UW Tax Responsibilities

University Responsibilities

The UW is responsible for maintaining compliance with all federal, state and local laws. The UW also has a responsibility to the foreign nationals who come to campus to pursue their education or other scholarly activities to ensure that payments made to them by the university are properly reported to the appropriate federal and state agencies. Proper reporting greatly reduces the potential for future tax or immigration problems for foreign nationals. A number of university offices are available to assist with any questions or problems related to gathering and coordinating the information that is needed to maintain compliance with the tax and immigration laws.

UW Offices Associated with Tax Responsibilities

The following UW offices provide services for departments working with foreign nationals.

Accounts Payable

• Makes payments to independent contractors
• Produces checks for honorarium, awards and prizes
• Issues 1099s
• Processes ITIN applications
• Consults on residency status
• Interprets tax treaties
• Issues 1099 forms

Graduate Admissions

• Issues Form I-20 to graduate student foreign nationals who will be applying for a F-1 visa

International Students and Scholars Office

• Issues Form DS-2019 to foreign nationals who will be applying for a J-1 Exchange Visitor Program visa
• Issues extensions for Form DS-2019 for J-1 non-students
• Issues extensions for Form I-20 for F-1 students
• Files and applies for H-1 visas on behalf of academic departments sponsoring foreign nationals
• Issues letters for students to apply for a SSN
• Approves applications from J-1 Exchange Program participants to work off campus or to receive an honorarium for an occasional lecture on a UW campus
• Helps F-1 students apply to USCIS for work authorization
• Sponsors permanent resident petitions for UW faculty

Payroll Office

• Pays employees' wages
• Pays scholarships, fellowships and stipends entered in OPUS
• Reviews I-9 forms for employment eligibility
• Monitors work authorization status for foreign nationals
• Issues W2s and 1042-S forms
• Consults on residency status
• Interprets tax treaties
• Is backup to Accounts Payable for processing ITIN applications

Student Fiscal Services Office

• Pays scholarship and fellowship awards entered in SDB
• Posts and collects any taxes due on an award
• Sends students Form W-8BEN to claim a tax treaty benefit
• Consults on residency status
• Interprets tax treaties

Tax Office

• Available for consultation on tax matters, including interpretation of tax laws and determination of proper procedures for tax filings

Undergraduate Admissions

• Issues I-20 form to undergraduate foreign nationals who will be applying for a F-1 visa

Sponsoring Department Responsibilities

University departments that host foreign nationals will generally be aware in advance of the actual arrival date that the visitor will be coming to the university. Accordingly, the hosting department or faculty member bears primary responsibility for ensuring that payments are in compliance with federal tax and immigration laws.

Departments must ensure that no payment of any kind is made to a foreign national unless the individual has been granted the appropriate authorization by the USCIS in advance of the payment being made. If proper arrangements are not made before a foreign national arrives in the U.S., the department may find that the UW is legally barred from honoring commitments that may have been made.

The ISSO must be contacted prior to making any contractual arrangement to pay a foreign national on an F-1 or J-1 visa. This applies to both non-student and student foreign nationals, and must be done in order to ensure that immigration laws are not violated. Such violations could lead to fines of up to $40,000 per occurrence assessed against UW, and/or imprisonment of UW personnel, and detention or deportation of the foreign national.

Information the sponsoring department should confirm

• The visa status of the foreign national authorizes the work for which the payment will be made.
• Whether the foreign national is a permanent resident (i.e., green card holder) or an alien authorized to work.
• For an honorarium payment, the foreign national on a B-1; B-2; VWB or VWT visa is compliant with the Honorarium Rule.
• Whether the foreign national's country of residence has a tax treaty benefit available to eliminate or reduce withholding tax.
• If the foreign national will claim a tax treaty benefit, whether the individual has an ITIN or SSN.
• If the foreign national will be a UW employee, whether the individual has a SSN.