Foreign National Employee Information

The Pennsylvania State University Payroll office has required forms and documents for all Non-U.S. Resident and Non-U.S. Permanent Residents.

As of the Fall 2024 semester, Penn State has launched SprinTax Calculus, a secure cloud-based software product, for the Non-U.S. Resident tax compliance documentation. Effective immediately, SprinTax Calculus will replace the university's Alien Information Request form (AIF) for determining your U.S. tax residency and tax treaty eligibility.

DISCLAIMER

The information contained within this website is provided for informational purposes only and it not intended to provide, and should not be relied upon for, tax, legal, or accounting advice. All information in this website is provided "as-is", with no guarantee of completeness, accuracy, timeliness, or of the results obtained from the use of this information, and without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to warranties of performance and fitness for a particular purpose.

How to Access SprinTax Calculus:

If you are a Non-U.S. Resident and are or will be receiving payments from the Pennsylvania State University, and you have not completed the required paperwork, please follow the steps below:

Please contact our Foreign National Payroll email with the subject line stating "Requesting Access to SprinTax Calculus"
You will then receive an email from a noreplysprintax.com email address with an activation link. Use this link to log into and set-up your new account.
On the home page, choose "Log in with your institution account".
Select Pennsylvania State University from the drop-down menu and click continue to log in.

Other Resources and Tools:

For further assistance and general questions, please consider the Frequently Asked Questions SprinTax Calculus guide.
You may also consult the Complete SprinTax User Instruction Manual
Provided here is a quick resource guide to the questionnaire within SprinTax Calculus, SprinTax Calculus Knowledge Base

Non- U.S. Residents: Students/ Employees/ Fellows Payroll Forms

This is a short list of the Non-Resident Payroll forms and their descriptions. These are to be completed and signed as necessary through the SprinTax Calculus software.

Short Name	Official Name and Description
IRS Form 8233	Tax Treaty Request Form (Exemption from Federal Tax withholding on compensation for Independent, and/or certain Dependents, for personal services of a Non-U.S. Resident): The IRS requires Form 8233 to be completed and submitted to Payroll: To request Federal Tax exemption based on a tax treaty between the U.S. and another country. For each calendar year that you qualify for the exemption (submitted to Payroll by December 1 for next applicable year)
IRS Form W-9	Request For Taxpayer Identification Number & Certification IRS Form W-9 should be completed and submitted to Payroll: By individuals who are not U.S. Citizens and are a Non-Resident for U.S. tax purposes Individuals who are in the U.S. on an H1-B or J-1 visa as visiting scholar who are requesting exemption from Federal Taxes based on a tax treaty between the U.S. and their country

Short Name

Official Name and Description

IRS Form 8233

Tax Treaty Request Form (Exemption from Federal Tax withholding on compensation for Independent, and/or certain Dependents, for personal services of a Non-U.S. Resident):
The IRS requires Form 8233 to be completed and submitted to Payroll:

To request Federal Tax exemption based on a tax treaty between the U.S. and another country.
For each calendar year that you qualify for the exemption (submitted to Payroll by December 1 for next applicable year)

IRS Form W-9

Request For Taxpayer Identification Number & Certification

IRS Form W-9 should be completed and submitted to Payroll:

By individuals who are not U.S. Citizens and are a Non-Resident for U.S. tax purposes
Individuals who are in the U.S. on an H1-B or J-1 visa as visiting scholar who are requesting exemption from Federal Taxes based on a tax treaty between the U.S. and their country

Taxation (Federal and OASDI & Medicare)

Federal Income Tax:

Federal Income Tax is withheld according to the Federal graduated tax tables located in IRS Publication 15-T. PSU, uses the Percentage Method for federal income tax Withholding, using the Annual calculation, in conjunction with the information provided by the employee on their IRS W-4.

OASDI & Medicare Tax Exemption by Visas:

OASDI & Medicare Taxes are based on your US residency status for Federal Tax purposes Refer to the IRS Substantial Presence Test for complete instructions to determine US residency status. Completing the required payroll paperwork through the SprinTax software will also help to identify if these tax exemptions apply to you.

F-1 & J-1 Students that are considered Non-U.S. Residents for US Federal Tax purposes, the OASDI & Medicare Taxes are not withheld for five calendar years or any part of five calendar years beginning with their very first date of arrival on a F or J visa into the USA (NRA Rule 3121(b)(19)). When the student reaches the sixth year, this tax will be withheld (unless they meet the criteria for the student exemption that became effective July 1, 2001 - Student Rule 3121(b)(10)).

To determine when the OASDI & Medicare Tax will begin to be withheld, you need to know the month and year the person first entered the U.S. on a F or J Student visa. Note: If the individual was in the U.S. for one day of a calendar year, that entry day will count as an entire calendar year.

Example: Enter U.S. December 20, 2017 on an F- or J-1 student visa. The first tax year would be 2017. Assuming the F-1/J-1 student is present in the USA for one day in the second year 2018, third year 2019, fourth year 2020 the fifth and the last year of exemption would be 2021. Therefore, beginning with January 2022 the OASDI & Medicare Tax would be withheld.

J-1 Non-Students (i.e. Research Scholars, Professors, Specialists) that are considered Non-U.S. Residents for US Federal Tax purposes, arriving in the USA for the first time, the OASDI & Medicare Taxes are not withheld for two calendar years or any part of two calendar years beginning with the very first date of arrival to the U.S.
Note: If the individual was in the U.S. for one day of a calendar year, that entry day will count as an entire calendar year. When the individual remains in the U.S. for their third year they will begin to have this tax withheld.

Example: Enter U.S. for the first time on October 20, 2019.The first calendar year would be 2019 and the second calendar year would be 2020. Therefore, beginning with January 2021 the OASDI & Medicare Tax would be withheld.

*NOTE:

*J-1 Non-Student visa holders have a '6 year look-back-period' to determine if the person has been in the U.S. with an exempt-year status. Begin with the year prior to the current year and determine the 6 years to look-back.

From the example above: The person is arriving in the U.S. for the very first time in 2019 (has never been to the USA), therefore the 6 year look back period is 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013 would not have any exempt year history. Beginning 2020, the 6 year look back period would have one exempt year (2019) allowing for 2020 to be the 2nd exempt year. Beginning January 2021, the 6 year look-back-period would have 2 exempt years and would make 2021 non-exempt and eligible to have the OASDI & Medicare taxes withheld.