International employees

To determine tax status and eligibility for a tax treaty, all non-U.S. citizens who receive compensation, scholarships or fellowships from the University must first provide the required information and complete the necessary forms using GLACIER (Artic International LLC), the University’s secure Online Tax (withholding) Compliance System. This information must be provided prior to any payment so that the correct tax withholding and reporting decisions are made; failure to do so may result in an inaccurate tax withholding or taxes owed when filing your taxes. See Get Started below to begin.

About taxes and tax treaties

As a University employee the income an employee earns is taxable under both federal and state statute. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the U.S. government tax authority, requires the University to collect information from non-U.S. citizens, and non-permanent resident aliens, to determine tax residency, rate of tax withholding, and reporting requirements. Certain taxable payments made by the University to an international employee may be exempt from U.S. tax based on an income tax treaty entered into between the U.S. and the employee's country. The existence of a tax treaty does not automatically ensure an exemption from taxation; rather, the employee must satisfy the requirements for the exemption set forth in the tax treaty.  For instance an employee is not eligible for a tax treaty until they have a social security number.

Complete your record in GLACIER

1. Access to GLACIER requires a user account. To obtain a user account, a request should be submitted through AskHR. The request should include the following information:
                  Last Name (legal):
                  First Name (legal):
                  Middle Name:
                  UMass email – if you have one:
                  Personal email address:
                  Campus ID Number – if you have one:
    
2. The employee will receive an email from support [at] online-tax [dot] net (support[at]online-tax[dot]net) with a temporary User ID and temporary password, after the user account is created.
3. Log into GLACIER using the temporary User ID and Password provided in the email from support [at] online-tax [dot] net (support[at]online-tax[dot]net).
4. Select a new User ID and Password to continue.
5. Read the User Agreement.
6. Check the box to allow University of Massachusetts to provide tax Form 1042‐S electronically.  If accepted – it will be available within GLACIER by the deadline each year. 
7. Click “I Accept”.
8. Select "Create/update/view my Individual Record." 
9. Click next and follow the online process to complete the record.
10. For detailed instructions on completing your GLACIER Profile, go to:  https://www.umassp.edu/nonresident-alien-taxation  scroll down to find the header of “Employees” and click on “Create a GLACIER Record”.  
11. View, print and sign/date the Tax Summary Report and Required Forms created by GLACIER.
12. Follow the instructions to: Click “Next” to properly exit GLACIER, and Save the record. Click Exit. It is important to log out of the program completely.

Deliver your tax summary report to Human Resources

Finally the signed Tax Summary Report, Required Forms and Required Document Copies should be delivered either in-person (recommended) or by mail to the Employee Service Center in Human Resources. The forms should not be emailed. Review the Tax Summary Report for a complete list of Required Forms and Required Document Copies. Required document copies typically include I‐20 (or DS-2019 for J-Status), Form I-94 and Visa Stamp/Sticker. 

1042-S Forms

Tax Treaties cannot be processed retroactively. If the updated GLACIER packet is submitted to HR; for a nonresident alien this would include Form 8233-2022  [a new packet must be submitted for each calendar year]; for a Resident Alien, this would include Form W-9.   All wages exempted from taxes under the treaty will be reported on a 1042-S form. Taxable wages (wages earned above your maximum treaty amount - if applicable) will be reported on the employee's W-2 form. 

If an employee receives payments under a tax treaty or a vendor payment or certain scholarships and awards, the employee may receive one or more 1042-S forms. The 1042-S forms are distributed separately from the W-2 forms. You will need to log into GLACIER to download your 1042-S forms (if applicable).  They will be available by the date required by the IRS which is usually March 15.