International Tax Compliance

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GLACIER - International Tax Compliance Software

The University of Arkansas uses a third party system, GLACIER, provided by Arctic International, LLC, to assist with nonresident alien tax compliance.

To determine tax residency, non-U.S. citizens (excluding Permanent Residents, DACA recipients, and asylees) are required to use GLACIER, the university’s international tax compliance software, which collects information about an individual's immigration status, visa, country of residency, and history of presence in the United States. To properly pay and tax individuals, the following determinations must be made:

  • residency tax status (Nonresident or Resident Alien for U.S. tax purposes),
  • eligibility to claim a tax treaty exemption (based on country of residence) and/or
  • nonresident OASDI (Social Security) and Medicare tax exemption.

Upon completion of the required data within GLACIER, all system-generated forms and copies of immigration documents must be signed and submitted to the NRA Tax Coordinator in order to withhold and report the appropriate taxes from any payments issued.

All non-U.S. citizens (excluding permanent residents, DACA recipients, and asylees) receiving payments from UAF are required to use GLACIER. Employees who need to create a GLACIER record will be programmatically identified based on their I-9 (Employment Eligibility Verification) or self-reported citizenship status.

Individuals identified as needing a GLACIER record will receive an email from NRAtax@uark.edu notifying them of this requirement and will be provided access information to log in to the GLACIER website using a temporary User ID and temporary password.  A permanent U.S. Social Security Number is not required for an individual to complete their GLACIER record.

Upon initial login, the user will be able to create their own user ID and password which may be used to access their GLACIER record for the duration of their payment relationship with the university. If a user forgets their login, they may simply click Forgot Login to reset their password.

Users will be guided screen by screen to create their individual record. After an individual provides the required information to complete their record GLACIER reviews tax withholding rates and possible tax treaty exemptions and will generate all applicable forms. 

All GLACIER generated forms must be certified and signed electronically in GLACIER and submitted to the NRA Tax Coordinator along with copies of the immigration documents indicated on the Tax Summary Report page. Forms should not be sent via email, as they contain sensitive data. GLACIER documents can be submitted online through a secure BOX link provided.

Upon submission, the individual's forms will be reviewed by the NRA Tax Coordinator so that the correct tax calculation and exemptions will be applied to the individual’s payments. Any tax treaty documents (Form 8233 and attachments) will be submitted to the IRS after approval.

As a reminder, a user’s individual record is maintained throughout the payment relationship with the university. It is required that users update GLACIER with any changes to ensure correct tax rates are applied. These may include but aren’t limited to:

  • receipt of SSN or ITIN
  • immigration status change
  • change in expected departure
  • change in contact information

Each year, all employees who are eligible to continue claiming a tax treaty exemption in the upcoming tax year are required to submit a new Form 8233 and tax treaty attachments, as well as an updated Tax Summary Report. Emails to the impacted employees will be sent by NRA Tax Compliance in November, notifying them to log back in to GLACIER to update their records and print new forms for the upcoming year.

 

Tax treaty benefits for non-student compensation are typically not limited to a dollar amount, but are limited by a specific number of years. Some countries have retroactive clauses attached to treaties, resulting in the treaty benefit being lost if the treaty time limit is exceeded. Before deciding to abide by the treaty, the limits of the treaty should be carefully weighed against the personal time committed to the employer.