How does a nonresident employee claim a tax treaty exemption?

 

A nonresident alien employee must have a Social Security number to be eligible for tax treaty benefits and must provide information about visa status, country of tax residence, history of presence in the United States, and other factors. To collect this information, The University of Texas at Austin uses a third-party software called Glacier.
 
A nonresident alien employee must input their information into Glacier, and based on this information, eligibility for treaty benefits will be determined. The nonresident alien will then have the option to accept or reject the treaty benefits. If the nonresident alien employee accepts the treaty benefits, either an IRS Form 8233 and/or an IRS Form W-9 will be generated by Glacier, and this form(s) must be signed before it is submitted to Tax Services for processing along with any forms and documents listed by Glacier. If treaty benefits are based on Form 8233, each year, a new Form 8233 must be provided to Tax Services to renew entitlement to treaty benefits. 
 
If treaty benefits are rejected, or a new Form 8233 is not submitted by a nonresident alien employee, they should be able to claim treaty benefits when they file their federal tax return with the Internal Revenue Service. UT's International Student and Scholar Services offers assistance with filing federal tax returns for nonresident aliens. Additional details are at https://global.utexas.edu/isss/advising-services/taxes.
 
For more information on Glacier or processing treaty benefits, please email tax.nra@austin.utexas.edu.