What is an Honorarium? Who is eligible?

An honorarium payment is a gratuitous payment to a lecturer or a professional person outside the University community (not a University faculty or staff member) as an expression of thanks. It is taxable income and is reportable to the Internal Revenue Service if the sum of annual payment(s) to the vendor is $600 or more annually.

Honorarium requests can be submitted via web form here.

Please note the following:

• CU Staff and Faculty are not eligible for honorariums, any additional pay must be processed by HR as Additional Compensation.
• A payment is not treated as honorarium if the payment is for specified services rendered by an independent consultant, University student or employee.

In accordance with the Taxpayer Identification Number Form (W-9) Requirement policy U.S. vendors doing business with the University must provide a completed and signed form W-9 to Accounts Payable.

When submitting a request to SPS-Finance for an honorarium payment, the request must be accompanied by:

• a flyer or a memo describing the event
• name of payee (W9, if new to vendor management system)
• amount of honorarium
• chartstring to be charged

An honorarium is taxable income that is reported to the IRS on Form 1099 if the sum of annual payment(s) to the vendor is $600 or more annually. However, expenses reimbursed to an honorarium recipient are not considered taxable income.

Please note: Under IRS regulations, honoraria payments are considered taxable income. Therefore, as a matter of policy, the recipient of an honorarium payment may not transfer the payment to another organization or individual. If the honorarium recipient wishes to transfer the payment to another organization or individual, he or she must receive the money and then donate it. The only exception to this rule is employees of certain Federal Government Agencies.

Honoraria for Foreign Individuals

In accordance with the Payments to Foreign Nationals and Entities Policy, Nonresident aliens doing business with the University are required to provide a completed and signed Form W-8 or Form 8233 along with evidence of immigration status.

If the lecture was given in the United States, the payment must be processed through the Human Resources Processing Center (HRPC). If the lecture was given overseas on foreign soil the payment can be processed through Accounts Payable.

Departments must obtain the following from the individual, as this will be required before the vendor is setup in the system and payment is issued:

• Copy of I-94 Departure Card (official documentation of immigration status)
• Copy of Identification page of the passport
• Form W-8BEN or Form 8233

Depending on the type of payment, all payments made to or on behalf of a nonresident alien or foreign entity are generally subject to income tax withholding unless specifically exempted, either by U.S. tax law or an income tax treaty. Generally, payments not exempt from withholding, are subject to 30% federal income tax withholding, in accordance with Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations. To claim an exemption from tax withholding under an income tax treaty, the payee must submit the appropriate exemption request form.