Reimbursements for visitors

US citizens/permanent residents
  • Visitor Reimbursement & Honoraria Form
  • Receipts, travel itinerary, lodging, etc. Visitors may be reimbursed for actual meal costs when accompanied by a receipt and may be reimbursed for other than economy class if approved by the EO.
Foreign nationals

Honoraria

An honorarium is a one-time payment of $5,000 or less, made to an individual who is not an employee of the University of Illinois System for a special and non-recurring activity or event for which no remuneration is collectible by law.

Honoraria are typically paid to persons of scholarly or professional standing with the intent of showing appreciation for participation in U of I System educational, research, or public service activities. If payment is negotiated and agreed upon, this is considered a contractual agreement and should be processed as a payment for professional services, not as an honorarium.

For more information on honorarium payments and their restrictions, click here.

Forms to be completed by foreign nationals

Human subjects

Payments to human subjects must be made via a program advance processed in the TEM system. The advance must be requested prior to the start of testing and reference the IRB protocol number assigned to the nature of the applicable testing.

Note for foreign nationals

Offers of payment should not be made until the visa type is known as there are certain visa types that prohibit such payments. Please make your departmental EO Support your point of contact for assistance in managing the visitor's itinerary and payments.

When receiving an honorarium payment, foreign nationals will need to apply for tax treaty benefits. The appointment needs to be made well in advance of the visitor's arrival on campus. The payroll appointments should be allowed for as part of that visitor's itinerary on campus and made no later than one week before the visitor is scheduled to arrive. Otherwise, the visitor's payment will be considered taxable income, and taxed IRS rates of 30% Federal & 5% State. This tax assessment is a federal IRS law, not a policy set by the University. The original and copies of all required foreign national documentation (shown below) must be taken to this appointment.

If the foreign national does not have an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), the honorarium will not be paid until University Payroll notifies the Business Office that the IRS has issued a number. An ITIN is generally issued in 6-8 weeks (sometimes several months) after application is received by the IRS. Please note that travel expense reimbursements made to non-employees do not require a SSN or ITIN.

ITIN procedures

Please check to see if your visitor's country has a tax treaty agreement with the United States. If not, a reporting number will still need to be issued in order to make payment. If the visitor has an SSN or ITIN, then nothing will be required besides copies of passport ID page and entry stamps. However, if they do not have an SSN or ITIN, an appointment with University Payroll will be needed to establish this.

If one does not wish to do so during the visit, it can be done ahead of time by completing the W-7 and signing the Statement of Certification below, confirming that ITIN has been applied for or will be applied for. These forms will need to be sent to the closest IRS or United States Consular' s Office. Copies of those forms will need to be provided to the SLCL Business Office with payment forms. The foreign national must provide the SLCL Business Office with a copy of the ITIN letter once it is received from the IRS.

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