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Tax Lesson 39 - Withholding of Tax on Nonresident Aliens  

You need to consider withholding of tax if you pay foreign persons, including nonresident aliens, foreign corporations, foreign partnerships, foreign trusts, foreign estates, foreign governments, and international organizations. In this topic we will review tax issues regarding the types of income subject to tax withholding and the information returns and filing obligations of the individuals in charge of withholding these taxes.

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You will need IRS Publication 515 to complete this topic.

1. Generally, a foreign person is subject to U.S. tax on his or her U.S. source income. Most types of U.S. source income received by a foreign person are subject to U.S. tax of

A. 15%.
B. 20%.
C. 30%.
D. 38%.

2. This is the person responsible for withholding on payments made to a foreign person. However, if this person can reliably associate the payment with documentation from a U.S. person, he or she is not required to withhold.

A. A withholding agent.
B. Person subject to NRA.
C. Foreign intermediary.
D. Beneficial owners.

3. You are a withholding agent

A. If you are a U.S. or foreign person that has control, receipt, custody, disposal, or payment of any item of income of a foreign person that is subject to withholding.
B. Even if there is no requirement to withhold from a payment.
C. Even if another person has withheld the required amount from a payment.
D. Any of the above.

4. If the determination of the source of income or the amount subject to tax depends on facts that are not known at the time of payment, you must withhold an amount sufficient to ensure that at least 30% of the amount subsequently determined to be subject to withholding is withheld. Sometimes, you must withhold more than 30% of the total amount paid.

True False

5. An exception form reporting may apply to individuals who are not required to withhold from a payment and who do not make the payment in the course of their trade or business. If required to withhold, you must report payments subject to NRA withholding on

A. Form 1042-S and to file a tax return on Form 1042.
B. Form 1040-S and to file a tax return on Form 1040.
C. Form 1040NR-S and to file a tax return on Form 1040NR.
D. None of the above.

6. If you make a payment to a U.S. person and you have actual knowledge that the U.S. person is receiving the payment as an agent of a foreign person, you

A. Must treat the payment as made to a U.S. person.
B. Must treat the payment as made to the foreign person.
C. Must send by mail petitioning the U.S. person to furnish the foreign person identifying information.
D. None of the above.

7. If the payment is not subject to NRA withholding (for example, gross proceeds from the sale of securities), you must treat the payment as made to a U.S. person and not as a payment to a foreign person.

True False

8. The payees of payments (other than income effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business) made to a foreign flow-through entity are the owners or beneficiaries of the flow-through entity. The following is a flow-through entity.

A. A partnership (other than a withholding foreign partnership).
B. A foreign simple or foreign granter trust (other than a withholding foreign trust).
C. A fiscally transparent entity receiving income for which treaty benefits are claimed.
D. All of the above.

9. A trust is foreign unless it meets the following test.

A. A court within the United States is able to exercise primary supervision over the administration of the trust.
B. One or more U.S. persons have the authority to control all substantial decisions of the trust.
C. Both A and B above.
D. Either A or B above.

10. A resident alien in an individual that is not a citizen or national of the United States and who meets either the green card test or the substantial presence test for the calendar year. Under the substantial presence test, the individual must be physically present in the United States on

A. At least 31 days during the current calendar year.
B. At least 183 days during the current year and the 2 preceding year, counting all the days of physical presence in the current year, but only 1/3 the number of days of presence in the first preceding year, and only 1/6 the number of days in the second preceding year.
C. Both A and B above.
D. Either A or B above.

11. A bona fide resident of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), or American Samoa who is not a U.S. citizen or a U.S. national is treated as a nonresident alien for the withholding rules. A bona fide resident of a possession is someone who

A. Meets the presence test.
B. Does not have a tax home outside the possession.
C. Does not have a closer connection to the U.S., or to a foreign country than to the possession.
D. All of the above.

12. Generally, you must withhold 30% from the gross amount paid to a foreign payee unless you can reliably associate the payment with valid documentation that establishes

A. The payee is a U.S. person.
B. The payee is a foreign person that is the beneficial owner of the income and is entitled to a reduced rate of withholding.
C. Either A or B above.
D. The payee is a foreign person.

13. Form W-8BEN, Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding is used by a foreign person to

A. Establish foreign status.
B. Claim that such person is the beneficial owner of the income for which the form is being furnished or a partner in a partnership subject to section 1446 withholding.
C. Claim a reduced rate of, or exemption from withholding under an income tax treaty.
D. All of the above.

14. Form W-8ECI, Certificate of Foreign Person's Claim that Income is Effectively Connected with the Conduct of a Trade or Business in the United States is used by a foreign person for the following, except:

A. To establish foreign status.
B. To claim that the income is effectively connected with the conduct of a trade or business in the United States.
C. To claim a reduced rate of, or exemption from, withholding under an income tax treaty.
D. To claim that such person is the beneficial owner of the income for which the form is being furnished.

15. You have reason to know that a Form W-8 provided by a direct account holder that is a foreign person is unreliable or incorrect if

A. The Form W-8 is incomplete with respect to any item on the form that is relevant to the claims made by the account holder.
B. The Form W-8 contains any information that is inconsistent with the account holder's claim.
C. The Form W-8 lacks information necessary to establish entitlement to a reduced rate of withholding, if a reduced rate is claimed or you have information not contained on the form that is inconsistent with the claims made on the form.
D. Any of the above.

16. A financial institution that receives documentation from a payee through a nonqualified intermediary, a flow-through entity, or a U.S. branch of a foreign bank or insurance company subject to U.S. or state regulatory supervision has reason to know that the documentary evidence is unreliable or incorrect if a reasonably prudent person in the financial institution's position would question the claims made.

True False

17. A payment is subject to NRA withholding if it is from sources within the United States, and if it is a fixed or determinable annual or periodical (FDAP) income, or

A. Portfolio interest on bearer obligations or foreign-targeted registration obligations if those regulations meet certain requirements.
B. Insurance premiums paid on a contract issued by a foreign insurer.
C. Certain gains from the disposition of timber, coal, and iron core, or from the sale or exchange of patents, copyrights, and similar intangible property.
D. Bank deposit interest that is not effectively connected with the conduct of a U.S. trade or business.

18. The factor to be considered in establishing whether FDAP income and similar amounts are effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business include

A. Whether the income is from assets used in, or held for use in, the conduct of that trade or business.
B. Whether the activities of that trade or business were a material factor in the realization of the income.
C. Either A or B above.
D. Foreign person does not engage in trade or business in the United States.

19. Illegal aliens who are resident aliens and who receive income from performing dependent personal services are subject to the same reporting and withholding obligations which apply to U.S. citizens who receive the same kind of income.

True False

20. Every withholding agent, whether U.S. or foreign, must file Forms 1042 and 1042-S to report payments of amounts subject to NRA withholding unless an exception applies. Use Form 1042 and Form 1042-S to report tax withheld on

A. Wages, salaries, or other compensation reported on Form W-2.
B. Dispositions of U.S. real property interests by foreign persons.
C. Pensions, annuities, and certain other deferred income reported on Form 1099 and income, social security, and Medicare taxes on wages paid to a household employee reported on Schedule H (Form 1040).
D. None of the above.

 

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Revised: 11/22/17