Tax year 2026Checked October 30, 2026

How to fill out Form 8233 for a campus job, TA or RA pay, step by step (2027)

Eleven steps for an F-1 or J-1 student with a treaty wage exemption: your country's article and limit, the SSN, the Pub 519 statement, Parts I to IV line by line, the employer's 10-day wait, and the year-end W-2 and 1042-S.

By F1TaxReturn Tax Team. Published October 30, 2026. Facts checked against the sources below on October 30, 2026. 10 minute read.

In short

Form 8233 (Rev. September 2018) claims a treaty exemption from federal income tax withholding on your pay; you need a separate form for each tax year and each employer.
Attach your country's statement from Publication 519, Appendix A, and give payroll a nonresident Form W-4 for any pay above your treaty's limit.
Your employer accepts the form in Part IV, sends a copy to the IRS within 5 days, and must wait at least 10 days to see whether the IRS objects.
With Form 8233, the exempt pay is usually reported on Form 1042-S and left out of W-2 box 1. Your 2026 Form 1042-S is due by Monday, March 15, 2027.
On Form 1040-NR, the exempt pay goes on line 1k through Schedule OI item L; if W-2 box 1 already leaves it out, do not subtract it from line 1a again.

Contents, 14 sections

If a tax treaty exempts part of your pay as an F-1 or J-1 student, give your employer Form 8233 so federal income tax is not withheld from that part. You fill in Parts I to III, attach your country's statement from Publication 519, and give payroll a new form for each tax year.

How a treaty reaches your return is in how to claim tax treaty benefits, and the whole season in how to file US taxes as an international student. This guide explains the form with the Form 8233 instructions (Rev. December 2025).

Does your treaty exempt student pay, and how much?

Look up your country in the treaty table: this guide covers student articles, and Form 8233 helps here only if yours exempts pay for work in the US. Most set a yearly dollar limit, and some also a limit in years.

Three student articles and their yearly limits (Publication 519, 2025, Appendix A).
Country	Article	Yearly limit on exempt pay	Time limit
China	20(c)	$5,000	As long as reasonably needed to finish your education or training
South Korea	21(1)	$2,000	5 tax years, starting with the year you arrived
Germany	20(4)	$9,000, if it supplements your other funds	Four years, but IRS sources count them differently, and Publication 901 says a longer visit loses it for the whole visit. If you may stay longer, read the Germany guide and get advice before you claim

Check that you were a resident of the treaty country when you came to the US. For a student article, the instructions say you "generally only need to have been a resident" at, or just before, your entry.
If you came from India, stop here. Article 21(2) gives Indian students the standard deduction, not a wage exemption: you claim it on Form 1040-NR, and your employer need not add the extra nonresident withholding amount, as Notice 1392 says (India guide; W-4 guide).
If you work on OPT or STEM OPT, we found no IRS ruling on whether a student article covers that pay. Get advice from a tax professional before you claim it.

Key facts

Form: Form 8233 (Rev. September 2018), instructions Rev. December 2025
How often: A separate form for each tax year and each employer
Attach: Your country's statement from Pub 519, Appendix A
Pay above the treaty limit: Form W-4, filled in under Notice 1392
Employer's IRS wait: At least 10 days after it mails the form
Your employer sends your 2026 Form 1042-S by: Monday, March 15, 2027

For: F-1 and J-1 students and trainees who were residents of a treaty country with a student wage article when they came to the US, are nonresident aliens, and are starting or renewing campus, TA, RA or CPT pay for 2027.
Not for: Indian students (India's Article 21(2) is a standard deduction, claimed on Form 1040-NR), pay on OPT or STEM OPT (no IRS ruling we found settles whether a student article covers it), J-1 researchers and professors, and scholarships that are not pay for work (Form W-8BEN).

Do you have an SSN or ITIN for line 2?

Line 2 needs a US taxpayer identification number, and "in most cases, you must enter your SSN" (Form 8233 instructions). If you are still waiting for it, see item 1 below.

If you have applied but have no number yet, attach a copy of your completed Form SS-5 (for an SSN) or Form W-7 (for an ITIN) showing that you applied.
An ITIN is for a person who is not eligible for an SSN. The ITIN guide covers who that is.

Which statement do you attach from Publication 519?

Copy your country's statement from Publication 519, Appendix A, fill in its blanks and attach it to Form 8233. Line 10 of the instructions says students "must attach a statement", and Appendix A gives its format.

Find the heading for your country. Some statements are shared, such as "Korea, Norway, Poland, and Romania".
Fill in the blanks: usually the date of your last arrival in the US before you began study or training, and sometimes the name of your school.
If your country has no statement in Appendix A, Bangladesh for example, write one "in a format similar to those for other treaties" (Pub 519).

The China statement, for example, says you were a resident of China when you arrived and are in the US "solely for the purpose of my education or training". It claims no more than $5,000 for any tax year.

How do you fill in Part I?

Part I identifies you: name, taxpayer number, addresses, visa and dates. Above Part I, first write the calendar year the form covers, for example 2027.

For the entry date, your status and its end date, the instructions point to your I-94 record.

Form 8233 (Rev. September 2018), Part I.
Line	What to enter
1	Your name
2	Your SSN (or ITIN)
3	Your home country's tax number, if it gave you one
4	Your permanent address in the treaty country, not a P.O. box. If you no longer have one, the instructions let a student give a US address
5	Your US address, not a P.O. box
6	Your visa type, for example F-1 or J-1
7a and 7b	The country that issued your passport, and its number
8	The date you entered the US in your current status, from your I-94 record
9a and 9b	Your current status; its end date, or "DS" if the I-94 shows D/S
10	Check the box: you are a foreign student or trainee

How do you fill in Part II, lines 11 to 14?

Part II is the claim: what the work is, what you expect to be paid, which treaty and article, and how much of the pay is exempt. Fill it in for one employer and one tax year.

Line 11a: describe the work. The instructions' own examples include "part-time library assistant" and "part-time on-campus restaurant worker".
Line 11b: the total pay you expect from this employer for the year. An estimate is fine.
Line 12a: the treaty, for example "US-China income tax treaty". Line 12b: the article, for example "Article 20(c)".
Line 12c: the exempt amount. Write "All" only if all your pay from this employer is exempt; otherwise enter the exact dollar amount exempt from this employer's pay, for example $5,000, or your share of the limit if you split it between employers.
Line 12d: the country you were resident in when you entered the US.
Lines 13a to 13d: leave blank unless the same payer also gives you a scholarship that is not pay for work and you claim the treaty for it too.
Line 14: the facts behind the claim, for example "Resident of China on arrival; full-time PhD student; teaching assistantship; statement attached."

If you work for two employers, each gets its own Form 8233. The treaty's limit is per tax year, not per employer, so split it between the forms rather than claiming it twice.

How do you sign Part III?

Sign and date Part III yourself. Your signature certifies, under penalties of perjury, that you are not a US person and that you meet the treaty's residence rule.

For this form, a "U.S. person" is a US citizen or a resident alien. A student who has become a resident alien cannot sign it. Some treaties, China's among them, still apply to a resident who is studying within the time limit, claimed with Form W-9 and a statement (China guide).

What do you give payroll?

Give payroll the signed Form 8233, the Appendix A statement, and a Form W-4 for your pay above the treaty limit.

Form 8233 with the statement covers the exempt pay. The W-4 guide walks the Form W-4 for the rest.
The Form 8233 instructions say to use Form W-4 for pay you do not claim as exempt, filled in under Notice 1392. The current Notice (Rev. January 2020) still says not to complete a W-4 when you claim a treaty exemption, but its draft January 2027 revision matches the instructions. Follow the instructions: payroll needs a W-4 for the taxable part.

What does your employer do in Part IV, and why can your first paychecks be different?

Your employer reviews the form and, if it is satisfied, signs Part IV, gives you a copy and, within 5 days, sends a copy to the IRS. It must then wait at least 10 days after mailing to see whether the IRS objects.

The exemption covers payments "retroactive to the date of the first payment covered by Form 8233", even during the 10-day wait.
Ask payroll whether your first paychecks will have tax withheld during that wait.
The employer must refuse the form and withhold if it has reason to know a fact may be false or your eligibility "cannot be readily determined". If the IRS rejects the form, the employer should tell you, and you may give it a corrected one.

How do you check your pay stub?

Read the federal income tax line: exempt pay should have none withheld once payroll applies the form. Form 8233 does not touch Social Security or Medicare tax.

If tax is still taken from pay under your limit after the 10-day wait, ask payroll whether it accepted the form.
Nonresident alien students in F-1 or J-1 status generally owe no Social Security or Medicare tax on pay for work their status allows (IRS). If those lines show tax, see the FICA refund guide.

Where does the exempt pay show at year end, and how do you report it?

With Form 8233 in place, the exempt pay is usually on a Form 1042-S and left out of W-2 box 1, so you report it on line 1k only. Your employer should send your 2026 Form 1042-S by Monday, March 15, 2027.

On Form 1042-S, box 1 holds the income code: 18 for dependent personal services, 19 for teaching, or 20 for compensation during studying and training (2026 Form 1042-S instructions). Box 2 holds the gross amount reported, normally your exempt pay.
On Schedule OI (2025 form), item L, enter the country, the article, the months you claimed it in earlier tax years and this year's exempt amount.
Enter item L's total on Form 1040-NR line 1k (2025 form and 2026 draft). Line 1a is W-2 box 1, unchanged.
Attach the W-2 and the 1042-S to the front of Form 1040-NR.

Watch out

Do not subtract the exempt pay twice. If the 1042-S reports it, W-2 box 1 should already leave it out, so line 1a is box 1 unchanged. Subtract it from line 1a only if it is inside box 1, and then attach a statement as the 2025 Form 1040-NR instructions say.

If W-2 box 1 plus 1042-S box 2 comes to more than you were paid, ask payroll whether the exempt pay was reported twice.

If all your 2026 pay was exempt under the treaty, the regulations make your return due Tuesday, June 15, 2027; if any was taxable, Thursday, April 15, 2027 (Treas. Reg. 1.6072-1(c)).

Worked example: Lin, F-1 PhD student from China, teaching assistant

Lin was a resident of China on arrival in August 2024 and is a nonresident alien. The 2026 assistantship paid $24,000, and Lin's Form 8233 claimed $5,000 under Article 20(c).

Line	Lin's 2026 Form 1040-NR
1awages (W-2 box 1)	$19,000
1ktreaty-exempt income (1042-S box 2, code 20)	$5,000

The two forms add up to the pay: $19,000 plus $5,000 = $24,000. Line 1a is not $14,000, which would subtract the $5,000 a second time.

With no deductions, the 2026 rates put the tax on $19,000 at about $1,240 (10% of $12,400) plus $792 (12% of $6,600) = $2,032. On all $24,000 it would be about $2,632, so the exemption saves Lin about $600, 12% of $5,000. The IRS Tax Table may differ by a few dollars.

Do you need a new Form 8233 every year?

Yes: the instructions require a separate Form 8233 for each tax year, so the form you give for 2026 does not cover 2027. Give payroll the new one before your first paycheck of the year.

We recommend handing it in during December, because the employer's 10-day wait starts only once it mails the form. Stop giving Form 8233 once your treaty's time limit ends or you become a resident alien.

What to do next

Find your country's article and yearly limit in the treaty table, and your statement in Publication 519, Appendix A.
Fill in Form 8233 for calendar year 2027, attach the statement, and give payroll both with a Form W-4 for pay above the limit.
Ask payroll whether it accepted the form and when withholding will stop, then check your first pay stubs of the year.
Wait for your 2026 Form 1042-S, due by Monday, March 15, 2027, before you file, and report the exempt pay once, on line 1k.

Questions students ask

Can an Indian student use Form 8233 to exempt $5,000 of pay?

No. The US-India treaty's Article 21(2) gives Indian students the standard deduction, not a wage exemption, so Indian students do not file Form 8233 for it. Notice 1392 says employers need not withhold the extra amount for the standard deduction from these students' pay; you claim it on Form 1040-NR.

I do not have my SSN yet. Can I still give payroll Form 8233?

Form 8233 needs a US taxpayer identification number on line 2, in most cases your SSN. The instructions say that if you have applied for an SSN or ITIN but have not received it, you can attach a copy of the completed Form SS-5 or W-7 that shows you applied.

My employer withheld tax before it accepted my Form 8233. Is that money lost?

No. The instructions make the exemption effective back to the date of the first payment the form covers. If tax was still withheld from exempt pay, you claim the treaty on your Form 1040-NR, where the extra tax is credited: it raises your refund or lowers what you owe.

No. Form 8233 covers federal income tax withholding only. A nonresident alien student's pay for work allowed by F-1 or J-1 status is generally exempt from Social Security and Medicare tax under a separate rule, IRC 3121(b)(19).

My pay is from my university and also my scholarship. Which form covers the scholarship?

For a scholarship that is not pay for work, you normally give the school Form W-8BEN. If the same school also pays you wages and you claim a treaty exemption for both, the Form 8233 instructions let you use one Form 8233, filling in lines 13a to 13d for the scholarship.

Sources

This guide is checked against these 12 documents, most recently on October 30, 2026.