individual Taxpayer ID Number (ITIN) is required to claim the tax treaty.
To be eligible to claim a tax treaty for fellowship payments, the applicant must meet all three of the requirements listed below:
- Be a nonresident alien
- Be in the U.S. on one of the following visas:
- Student: F-1, J-1 or CPT/OPT
- Postdoc/Faculty: H1-B, J-1 or O-1
- Be a resident of one of the Countries with Treaty Benefits for Scholarship or Fellowship Grants immediately preceding their arrival in the U.S
- Select IRS Form W8-BEN to download
- Print form
- Complete the following fields in Part I of W-8BEN form:
- Field 1 – Enter your full name
- Field 2 – Enter your country of citizenship
- Field 3 – Enter your permanent address in your country of residence
- Field 4 – Enter your U.S. address
- Field 5 – Enter your Social Security Number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) (required to claim a tax treaty)
- Complete the following field on Part II of the form
- Field 9 – Enter your country of residence
- Complete Certification section in Part III
- Read certification statement
- Sign and date the form
- Submit completed W-8BEN form to Payroll by U.S. mail
What Happens Next?
- After receiving your completed form, Payroll will exempt your future fellowship payments from taxation.
- Payroll will automatically refund any federal tax withholding that was taken on your fellowship during the current tax year (Jan. 1 to Dec. 31). Allow at least one week for processing student fellowship tax refunds. Postdoctoral fellowship tax refunds are included on the next regular monthly check.
- Tax refunds for previous tax years must be claimed with the IRS on your tax return.
