Publication 515 |
2000 Tax Year |
This section explains how to determine if a payment is subject to
NRA withholding.
A payment is subject to NRA withholding if it is from sources
within the United States, and it is either:
- Fixed or determinable annual or periodical (FDAP) income,
or
- Certain gains from the disposition of timber, coal and iron
ore or from the sale or exchange of patents, copyrights, and similar
intangible property.
In addition, a payment is subject to NRA withholding if withholding
is specifically required, even though it may not constitute U.S.
source income or FDAP income. For example, corporate distributions may
be subject to NRA withholding even though a portion of the
distribution may be a return of capital or capital gain not otherwise
subject to NRA withholding.
Amounts not subject to NRA withholding.
The following amounts are not subject to NRA withholding.
- Portfolio interest on bearer obligations or foreign-targeted
registered obligations if those obligations meet certain requirements.
See Interest, later.
- Bank deposit interest that is not effectively connected with
the conduct of a U.S. trade or business. See Interest,
later.
- Original issue discount on obligations payable 183 days or
less from the date of original issue. See Original Issue
Discount, later.
- Nonbusiness gambling income of a nonresident alien playing
blackjack, baccarat, craps, roulette, or big-6 wheel in the United
States. See Gambling Winnings, later.
- Amounts paid as part of the purchase price of an obligation
sold between interest payment dates. See Interest,
later.
- Original issue discount paid on the sale of an obligation
other than a redemption. See Original Issue Discount,
later.
- Insurance premiums paid on a contract issued by a foreign
insurer.
Source of Income
Generally, income is from U.S. sources if it is paid by domestic
corporations, U.S. citizens or resident aliens, or entities formed
under the laws of the United States or a state. Income is also from
U.S. sources if the property that produces the income is located in
the United States or the services for which the income is paid were
performed in the United States. A payment is treated as being from
sources within the United States if the source of the payment cannot
be determined at the time of payment, such as fees for personal
services paid before the services have been performed. In this
situation, you are required to withhold the amount necessary to assure
that the tax withheld will not be less than 30% of U.S. source income.
In the alternative, you may make a reasonable estimate of the amount
from U.S. sources and put a corresponding portion of the amount due in
escrow until the amount from U.S. sources can be determined, at which
time withholding becomes due. Other source rules are summarized in
Chart B and explained in detail in the separate discussions
under Withholding on Specific Income, later.
Chart B. Summary of Source Rules for FDAP Income
Personal service income.
If the income is for personal services performed in the United
States, it is from U.S. sources. The place where the services are
performed determines the source of the income, regardless of where the
contract was made, the place of payment, or the residence of the
payer.
However, under certain circumstances, payment for personal services
performed in the United States is not considered income from sources
within the United States. For more information on this exception, see
the discussion, Pay for dependent personal services under
Pay for Personal Services Performed, later.
If the income is for personal services performed partly in the
United States and partly outside the United States, you must make an
accurate allocation of income for services performed in the United
States. In most cases, you make this allocation on a time basis. That
is, U.S. source income is the amount that results from multiplying the
total amount of pay by the following fraction:
fraction
Example.
Jean Blanc, a citizen and resident of Canada, is employed as a
professional hockey player by a U.S. hockey club. Under Jean's
contract, he received $98,500 for 242 days of play during the year.
This includes days spent at pre-season training camp, days during the
regular season, and playoff game days. Of the 242 days, 194 days were
spent performing services in the United States and 48 days performing
services in Canada. The amount of U.S. source income is $78,963 ((194
x 242) x $98,500).
Territorial limits.
Wages received for services rendered inside the territorial limits
of the United States and wages of an alien seaman earned on a voyage
along the coast of the United States are regarded as from sources in
the United States. Wages or salaries for personal services performed
in a mine or on an oil or gas well located or being developed on the
continental shelf of the United States are treated as from sources in
the United States.
Income from the performance of services directly related to the use
of a vessel or aircraft is treated as derived entirely from sources in
the United States if the use begins and ends in the United States.
This income is subject to NRA withholding if it is not effectively
connected with a U.S. trade or business. If the use either begins or
ends in the United States, see Transportation income,
later.
Crew members.
Income from the performance of services by a nonresident alien in
connection with the individual's temporary presence in the United
States as a regular member of the crew of a foreign vessel engaged in
transportation between the United States and a foreign country or a
U.S. possession is not income from U.S. sources.
Scholarships, fellowships, and grants.
Scholarships, fellowships, and grants are sourced according to the
residence of the payer. Those made by entities created or domiciled in
the United States are generally treated as income from sources within
the United States. However, see Activities outside the United
States, next. Those made by entities created or domiciled in a
foreign country are treated as income from foreign sources.
Activities outside the United States.
A scholarship, fellowship, grant, targeted grant, or an achievement
award received by a nonresident alien for activities conducted outside
the United States is treated as foreign source income.
Pension payments.
To source pension payments accurately, you must determine the
portion of the distribution that constitutes the compensation element
(employer contributions) and the portion that constitutes the earnings
element (the investment income).
The compensation element is sourced the same as compensation from
the performance of personal services. The portion attributable to
services performed in the United States is U.S. source income, and the
portion attributable to services performed outside the United States
is foreign source income.
The earnings portion of a pension payment is U.S. source income if
the trust is a U.S. trust.
Fixed or Determinable Annual or Periodical Income
FDAP income is all income except:
- Gains derived from the sale of real or personal property
(including market discount and option premiums but not including
original issue discount), and
- Items of income excluded from gross income without regard to
the U.S. or foreign status of the owner of the income, such as
tax-exempt municipal bond interest and qualified scholarship
income.
The following items are examples of FDAP income.
- Compensation for personal services.
- Dividends.
- Interest.
- Original issue discount.
- Pensions and annuities.
- Alimony.
- Real property income, such as rents, other than gains from
the sale of real property.
- Royalties.
- Scholarships and fellowship grants.
- Other grants, prizes and awards.
- A sales commission paid or credited monthly.
- A commission paid for a single transaction.
- The distributable net income of an estate or trust that is
FDAP income and that must be distributed currently, or has been paid
or credited during the tax year, to a nonresident alien
beneficiary.
- A distribution from a partnership that is FDAP income, or
such an amount that, although not actually distributed, is includible
in the gross income of a foreign partner.
- Taxes, mortgage interest, or insurance premiums paid to or
for the account of, a nonresident alien landlord by a tenant under the
terms of a lease.
- Prizes awarded to nonresident alien artists for pictures
exhibited in the United States.
- Purses paid to nonresident alien boxers for prize fights in
the United States.
- Prizes awarded to nonresident alien professional golfers in
golfing tournaments in the United States.
Installment payments.
Income can be FDAP income whether it is paid in a series of
repeated payments or in a single lump sum. For example, $5,000 in
royalty income would be FDAP income whether paid in 10 payments of
$500 each or in one payment of $5,000.
Insurance proceeds.
Income derived by an insured nonresident alien from U.S. sources
upon the surrender of, or at the maturity of, a life insurance policy,
is FDAP income and is subject to NRA withholding. The proceeds are
income to the extent they exceed the cost of the policy.
However, certain payments received under a life insurance contract
on the life of a terminally or chronically ill individual before death
(accelerated death benefits) may not be subject to tax. This also
applies to certain payments received for the sale or assignment of any
portion of the death benefit under contract to a viatical settlement
provider. See Publication 525,
Taxable and Nontaxable Income,
for more information.
Racing purses.
Racing purses are FDAP income and racetrack operators must withhold
30% on any purse paid to a nonresident alien racehorse owner in the
absence of definite information contained in a statement filed
together with a Form W-8BEN that the owner has not raced, or
does not intend to enter, a horse in another race in the United States
during the tax year. If available information indicates that the
racehorse owner has raced a horse in another race in the United States
during the tax year, then the statement and Form W-8BEN filed
for that year are ineffective. The owner may be exempt from
withholding of tax at 30% on the purses if the owner gives you Form
W-8ECI, which provides that the income is effectively connected with
the conduct of a U.S. trade or business and that the income is
includible in the owner's gross income.
Covenant not to compete.
Payment received for a promise not to compete is FDAP income. Its
source is the place where the promisor forfeited his or her right to
act. Amounts paid to a nonresident alien for his or her promise not to
compete in the United States are subject to NRA withholding.
Signing on.
A fee paid to a professional athlete, such as a soccer or hockey
player for "signing on" with the effect of preventing any other
team from negotiating with the player and preventing the player from
negotiating with any other team is pay for a covenant not to compete.
The source is the place where the right to play is given up. If a
league is made up of both foreign and U.S. teams, the fee is from
sources partly in and partly outside the United States. The part of
the fee that is from U.S. sources is subject to NRA withholding. If
there is no reasonable basis for an allocation of the fee, the entire
sign-on fee is income from the United States and is subject to NRA
withholding.
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