November 2008

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www.wesleyan.edu/finance/financeDept

Important Reminders
1. Receipts
2. Payments to Students
3. Payments to a Non US Citizen/Non Resident Alien (NRA)
4. PCard emails

Other News
5. Accounts Payable
6. Purchasing Card
7. Purchasing News
8. Month End Reports – Eprint reports
9. Who to Contact?

1. RECEIPTS
With increased use of the PCard this is a reminder of the receipt requirements.  It is important, when using the PCard, to distinguish between travel and non-travel expenses.  Travel expenses are those that fall under the University Travel Policy and do not require a receipt of $20 or less.  Business purpose is still required and can be indicated anywhere on the statement.  Business purpose should indicate the number of attendees, topics, description etc.

For PCard expenses that are not subject to the University Travel Policy there is no dollar threshold and receipts are required for all expenses.

A valid receipt must be itemized and must include the following:

  • Vendor
  • Date
  • Location
  • Amount and Tender of Payment
  • Description.

An example of a valid receipt for a meal at a restaurant is attached.  If the itemized receipt is not given at the time of payment it can generally be obtained upon request.

2. PAYMENTS TO STUDENTS
The Finance Office recently held an open meeting to provide information on payments made to students. The presentation is located on our website and can be used as a valuable resource to determine what the payment represents, how it will be taxed and where it should be submitted for processing. 

The IRS considers payments to students independent from payments to individuals due to the nature of being a candidate for a degree at an educational institution.

In addition to the presentation, there is also a quick reference table in the Payments to Individuals section of the website that outlines the payment procedures and reporting requirements by the type of payment.

The new documentation essentially serves to clarify what has historically been current practice except for two changes that will be effective November 1, 2008:

1. Any stipend, grant, fellowship or internship payment where the documentation requires services to be performed is considered compensation and must be paid through payroll.  Generally, the payment must also be submitted in hours worked, not as a lump sum, in order to ensure compliance with federal labor laws.  The only exception where a lump sum payment will be accepted by payroll are those specifically listed at the bottom of the Stipend and Prize Submission form.

2. Prizes and awards, as well as stipend, grant and fellowship payments where the documentation does not require services to be performed are processed on an Accounts Payable voucher and submitted to A/P.

Please contact Accounts Payable or Payroll if there are any questions.

3.  PAYMENTS TO A NON US CITIZEN/NON RESIDENT ALIEN (NRA)
Payment for Services
US source income payments to a non US citizen/Non Resident Alien (NRA) are defined in the IRS regulations under section 1441 and in IRS Publication 515.  Under these rules, 30% federal income tax withholding of the gross payment is necessary.  This is the case even if the payment is made to a US agent or corporation.  The regulation states that if Wesleyan has reason to believe that the payment is made on behalf of a foreign individual/entity (the foreign person is the beneficial owner of the income) the payment must be treated as if it is made directly to the foreign individual/entity. 

Publication 515 advises payers to withhold 30% if the facts upon which an exemption from tax may be based cannot be ascertained.  Wesleyan requires NRAs to complete a Foreign National Information Form to determine the NRAs tax status (Resident Alien or Non Resident Alien for tax purposes).  Regardless of whether tax is withheld or an exemption from withholding is given, it is necessary for Wesleyan to report gross income paid to a NRA to the IRS annually on a 1042-S form.  It is also necessary for a NRA to file a US tax return for any tax year he/she was engaged in US business. 

Tax Treaties-Exemption from Tax Withholding
NRAs may be entitled to an exemption or reduced withholding from tax under a tax treaty between the US and the NRAs country of tax residence.  The US has treaties with approximately 60 countries in the world.  Each treaty is different and must be reviewed on a case by case basis.  Each treaty has provisions for Students, Teachers, Athletes, Performers, etc..  Some treaties have provisions which limit length of stay and amount earned.  Wesleyan utilizes software which analyzes a NRAs status and situation to take advantage of any tax treaty benefits that are available.  Wesleyan also reserves the right to deny tax treaty benefits based on the information provided on a “Foreign National Information Form”. 

The forms and/or procedures that may be used to claim exemption from tax are explained at http://www.wesleyan.edu/finance/financeDept/foreignTax/infoGuideline.html.  All exemption forms require a US federal tax identification number (SSN or ITIN): 

 4. PCARD EMAILS
An instance was reported whereby a cardholder was notified by email of restricted access to their JPMorgan PCard account.  This was a confirmed phishing attempt.  The following is JPMorgan’s policy addressing this issue.

Phishing is an attempt to gain private information about you and your accounts.  Most often via e-mail that looks like it is from your financial institution. 

It is not JPMorganChase’s practice to:

  • Send e-mail that requires you to enter personal information directly into the e-mail
  • Send e-mail threatening to close your account if you do not taken immediate action of providing personal information
  • Send e-mail asking you to reply by sending personal information
  • Send e-mail asking you to enter your user ID, password, or account number into an e-mail or non-secure web page

You should never reply to, click on, or enter any information if you receive a suspicious e-mail.

When receiving a phone call from a JPMorganChase Commercial Card Representative, it is not JPMorganChase’s practice to ask you to provide:

  • Your complete social security number, a representative may ask for the last 4 digits as a verification point
  • Card’s expiration date
  • CVV or CVV2 from the back of your card

A Commercial Card Representative may ask you for your account number (usually when returning a message you have left) and it is our practice to verify at least one piece of personal information.

If you are in doubt, do not provide any personal information to the caller and call the 800 number listed on the back of your card to report the incident.

 5. ACCOUNTS PAYABLE
Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, Accounts Payable will have a check run on Wednesday, November 26.  All vouchers to be paid on that date are due to Accounts Payable by 12:00 noon on Tuesday, November 18.  In addition, vouchers to be paid on Friday, December 5 are due to Accounts Payable by 12:00 noon on Monday, November 24.

Vouchers received by 4pm on Thursdays will be processed for payment in the following week’s Friday check run.

For accounts payable questions please contact Tammy Harley at x2843 or Janet Gyurits at x2842 or email ap@wesleyan.edu

6. PURCHASING CARD
Bank of America Visa and JPMorgan PCARD charges will be downloaded on Tuesday, November 25th for billing cycle ending November 20th, 2008.  Be sure to access VIM or SDOL to reallocate any charges prior to the download.  Any reallocation after the download will require an ELF Entry.

A training session on SDOL will be offered on November 14 from 1-3 in PAC 100.  Please respond to pcard@wesleyan.edu if you are planning to attend.

Reconciled and approved September Bank of America and PCARD statements are due to the Finance Office by November 20th with supporting documentation.

Cash Advance Option – If you have a cash advance option on your card there are PCard cash advance procedures that must be followed to create a PIN and access the cash advance.  A cash advance fee of 2% of the advance amount will be charged to your account.

For immediate assistance with your JPMorgan Purchasing Card, call the 24 hour Customer Service number on the back of your card (800)316-6056 or (847)488-3748 outside the U.S.

Contact pcard@wesleyan.edu for all card maintenance requests (i.e., credit limit increases/decreases, name change, address change).

7.  PURCHASING NEWS
See attached for important information relating to limousine and taxi vendors, Ikon Office Solutions, AmeriPride Services and Residence Inn by Marriott.

8. MONTH END REPORTS – Eprint Reports
The October month end jobs have successfully run and the reports are currently available on Eprint. Users can access Eprint through the Administrative Applications area in their employee portfolio and by using their FRS operator number as the UserID and FRS Password as the Eprint password.

9. WHO TO CONTACT
Please save these sites as favorites for quick answers to questions you might have.
Finance Office Website http://www.wesleyan.edu/finance/financeDept/
Finance Monthly Blog http://financemonthly.blogs.wesleyn.edu
New Financial System Blog http://wfs.blogs.wesleyan.edu/
Contact Information http://www.wesleyan.edu/finance/misc/contactInformation/

Email Addresses:
General Finance finance@wesleyan.edu.
PCard pcard@wesleyan.edu
Accounts Payable ap@wesleyan.edu
Purchasing obookas@wesleyan.edu

SUBMISSIONS FOR FINANCE MONTHLY
What topics would you like to see included in this monthly communication? Do you have a system tip you’d like to share? Finance Monthly will be e-mailed on a monthly basis, corresponding with the availability of month end financial reports. Items for inclusion are due five business days before the end of each month and can be submitted to finance@wesleyan.edu