Written for university tax compliance staff who actually have to file the 1042-S. Every article cites the IRC section, the treaty article, and the Pub 515 page.
Walk through the full workflow for a J-1 research scholar who passes the Substantial Presence Test in year 3. Where most universities go wrong: switching the payee to W-2 payroll without checking the treaty saving-clause exception. Includes the rare treaty articles that preserve student exemptions after residency.
B-2 visitors can't legally perform services in the US, which makes paying a clinical trial participant on a tourist visa look illegal at first glance. It's not — but the tax treatment is unlike any other payment your office processes. Here's the full breakdown of why it's not services income, why Form 8233 is the wrong form, and how to report it on 1042-S.
Germany's tax treaty exempts visiting researchers for up to two years — but exceed the stay by a single day and the exemption is retroactively revoked for the entire period. If you only check the treaty at the moment of payment, you're missing the single most expensive compliance risk your institution faces on visiting scholars. Here's how to monitor it.