UChicagoGRAD is not permitted to give individual tax advice to graduate students, but you can view the recorded Tax Treaty Information session and send any follow-up questions to us at gradhelp@uchicago.edu.

A tax treaty is a bilateral agreement between the US and another country to help residents of both countries avoid double-taxation on income received while a resident of one country is present in the other. Individuals may be eligible for exemption from US tax withholding or may be taxed at a reduced rate at the federal and state level. Exemptions and reduced rates vary depending on the individual’s country of residence, and not every country has a tax treaty that applies to fellowship stipend income. Treaty agreements outline information sharing between two countries to help with tax compliance.

The most common kind of treaty claim at the university is made on fellowship stipend income. The following countries have a treaty agreement with the US for fellowship stipends:

 

Bangladesh*
Germany
Morocco*
Slovak Republic*
China (People’s Republic) ◊
Iceland*
Netherlands ⊥
Slovenia*
CIS (Comm. Ind. States)*
Indonesia*
Norway*
Spain*
Cyprus ±
Israel*
Philippines*
Thailand*
Czech Republic*
Kazakstan*
Poland*
Trinidad and Tobago*
Egypt*
Korea (Republic of)*
Portugal*
Tunisia*
Estonia*
Latvia
Romania*
Ukraine*
France*
Lithuania*
Russia*
Venezuela*
*  5-year treaty limit;  ⊥ 3-year treaty limit;  ◊ No specific time limit;
± Residents of Cyprus who are not candidates for a degree are not eligible

 

A US taxpayer identification number is required to claim a tax treaty. Whether you are eligible for a Social Security Number (SSN) or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) will be determined by what type of income you are receiving. An on-campus position (including teaching/research assistantships) is required to apply for an SSN. If you do not have an on-campus position, you will apply for an ITIN. Information on SSN/ITIN eligibility and the application process can be found on the Office of International Affairs website: Social Security Numbers & ITINs.

Tax treaties are not automatic – you need to proactively claim a tax treaty for it to be recognized by Payroll. To make a treaty claim, you will need to provide the following to Payroll / Financial Services:

 

Tax Residency Status
Income Type
Paperwork
Resident for Tax Purposes
Fellowship Stipend
W-8BEN (with Part II complete)
Nonresident for Tax Purposes
Fellowship Stipend
W-8BEN (with Part II complete)
Resident for Tax Purposes
Pedagogical / Research / Student Position
W-9 + W-9A
Nonresident for Tax Purposes
Pedagogical / Research / Student Position
W-8BEN + Form 8233 + Revenue Procedure Statement

 

Effective January 2024, Payroll has removed the requirement to submit original (physical) tax treaty forms to Payroll Services. Tax treaty claims should be made using the electronic tax treaty forms generated by Sprintax Calculus. Once you have generated your tax treaty documents in Sprintax, all documents must be uploaded to your Workday profile under “Worker Documents”.  Then, email the University’s foreign tax analyst Cristina Cruz (cristinadc@uchicago.edu) to notify them that the tax treaty forms have been uploaded. Your documents will then be reviewed, and tax treaty benefits will then be applied to the next payment.

Please note when signing tax treaty forms – text box signatures, drawn signatures on a device, or e-signatures without a place/timestamp are not acceptable e-signatures.

REQUIRED DOCUMENTS
To make a treaty claim on fellowship stipend income: Forms W-8BEN or W-9 + W-9A
To make a treaty claim on wage-income from the university: Forms W-8BEN, 8233, and the corresponding Revenue Procedure Statement

FAQ

Tax treaties generally exempt individuals from double-taxation only. This means that if you claim an exemption in the US, you likely must pay tax on your US-sourced income in your country of residency. Some individuals choose to refrain from making a treaty claim in the US if the effective tax rate in their country of residence is higher than it is in the US. You can speak to a tax advisor to see if this may be the case for you. Pay very careful attention to the specific provisions of your tax treaties. Some treaties have “retroactive clauses” that state that you lose your entire exemption retroactively if you stay in the US beyond a certain length of time.

Within the same calendar year (example: it is 2023 and you want taxes withheld from your spring 2023 stipend returned) a refund can be issued directly by the university. If you have not seen a refund of previously withheld taxes come directly through Workday to you, please contact gradhelp@uchicago.edu. Please note that an approved treaty (including a US taxpayer ID) must be in place.   In a different calendar year (example: it is 2023 and you want taxes withheld from 2022 stipends returned) a refund must be requested directly from the IRS and the Illinois Department of Revenue when filing tax returns.

Returns for residents / residents for tax purposes do not specifically address claiming tax treaties as residents for tax. However, our interpretation is that individuals should follow this process: Prepare IRS 1040; Line 1: enter ALL wage income, line 10: enter amount in parenthesis from schedule 1 line 26, line 7: subtract the amount from line 10 from line 1 Complete form 8833 (Treaty-Based Return Position Disclosure) to include details of treaty.