Income paid to foreign entities, such as royalties, patents, copyrights, rents, and personal services, generally can trigger a statutory tax withholding of 30% when the income is considered U.S. sourced. All payments processed to foreign entities require a tax review. Foreign entities may begin to incur tax withholding on payments that historically did not trigger taxes. A valid W-8 can possibly reduce or exempt tax withholdings, if eligible, and the valid claim has been made with Harvard before payment has been processed.
- Please refer to guidance regarding “Location of Activity” to assist with scenarios commonly seen at Harvard. Guidance can be found on the Office of the Controller's website.
- Most supplier are Net 30. Departments should build in processing time to account for the required tax review of all payments made to foreign entities.
- After department approvals (levels 1-6) are complete, payments to foreign entities may take an additional 5 business days to be processed.
You can find additional information about W-8 forms at the Nonresident Alien Tax Compliance website. For tax questions, please contact the Nonresident Alien Tax Compliance at 617-495-8500 option 5 or nratax_ufs@harvard.edu.