Fixed, determinable, annual, or periodical (FDAP) income is all income except: Gains derived from the sale of real or personal property (including market discount and option premiums, but not including original issue discount). Items of income excluded from gross income, without regard to the United States (U.S.) or foreign status of the owner of the income, such as tax-exempt municipal bond interest and qualified scholarship income. Income is fixed when it is paid in amounts known ahead of time. Income is determinable whenever there is a basis for figuring the amount to be paid. Income can be periodic if it is paid from time to time. It does not have to be paid annually or at regular intervals. Income can be determinable or periodic, even if the length of time during which the payments are made is increased or decreased. Tax Treatment of FDAP Income Which is Not Effectively Connected Income (ECI) Tax at a 30% (or lower treaty) rate applies to FDAP income or gains from U.S. sources, but only if they are not effectively connected with your U.S. trade or business. The 30% (or lower treaty) rate applies to the gross amount of U.S. source fixed or determinable, annual, or periodical gains, profits, or income. Deductions and netting are not allowed against FDAP income. The following items are examples of FDAP income: Compensation for personal services (such as commissions and gross proceeds from performances) Dividends and dividend equivalent payments Interest Original issue discount Pensions and annuities Alimony Real property income, such as rents, other than gains from the sale of real property Royalties Scholarships and fellowship grants Other grants, prizes and awards Winnings from certain Gambling games A sales commission paid or credited monthly A commission paid for a single transaction The distributable net income of an estate or trust that is FDAP income, and that must be distributed currently, or has been paid or credited during the tax year, to a nonresident alien beneficiary A distribution from a partnership that is FDAP income, or such an amount that, although not actually distributed, is includible in the gross income of a foreign partner Taxes, mortgage interest, or insurance premiums paid to, or for the account of, a nonresident alien landlord by a tenant under the terms of a lease Prizes awarded to nonresident alien artists for pictures exhibited in the United States Purses paid to nonresident alien boxers for prize fights in the United States Prizes awarded to nonresident alien professional golfers in golfing tournaments in the United States Payments made to third parties for the benefit of performance income earned by nonresident alien individuals Social Security benefits U.S. source FDAP income includes 85% of any U.S. Social Security benefits (including monthly retirement, survivor, disability benefits and the Social Security equivalent part of a Tier 1 railroad retirement benefits). This income is exempt under some tax treaties. Refer to Table 1 in Publication 901, U.S. Tax Treaties, for a list of tax treaties that exempt U.S. Social Security benefits from U.S. tax. Capital gains If a foreign individual was present in the U.S. for 183 days or more during the tax year, and the foreign individual is still a nonresident alien, the foreign individual's net gain from sales or exchanges of capital assets is taxed at a 30% (or lower treaty) rate. For purposes of the 30% (or lower treaty) rate, net gain is the excess of the foreign individual's capital gains from U.S. sources over the foreign individual's capital losses from U.S. sources. This rule applies even if any of the transactions occurred while the foreign individual was not in the U.S. The183-day test mentioned above is not the same as the 183-day test used in the substantial presence test. See The Taxation of Capital Gains Of Nonresident Alien Students, Scholars and Employees of Foreign Governments for further information. If a foreign individual who is a nonresident alien was in the U.S. for less than 183 days during the tax year, the foreign individual will not be taxed on your capital gains, except for the following types of gains: Gains that are effectively connected with a trade or business in the U.S. during the tax year Gains on the disposal of timber, coal, or domestic iron ore with a retained economic interest Gains on certain contingent payments received from the sale or exchange of patents, copyrights, and similar property Gains on certain transfers of all substantial rights to, or an undivided interest in, patents Gains on the sale or exchange of original issue discount obligations Many tax treaties contain provisions which reduce or eliminate taxation on capital gains. What capital gains are taxed? These rules apply only to those capital gains and losses from sources in the U.S. that are not effectively connected with a trade or business in the U.S. They apply even if you are engaged in a trade or business in the U.S. These rules do not apply to the sale or exchange of a U.S. real property interest, see FIRPTA Withholding, or to the sale of any property that is effectively connected with a trade or business in the U.S. Reporting gains and losses A foreign individual who is a nonresident alien reports their taxable gains and losses from the sales or exchanges of capital assets that are not connected with a trade or business in the U.S. on Schedule NEC, Tax on Income Not Effectively Connected with a U.S. Trade or Business PDF, of Form 1040-NR, U.S. Nonresident Alien Income Tax Return. Report taxable gains and losses from sales or exchanges of capital assets (including real property) that are connected with a trade or business in the U.S. on a separate Form 8949, Sales and other Dispositions of Capital Assets, Form 4797, Sales of Business Property, as required, and summarized on Schedule D (from Form 1040), Capital Gains and Losses, and page 1 of Form 1040-NR. Attach Form 8949 and Schedule D to Form 1040-NR. Installment payments Income can be FDAP income whether it is paid in a series of repeated payments or in a single lump sum. For example, $5,000 in royalty income would be FDAP income whether paid in 10 payments of $500 each or in one payment of $5,000. Insurance proceeds Income derived by an insured nonresident alien from U.S. sources upon the surrender of, or at the maturity of, a life insurance policy, is FDAP income. The proceeds are income to the extent they exceed the cost of the policy. However, certain payments received under a life insurance contract on the life of a terminally or chronically ill individual before death (accelerated death benefits) may not be subject to tax. This rule also applies to certain payments received for the sale or assignment of any portion of the death benefit under contract to a viatical settlement provider. See Publication 525, Taxable and Nontaxable Income, for more information. Racing purses Racing purses are FDAP income, and racetrack operators must withhold 30% on any purse paid to a nonresident alien racehorse owner in the absence of definite information of a statement that contains information that the owner has not raced, or does not intend to enter, a horse in another race in the U.S. during the tax year filed together with a Form W–8 BEN, Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding and Reporting (Individuals). If available information indicates that the racehorse owner has raced a horse in another race in the U.S. during the tax year, then the statement and Form W–8BEN filed for that year are ineffective. The owner may be exempt from withholding of tax at 30% on the purses if the owner gives the withholding agent a Form W–8 ECI, Certificate of Foreign Person's Claim That Income Is Effectively Connected With the Conduct of a Trade or Business in the United States, which provides that the income is effectively connected with the conduct of a U.S. trade or business and that the income is includible in the owner's gross income and taxed at graduated rates on the net income. Covenant not to compete Payment received for a promise not to compete is generally FDAP income. Its source is the place where the promisor forfeited his or her right to act. Amounts paid to a nonresident alien for his or her promise not to compete in the United States are subject to withholding. Signing on A fee paid to a professional athlete, such as a soccer or hockey player for "signing on" with the effect of preventing any other team from negotiating with the player and preventing the player from negotiating with any other team is pay for a covenant not to compete. The source is the place where the right to play is given up. If a league is made up of both foreign and U.S. teams, the fee is from sources partly in and partly outside the U.S. The part of the fee that is from U.S. sources is subject to withholding. If there is no reasonable basis for an allocation of the fee, the entire sign-on fee is income from the U.S. and is subject to withholding. Related Taxation of Nonresident Aliens Taxation of Nonresident Aliens (Tax Gap Article) Publication 515, Withholding of Tax on Nonresident Aliens and Foreign Entities
