Some Typical Tax 
Treaty Benefits(p57)

The following paragraphs briefly explain the exemptions that are available under tax treaties for personal services income, remittances, scholarships, fellowships, and capital gain income. The conditions for claiming the exemptions vary under each tax treaty. For more information about the conditions under a particular tax treaty, see Publication 901. Or, you may download the complete text of most U.S. tax treaties at IRS.gov. Technical explanations for many of those treaties are also available at that site.

Tax treaty benefits also cover income such as dividends, interest, rentals, royalties, pensions, and annuities. These types of income may be exempt from U.S. tax or may be subject to a reduced rate of tax. For more information, see Publication 901 or the applicable tax treaty.

Nonresident aliens from treaty countries who are in the United States for a short stay and also meet certain other requirements may be exempt from tax on their compensation received for personal services performed in the United States. Many tax treaties require that the nonresident alien claiming this exemption be present in the United States for a total of not more than 183 days during the tax year. Other tax treaties specify different periods of maximum presence in the United States, such as 180 days or 90 days. Spending part of a day in the United States counts as a day of presence.

Tax treaties may also require that:

• The compensation cannot be more than a specific amount (frequently $3,000), and
• The individual have a foreign employer; that is, an individual, corporation, or entity of a foreign country.

Under many income tax treaties, nonresident alien teachers or professors who temporarily visit the United States for the primary purpose of teaching at a university or other accredited educational institution are not subject to U.S. income tax on compensation received for teaching for the first 2 or 3 years after their arrival in the United States. Many treaties also provide an exemption for engaging in research.

Generally, the teacher or professor must be in the United States primarily to teach, lecture, instruct, or engage in research. A substantial part of that person's time must be devoted to those duties. The normal duties of a teacher or professor include not only formal classroom work involving regularly scheduled lectures, demonstrations, or other student-participation activities, but also the less formal method of presenting ideas in seminars or other informal groups and in joint efforts in the laboratory.

If you entered the United States as a nonresident alien, but are now a resident alien, the treaty exemption may still apply. See Students, Apprentices, Trainees, Teachers, Professors, and Researchers Who Became Resident Aliens later under Resident Aliens.

All treaties have provisions for the exemption of income earned by certain employees of foreign governments. However, a difference exists among treaties as to who qualifies for this benefit. Under many treaties, aliens admitted to the United States for permanent residence do not qualify. Under most treaties, aliens who are not nationals or subjects of the foreign country do not qualify. Employees of foreign governments should read the pertinent treaty carefully to determine whether they qualify for benefits. Chapter 10 of this publication also has information for employees of foreign governments.

Under some income tax treaties, students, apprentices, and trainees are exempt from tax on remittances received from abroad for study and maintenance. Also, under some treaties, scholarship and fellowship grants, and a limited amount of compensation received by students, apprentices, and trainees may be exempt from tax.

If you entered the United States as a nonresident alien, but are now a resident alien, the treaty exemption may still apply. See Students, Apprentices, Trainees, Teachers, Professors, and Researchers Who Became Resident Aliens, later, under Resident Aliens.

Most treaties provide for the exemption of gains from the sale or exchange of personal property. Generally, gains from the sale or exchange of real property located in the United States are taxable.

Resident aliens may qualify for tax treaty benefits in the situations discussed below.

In certain circumstances, individuals who are treated as residents of the United States under an income tax treaty (after application of the so-called "tie-breaker" rule) will be entitled to treaty benefits. (The "tie-breaker" rule is explained in chapter 1 under Effect of Tax Treaties.) If this applies to you, you generally will not need to file a Form 8833 for the income for which treaty benefits are claimed. This is because the income will typically be of a category for which disclosure on a Form 8833 is waived. See Reporting Treaty Benefits Claimed.

In most cases, you also will not need to report the income on your Form 1040 because the income will be exempt from U.S. tax under the treaty. However, if the income has been reported as taxable income on a Form W-2, Form 1042-S, Form 1099, or other information return, you should report it on the appropriate line of Form 1040 (for example, line 7 in the case of wages or salaries). Enter the amount for which treaty benefits are claimed in parentheses on Form 1040, line 21. Next to the amount write "Exempt income," the name of the treaty country, and the treaty article that provides the exemption. On Form 1040, subtract this amount from your income to arrive at total income on Form 1040, line 22.

Also follow the above procedure for income that is subject to a reduced rate of tax, instead of an exemption, under the treaty. Attach a statement to Form 1040 showing a computation of the tax at the reduced rate, the name of the treaty country, and the treaty article that provides for the reduced tax rate. Include this tax on Form 1040, line 60. On the dotted line next to line 60, write "Tax from attached statement" and the amount of the tax.

Jacques Dubois, who is a resident of the United States under Article 4 of the U.S.-France income tax treaty, receives French social security benefits. Under Article 18(1) of the treaty, French social security benefits are not taxable by the United States. Mr. Dubois is not required to file a Form 8833 for his French social security benefits or report the benefits on Form 1040.

Under income tax treaties with Canada and Germany, if a U.S. resident receives social security benefits from Canada or Germany, those benefits are treated for U.S. income tax purposes as if they were received under the social security legislation of the United States. If you receive social security benefits from Canada or Germany, include them on line 1 of your Social Security Benefits Worksheet for purposes of determining the taxable amount to be reported on Form 1040, line 20b or Form 1040A, line 14b. You are not required to file a Form 8833 for those benefits.

Generally, you must be a nonresident alien student, apprentice, trainee, teacher, professor, or researcher in order to claim a tax treaty exemption for remittances from abroad for study and maintenance in the United States, for scholarship, fellowship, and research grants, and for wages or other personal service compensation. Once you become a resident alien, you generally can no longer claim a tax treaty exemption for this income.

However, if you entered the United States as a nonresident alien, but you are now a resident alien for U.S. tax purposes, the treaty exemption will continue to apply if the tax treaty's saving clause (explained later) provides an exception for it and you otherwise meet the requirements for the treaty exemption (including any time limit, explained later). This is true even if you are a nonresident alien electing to file a joint return as explained in chapter 1.

Some exceptions to the saving clause apply to all resident aliens (for example, under the U.S.-People's Republic of China treaty); others apply only to resident aliens who are not lawful permanent residents of the United States (green card holders).

If you qualify under an exception to the treaty's saving clause, you can avoid income tax withholding by giving the payor a Form W-9 with the statement required by the Form W-9 instructions.

Most tax treaties have a saving clause. A saving clause preserves or "saves" the right of each country to tax its own residents as if no tax treaty were in effect. Thus, once you become a resident alien of the United States, you generally lose any tax treaty benefits that relate to your income. However, many tax treaties have an exception to the saving clause, which may allow you to continue to claim certain treaty benefits when you become a resident alien. Read the treaty to find out if it has a saving clause and an exception to it.

Many treaties limit the number of years you can claim a treaty exemption. For students, apprentices, and trainees, the limit is usually 4–5 years; for teachers, professors, and researchers, the limit is usually 2–3 years. Once you reach this limit, you can no longer claim the treaty exemption. See the treaty or Publication 901 for the time limits that apply.

In most cases, you also will not need to report the income on your Form 1040 because the income will be exempt from U.S. tax under the treaty. However, if the income has been reported as taxable income on a Form W-2, Form 1042-S, Form 1099, or other information return, you should report it on the appropriate line of Form 1040 (for example, line 7 in the case of wages, salaries, scholarships, or fellowships). Enter the amount for which treaty benefits are claimed in parentheses on Form 1040, line 21. Next to the amount write "Exempt income," the name of the treaty country, and the treaty article that provides the exemption. On Form 1040, subtract this amount from your income to arrive at total income on Form 1040, line 22.

Mr. Yu, a citizen of the People's Republic of China, entered the United States as a nonresident alien student on January 1, 2006. He remained a nonresident alien through 2010 and was able to exclude his scholarship from U.S. tax in those years under Article 20 of the U.S.-People's Republic of China income tax treaty. On January 1, 2011, he became a resident alien under the substantial presence test because his stay in the United States exceeded 5 years. Even though Mr. Yu is now a resident alien, the provisions of Article 20 still apply because of the exception to the saving clause in paragraph 2 of the Protocol to the U.S.-People's Republic of China treaty dated April 30, 1984. Mr. Yu should submit Form W-9 and the required statement to the payor.