Payments to Foreign Nationals
Contracts, honorariums or agreements cannot be made with a non U.S. citizen until the Foreign National Data Gathering form is completed and reviewed by the Controller’s Office to determine the payee’s status. The form must be completed 6 weeks prior to the start of employment or contract.
What makes payments to Foreign Nationals unique?
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) impose complex regulations in regards to payments to non U.S. citizen/foreign nationals. Failure to follow these regulations may result in penalties and interest, a revocation of the university’s ability to sponsor foreign national visitors and could potentially jeopardize the foreign national’s future immigration status. In addition to tax regulations, certain payments are only allowable based on an individual’s immigration status pursuant to immigration law.
- Many international students, research scholars and visitors come to UNC Asheville, and most are “nonresident aliens” for tax purposes.
- Nonresident aliens are subject to tax on all payments (wages, scholarships, honorariums, etc.) paid by the university to the individual, group or to a third party on behalf of the individual.
Step one of the process is completion of the Foreign National Data Gathering form. Once the form has been completed, reviewed, and approved, supplemental checklists for each type of payment have been developed to assist in completion of the process. Links to the Foreign National Data Gathering form and the supplemental checklists can be found below.
The Associate Vice Chancellor for Finance/Controller’s Office (Andrea Jackson, ajackson@unca.edu, 828.251.6560) in conjunction with the Director of International Student Services (Robert Straub, rstraub@unca.edu, 828.251.6998) are available to assist with this process.
The Foreign National Data Gathering form is due at least 6 weeks prior to the start of employment or contract.