IMPORTANT: Do not make a commitment regarding an honorarium to a non-US resident before consulting with the Office of International Programs (OIP). Your department must understand important visa and taxation issues before committing to an honorarium.

The process of paying a non-US resident an honorarium and/or travel reimbursement is complicated and involves multiple offices. The university’s ability to pay an honorarium or travel reimbursement to a non-US resident is dependent on several important factors, including, but not limited to:

  • The visitor’s visa status
  • Tax treaty benefit eligibility of the visitor
  • Document collection and verification

As a first step, complete this Honorarium Pre-Invitation Request form to alert OIP that you may invite a non-US resident to whom you wish to provide an honorarium or travel reimbursement. Please contact OIP well in advance of making any promises about honorariums or travel reimbursements.

OIP will guide you through the payment process.

The following sections of this page contain details about paying an honorarium or travel reimbursement to a non-US resident for academic activity in the US.

Honorarium Information

An honorarium is a payment to an individual for a presentation-oriented guest lecture or invitational event. For short-term visits made for the purpose of delivering a lecture or speech, only certain visa classifications are authorized to accept an honorarium. An individual already in the US may not necessarily be here in the correct visa classification.

An honorarium may be paid to a non-US resident for "usual academic activity or activities." These activities include lecturing, teaching, and sharing of knowledge. Free performances may also qualify.

An honorarium paid to a non-US resident is subject to 30% withholding, unless the person can claim a tax treaty benefit. This means that University of Puget Sound is required by the IRS to withhold 30% from any honorarium disbursement made to a non-US resident, unless the payee can claim a tax treaty benefit. Travel reimbursement is not subject to withholding because it is generally not considered income.

Ultimately, it is up to each individual visitor to understand their visa status and determine if they are able to accept payments while in that visa status. We will offer guidance but we cannot offer legal advice on visa matters to visitors. Below is a brief summary of some common visa statuses and notes on when, or if, they can accept honorarium payments:

  • B-1 or B-2: may accept an honorarium provided the individual meets the conditions of the Honorarium Rule (see below).
  • VWB (Visa Waiver Business) or VWT (Visa Waiver Tourist): may accept an honorarium provided the individual meets the conditions of the Honorarium Rule.
  • J-1 scholars sponsored by University of Puget Sound: may accept an honorarium.
  • J-1 scholars sponsored by another university: may be invited to give a lecture or participate in academic activity on an occasional basis. The scholar must obtain written authorization for the activity from the sponsoring university’s Responsible Officer in advance of the activity in order to accept an honorarium.
  • H1-B, E3, TN and O-1 visa holders sponsored by the University of Puget Sound: may accept an honorarium. H-1B, E3, and O-1 visa holders sponsored by another university may only receive reimbursement for travel and/or incidental expenses but not an honorarium for academic activity at Puget Sound.

Non-US residents in B-1, B-2, VWB, and VWT status may accept an honorarium and/or reimbursement of travel expenses under the following conditions:

  • They are at Puget Sound for "usual academic activity or activities"
  • The activity does not last longer than 9 days at Puget Sound
  • The individual has accepted such payment from no more than 5 educational or research institutions (including Puget Sound) in the previous 6-month period.
Honorarium and Travel Reimbursement Payment Process

Complete this Honorarium Pre-Invitation Request form to initiate an Honorarium Pre-Invitation Request.

Note that in order to fill out this form you will need to gather some information from the visitor. Below are the the questions you should ask each visitor (including a suggested introductory sentence to explain why you are asking - feel free to edit to fit your communication): 

If you are not a US resident, our Office of Finance needs the following information to help determine if we are able to pay you an honorarium. Can you please respond with answers to these four questions:

  1. What is your country of legal permanent residence?
  2. What is your country of citizenship (if different from your country of residence)?
  3. Do you have a United States Social Security Number (SSN) or an Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN)?
  4. In what visa status do you plan to enter the US for this visit? (for example, are you from a visa waiver country, i.e. you do not need a visa to enter the US?; are you planning to apply for a B visa?; or perhaps you are already in the US on a J visa sponsored by another university?).

Using the information you submitted in the Honorarium Pre-Invitation form, OIP and the Office of Finance will confer to determine if the university can pay this visitor an honorarium and if it will be subject to 30% tax withholding. We will email all the individuals you indicated on the Honorarium Pre-Invitation form with this information. The department then needs to decide how to proceed.

If the honorarium payment is subject to 30% tax withholding you have two options:

  1. Tax is withheld and the visitor receives the balance: Inform the visitor that the IRS requires us to withhold 30% tax form their honorarium (see Letter of Invitation below).
  2. Grossing Up: If you want to ensure a recipient will receive a specific amount after the 30% is withheld use this formula: Amount recipient will receive/0.7 = amount for the disbursement request.
    • Example: If you want your honorarium amount to be $500 but the recipient is subject to the 30% tax withholding you would need to submit the disbursement request for $714.29. (30% tax withholding on that amount will be $214.29 so that your recipient ends up with $500). Please see the Documentation Requirements section below for note on how to complete the disbursement request if you are grossing up.

If the visitor can claim a tax treaty and we can therefore waive the 30% tax withholding, please note that the honorarium in this case can not be issued until 10 days after the tax treaty claim is made (see Payment Timing section below). See also the Documentation Requirements section below for the specific form the visitor must complete to claim a tax treaty.

A Letter of Invitation or a contract should be sent to every non-US resident invited to the University of Puget Sound who will receive an honorarium or travel expense reimbursement. The inviting department should request a formal Letter of Invitation for the visitor from the appropriate University official, usually the Provost. The letter should include:

  1. Detailed description of the event or activity
  2. Date(s) of the event
  3. The amount of any payment that will be made with a note about any tax withholding and timing of the expected payment
  4. Whether travel and/or incidental expenses will be reimbursed
  5. Contact information at the sponsoring department for further information.

The University must collect this Non-US Resident Payee Statement form from the visitor to solicit the information needed to process payment(s). In the case of an honorarium payment this form is also used to determine that the payment meets the “Honorarium 9/5/6 rule”. This form also solidifies if the visitor will be eligible for a tax treaty benefit allowing us to waive the 30% tax withholding.

See the Documentation Requirements section below for more information on which forms will be required.

See the Documentation Requirements section below for the list of things you must turn into Finance.

Documentation Requirements

The Office of Finance will use the documents below to process the disbursement or wire transfer request(s).

Honorariums

Departments much collect and/or submit the following to Finance:

  1. Completed Non-U.S Resident Foreign National Payee Statement, to be submitted by visitor well in advance of arrival
  2. Payment method: Disbursement Request (.xls) or Wire Transfer Request (.doc)
    1. If you are “grossing up”, code the tax withholding amount to account 22040
  3. A copy of the Letter of Invitation, clearly specifying the date and location of the activity/activities for which the honorarium is being paid (to be provided by department or Provost office)
  4. If on a J visa from another institution, a letter of permission for the activities at Puget Sound from the J sponsor institution (to be submitted by the visitor) and copy of the DS-2019
  5. Completed tax form (Note that these forms must be signed by the visitor and require a “wet” signature, meaning they must be printed out and signed in pen. They may not provide an electronic signature.)
    1. Form 8233 if claiming a tax treaty;
    2. Form W-8 BEN if not claiming a tax treaty.

Travel reimbursements

Departments much collect and/or will submit the following to Finance:

  1. Completed Foreign National Payee Statement (to be submitted by visitor in advance of arrival)
  2. A copy of the invitation letter clearly specifying the date and location of the activity/activities for which the honorarium is being paid (to be provided by department or Provost office)
  3. Disbursement Request or Wire Transfer Request
  4. Receipts for the reimbursed items.

Payment Methods

The payment will be issued as a check (drawn in US dollars) or as a wire transfer. Some visitors have had no problem depositing a check from the US into their bank account in their home country. Others have reported that they were not able to deposit a US check.

If your visitor has requested a wire transfer, use the information they have supplied on the non-US resident Payee Statement to fill out a Wire Transfer Request (Doc).

Payment Timing

Checks are typically ready within five business days the Disbursement Request submission. Since the required tax form(s) require a wet signature, a check may, or may not, be ready while your visitor is still in the US. Please plan accordingly.

Wire transfers can often be sent within one business day if all correct paperwork is at the Office of Finance by 1 p.m..

Please note that if your visitor does choose to claim tax treaty benefit and submits Form 8233, allow 10 days to process payment of honoraria (no exceptions). The IRS requires Finance to file Form 8233 10 days before releasing payment.