Scholarships and Fellowships

International Tax Information for Nonresident Aliens

The table below indicates which countries have tax treaties with the United States in which some, or all, of scholarship and/or fellowship amounts are tax exempt, provided certain conditions are met.

If a student’s country of residence is listed in the table below and the criteria in Column B and Column C are met, scholarship and/or fellowship amounts qualify for a tax exemption and the following tax form needs to be completed.

Form W-8BEN 8233: Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Withholding.

If a country of residence does not appear in the table below, Form W-8BEN is not necessary because a tax treaty benefit does not exist.

Description of Table Columns

Column A: Student’s country of permanent citizenship.

Column B: Maximum length of exemption.
After the maximum number of years in the United States has been reached, the individual is subject to federal tax withholding.

EXAMPLE: A student from Indonesia has been in the United States for six years and has a $5,000 scholarship. The $5,000 scholarship is taxable because the student has been in the United States over the five-year limit.

Column C: Maximum scholarship/fellowship amount for exemption.
The only country that has a limit on the scholarship/fellowship amount is if it’s a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States* and the limit is $10,000. Anything over $10,000 is taxable.

Column D: The tax treaty article citation.

Tax Treaty Table for Scholarship/Fellowship Recipients
Column A
Country of
Residence
Column B
Maximum Presence
in USA
Column C
Maximum
Compensation
Column D
Treaty Article
Citation

Bangladesh

No Limit

No limit

21(2)

China, People’s Republic

No limit

No limit

20(b)

Commonwealth of IS*

5 years

Limited

VI(1)

Cyprus

5 years

No limit

21(1)

Czech Republic

5 years

No limit

21(1)

Egypt

5 years

No limit

23(1)

Estonia

5 years

No limit

20(1)

France†

5 years

No limit

21(1)

Germany

No limit

No limit

20(3)

Iceland

5 years

No limit

19(1)

Indonesia

5 years

No limit

19(1)

Israel

5 years

No limit

24(1)

Kazakhstan†

5 years

No limit

19

Korea, South

5 years

No limit

21(1)

Latvia

5 years

No limit

20(1)

Lithuania

5 years

No limit

20(1)

Morocco

5 years

No limit

18

Netherlands†

3 years

No limit

22(2)

Norway

5 years

No limit

16(1)

Philippines

5 years

No limit

22(1)

Poland

5 years

No limit

18(1)

Portugal

5 years

No limit

23(1)

Romania

5 years

No limit

20(1)

Russia†

5 years

No limit

18

Slovak Republic

5 years

No limit

21(1)

Slovenia†

5 years

No limit

20(1)

Spain

5 years

No limit

22(1)

Thailand

5 years

No limit

22(1)

Trinidad and Tobago

5 years

No limit

19(1)

Tunisia†

5 years

No limit

20

Ukraine†

5 years

No limit

20

Venezuela†

5 years

No limit

21(1)

* Note: This represents the USSR income tax treaty, which includes Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

† Listed below are countries in which there are stipulations to the exemption.

France: The combined period of benefits under Articles 20 and 21(1) cannot exceed five years.

Kazakhstan: The five-year limit pertains only to training and research. Exemption does not apply if during the immediately preceding period, the individual claimed the benefits of Article 18(1).

Netherlands: Exemption does not apply if during the immediately preceding period, the individual claimed the benefits of Article 21.

Russia: The five-year limit pertains only to training and research.

Slovenia: Applies to any additional period that a full-time student needs to complete the educational requirements as a candidate for a postgraduate or professional degree from a recognized educational institution.

Tunisia: Applies only to a full-time student or trainee.

Ukraine: The five-year limit pertains only to training and research. Exemption does not apply if during the immediately preceding period, the individual claimed the benefits of Article 18(1).

Venezuela: Applies to any additional period that a full-time student needs to complete the educational requirements as a candidate for a postgraduate or professional degree from a recognized educational institution.