Foreign National Employee Information

The Pennsylvania State University Payroll office requires forms and documents for all Non-U.S. Citizens and Non-U.S. Permanent Residents  The Pennsylvania State University has launched SprinTax Calculus, a secure, cloud-based software product for Non-U.S. Citizen tax compliance.  Effective immediately, SprinTax Calculus will replace the university’s Alien Information Request Form for determining your U.S. tax residency and tax treaty eligibility.

  • DISCLAIMER

    The information contained within this website is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, tax, legal or accounting advice. All information in this site is provided "as is", with no guarantee of completeness, accuracy, timeliness or of the results obtained from the use of this information, and without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including, but not limited to warranties of performance and fitness for a particular purpose.

 

How to access SprinTax Calculus:

If you are a Non-U.S. citizen and are or will be receiving payments from the Pennsylvania State University, and you haven’t completed your payroll paperwork, please follow the steps below.

  1. Please contact [email protected] with the subject line reading “Requesting Access to SprinTax Calculus”. Please include your PSU ID and email address in the content of the email.
  2. You’ll get an email from a [email protected] with an activation link to create your account.
  3. On the SprinTax Calculus home page, click “Log in with your institution account”
  4. Select Pennsylvania State University from the drop-down menu and press Continue.

 

Other resources and tools:

Taxation (Federal and OASDI & Medicare)

Federal Income Tax:

Federal Income Tax is withheld according to the Federal graduated tax tables located in IRS Publication 15-T.  PSU, uses the Percentage Method for federal income tax Withholding, using the Annual calculation, in conjunction with the information provided by the employee on their IRS W-4.

 

OASDI & Medicare Tax Exemption by Visas:

OASDI & Medicare Taxes are based on your US residency status for Federal Tax purposes  Refer to the IRS Substantial Presence Test for complete instructions to determine US residency status. Completing the required payroll paperwork through the SprinTax software will also help to identify if these tax exemptions apply to you.

  • F-1 & J-1 Students that are considered Non-U.S. Citizens for US Federal Tax purposes, the OASDI & Medicare Taxes are not withheld for five calendar years or any part of five calendar years beginning with their very first date of arrival on a F or J visa into the USA (NRA Rule 3121(b)(19)).  When the student reaches the sixth year, this tax will be withheld (unless they meet the criteria for the student exemption that became effective July 1, 2001 - Student Rule 3121(b)(10)).

To determine when the OASDI & Medicare Tax will begin to be withheld, you need to know the month and year the person first entered the U.S. on a F or J  student visa. Note: If the individual was in the U.S. for one day of a calendar year, that entry day will count as an entire calendar year.

Example: Enter U.S. December 20, 2017 on an F- or J-1 student visa.  The first tax year would be 2017. Assuming the F-1/J-1 student  is present in the USA for one day in the second year 2018, third year 2019, fourth year 2020 the fifth and the last year of exemption would be 2021. Therefore, beginning with January 2022 the OASDI & Medicare Tax would be withheld.

  • J-1 Non-Students (i.e. Research Scholars, Professors, Specialists) that are considered Non-U.S. Citizens for US Federal Tax purposes, arriving in the USA for the first time, the OASDI & Medicare Taxes are not withheld for two calendar years or any part of two calendar years beginning with the very first date of arrival to the U.S.   
  • Note: If the individual was in the U.S. for one day of a calendar year, that entry day will count as an entire calendar year. When the individual remains in the U.S. for their third year they will begin to have this tax withheld. 

Example: Enter U.S. for the first time on October 20, 2019.The first calendar year would be 2019 and the second calendar year would be 2020. Therefore, beginning with January 2021 the OASDI & Medicare Tax would be withheld. 

*NOTE:

  • *J-1 Non-Student visa holders have a '6 year look-back-period' to determine if the person has been in the U.S. with an exempt-year status. Begin with the year prior to the current year and determine the 6 years to look-back.

From the example above:  The person is arriving in the US for the very first time in 2019,(has never been to the USA) therefore the 6 year look back period is 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013  would not have any Exempt year history.  Beginning 2020 the 6 year look back period would have one Exempt year (2109) allowing for 2020 to be the 2nd Exempt year.  Beginning Jan. 2021 the 6 year look back period would have 2 Exempt years, making 2021 Non-exempt and eligible to have OASDI(FICA)/MEDI Taxes withheld.