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The type and rule above prints on all proofs including departmental reproduction proofs. MUST be removed before printing.
days of presence in the United States in
2020, see Rev. Proc. 2020-20, 2020-20
I.R.B. 801, available at IRS.gov/irb/
2020-20_IRB#REV-PROC-2020-20.
U.S. Person
For purposes of this form, a U.S. person is
a U.S. citizen or resident alien.
Tax Treaty Withholding
Exemption
This term refers to an exemption from
withholding permitted by IRS regulations
under section 1441 that is based on a tax
treaty benefit. See
Resident of a Treaty
Country next for requirements for claiming
a tax treaty benefit on this form.
Resident of a Treaty Country
In general, an alien individual is a resident
of a treaty country if he or she qualifies as
a resident of that country (1) under the
country’s domestic law, and (2) under the
terms of the residency article of the tax
treaty between the United States and that
country.
A nonresident alien can claim a tax
treaty benefit on this form only if that
individual is the beneficial owner of the
income and meets the residency
requirement and all other requirements for
the requested benefits under the terms of
the tax treaty.
If you are claiming a benefit under
either the income from employment/
dependent personal services article or the
income from independent services/
business profits article of the treaty, you
must be a resident of the treaty country.
However, if you are claiming a benefit
under the student/trainee or teacher/
researcher article of a treaty, you generally
only need to have been a resident of the
treaty country immediately before (or at
the time) you came to the United States.
Compensation for Independent
Personal Services
Independent personal services are
services performed as an independent
contractor in the United States by a
nonresident alien who is self-employed
rather than an employee. Compensation
for such services includes payments for
contract labor; payments for professional
services, such as fees to an attorney,
physician, or accountant, if the payments
are made directly to the person performing
the services; consulting fees; and
honoraria paid to visiting professors,
teachers, researchers, scientists, and
prominent speakers.
Business profits. Certain treaties do not
have an independent personal services
article. Payments for independent
personal services may be covered under
the business profits article of an applicable
income tax treaty. If you are eligible to
claim exemption from withholding on this
type of income, complete and give Form
8233 to the withholding agent.
Under certain treaties, such as
those with Canada, India, and
Portugal, the income for services
performed by independent contractors
who do not have a fixed base in the United
States may still be taxable for services
performed in the United States if they stay
in the United States for more than a
specified period of time (generally 90 or
183 days, depending on the treaty). See,
for example, Article 5, paragraph 9 of the
United States–Canada income tax treaty
and Article 15, paragraph 1(b) of the
United States–India income tax treaty.
Often, these contractors cannot claim an
exemption from withholding at the time of
payment because they do not know
whether their stay will exceed the
specified period.
Public entertainers. Generally, athletes
and entertainers are not exempt from tax
on income derived from their activities.
Most treaties have a special article that
covers them that takes precedence over
the independent personal services and
dependent personal services articles of
treaties. They may be exempt in some
treaties only if the total amount paid for a
year is below a dollar threshold. Generally,
the IRS cannot accept Form 8233
because the exemption may be based on
factors that cannot be determined until
after the end of the year. These individuals
are subject to 30% withholding from gross
income paid for personal services
performed unless they apply for a reduced
rate of withholding using Form 13930.
Required Withholding Form
For compensation you receive for
independent personal services, complete
Form 8233 to claim a tax treaty
withholding exemption for part or all of that
income.
Compensation for Dependent
Personal Services
Dependent personal services are services
performed as an employee in the United
States by a nonresident alien. Dependent
personal services include compensatory
scholarship or fellowship income (defined
later). Compensation for such services
includes wages, salaries, fees, bonuses,
commissions, and similar designations for
amounts paid to an employee.
Required Withholding Form(s)
Complete Form 8233 for compensation
you receive for dependent personal
services only if you are claiming a tax
treaty withholding exemption for part or all
of that income.
For compensation for which you are not
claiming a tax treaty withholding
exemption, use Form W-4, or you can also
calculate your withholding online with the
Tax Withholding Estimator at IRS.gov/
Individuals/Tax-Withholding-Estimator.
Completing your Form W-4. You should
complete your Form W-4 as follows.
Step 1. You are required to enter a
social security number (SSN) in box 1b of
Form W-4. If you do not have an SSN but
are eligible to get one, you should apply
for it. Get Form SS-5 online at SSA.gov,
from your local Social Security
Administration (SSA) office, or by calling
the SSA at 800-772-1213.
You cannot enter an individual
taxpayer identification number
(ITIN) in box 1b of Form W-4. See
Notice 1392 for more information about
completing Form W-4.
Box 1c. Check the single box
regardless of your actual marital status.
Step 2. Use Step 2 of Form W-4 if you
have more than one job at the same time.
Step 3. Complete Step 3 only if you
are a nonresident alien who is a resident
of Canada, Mexico, or South Korea, or a
resident of India who is a student or
business apprentice. You cannot take a
deduction for a qualifying child or other
dependent unless you meet the above
requirements. See
Pub. 519 for more
information.
Step 4. Complete Step 4 if you have
other income on which no tax was
withheld. Generally, nonresident aliens
cannot take the standard deduction. Also,
any itemized deductions to which you are
entitled may be limited. See
Pub. 519 for
more information.
The above instructions generally
apply to the 2021 Form W-4. See
the subsequent year Form W-4
and its instructions for withholding that
occurs after 2021.
Compensatory Scholarship or
Fellowship Income
In general, scholarship or fellowship
income is compensatory to the extent it
represents payment for past, present, or
future services (for example, teaching or
research) performed by a nonresident
alien as an employee and the
performance of those services is a
condition for receiving the scholarship or
fellowship (or tuition reduction).
Example. XYZ University awards a
scholarship to George, a nonresident alien
student. The only condition of the
scholarship is that George attends classes
and maintains a minimum level of
-2-
Instructions for Form 8233 (Rev. 10-2021)