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If you are a U.S. citizen or U.S. permanent resident, no federal taxes will be withheld automatically from your payments. You have the option, however, of having federal taxes withheld by completing a “Fellowship Withholding Declaration.” You may complete this form with your other SURF acceptance forms, or you may wait, discuss it with your parents, and turn it in later. (If you want to have the withholding effective for your first fellowship payment, you must submit the form to Student-Faculty Programs no later than the week prior to the start of SURF.)
If you are a U.S. citizen or U.S. permanent resident, but are considered a California non-resident for tax purposes, the information in the paragraph above applies for federal taxes, but there is a mandatory 7% deduction for state taxes, which will be withheld automatically.
If you are an international student, your tax status will be determined by the information you provide on the New International Student Data Sheet. Based on this information, you may qualify for a federal tax treaty exemption. If you qualify for this exemption, we will provide you with a Form W8BEN that you must sign to ensure that no federal taxes will be withheld from your fellowship distributions. If you do not qualify for the federal tax treaty exemption, there is a mandatory deduction of 14% for federal taxes. For all state non-residents, there is also a mandatory 7% California state tax deduction. Tax treaties only exempt federal taxes, not state taxes.
Any questions concerning optional withholding should be directed to Ms. Carole Wells, SURF payroll coordinator, at carole.wells@caltech.edu or (626) 395-4991.
