91±¬ÁÏ

Tax reporting requires the collection of research participant personal information. Ensuring researchers understand when and what information is collected and reported keeps tax reporting from being a possible barrier to participation.

91±¬ÁÏ employees are not able to advise on how a community partner participant should prepare for taxes or their finances, but employees can anticipate needs and concerns and have information about 91±¬ÁÏ processes and requirements included in the materials shared while recruiting participants.

Domestic Tax Reporting

Research conducted inside the US with payments to US residents in the US.

The payment ranges are for research subject payments for the cash and cash-equivalent incentive options listed below. The annual time spans are from January 1 to December 31 of any given year. The payment amounts are for all payments from IRS 1099 reportable sources from 91±¬ÁÏ, institution-wide.

• Payments below $1,500 in a year: The research team/program is tracking recipients to ensure payments are going to the intended research participants. Additional tracking information may be required by the research sponsor.
• Payments $1,500-$2,000 in a year: Once payments pass $1,500, either in one payment or cumulatively, the research team or program administrative staff are required to send the recipient’s legal name, permanent address, tax ID number (SSN or ITIN), along with payment amounts and activity details, to the 91±¬ÁÏ 1099 Desk. The recipient’s name and tax ID number will be run and checked for a correct match with the IRS. Information is kept for the rest of the year and matched up with any future payments to see if 91±¬ÁÏ exceeds $2,000 in payment that year.
• Payments over $2,000 in a year: If the total payments sent to the 91±¬ÁÏ 1099 Desk from the 91±¬ÁÏ programs exceeds $2,000 at the end of the year, 91±¬ÁÏ generates a 1099 for payment reporting. Any records are kept secure and private, following required IRS and 91±¬ÁÏ retention policies.

If the research is a foreign national participating in domestic research while in the US on a visa, then follow these steps:

• The participant should check to make sure they can receive payment with their visa status and type.
• Payment will come to them through 91±¬ÁÏ’s Miscellaneous Payments and 30% of the payment amount will automatically be withheld for Federal Taxes. If a 91±¬ÁÏ program or research activity has funding available, an additional payment for tax gross-up may be possible. Contact the Accounts Payable Tax team through pcs@uw.edu before submitting the Miscellaneous Payment to plan for a tax gross-up. See Downloads and Useful Links for 91±¬ÁÏ resources on these payments.

International Tax Reporting

Research conducted outside the US with payments going to participants outside the US who are not US citizens:

• Researchers should check earning and tax reporting laws for the research location and be aware that recipients may also have reporting laws from their home country, if that could be another location. See the ‘Participation Incentive’ types and strategies for ‘Managing Participant Expenses’ below for alternate engagement and participation pathways.

Research conducted outside the US with payments going to participants outside the US who are US citizens:

• US citizens are required to report their earnings regardless of location. See ‘Domestic Tax Reporting’ for US residents section above for instructions on information gathering and tax reporting thresholds for 91±¬ÁÏ programs.

Incentives by design should remove participation barriers for participants to begin and remain in the studies until they are completed. Incentive payments are taxable, unlike reimbursements for allowed expenses or items that are given as incentives.

• Tango Card: A digital gift card (cash-equivalent) that can be converted into gift cards at many US retailers for online or in person purchases. To receive and use a Tango Card, the recipient must have an email address and access to the internet for purchasing.
• 91±¬ÁÏ Bank Rewards Card: A one-time use, loadable credit-debit card (cash-equivalent). Recipients will need to use this card, at least initially, in locations which take credit/debit.
• Field Advance: Field Advances are loadable credit-debit cards issued to researchers that can be used to withdraw cash from the loaded funds to pay research subjects. Field Advances are issued through 91±¬ÁÏ’s travel advance process, so each field advance eventually needs to be closed and any unused funds unloaded from the card. Since the Field Advances need to be routinely closed, they are a better solution for short-term research studies needing payments.
• Revolving Funds: Revolving Funds are accounts loaded with funds which researchers can write checks from for research subject incentives and other participation expenses. Revolving funds can be used for more expense types than just incentives, if the funding source allows the payments. Researchers interested in using revolving funds should consider the administrative support needed to manage the account, issue checks, and reconcile expenses. .
• Giving an Item: Unlike the payments listed above, items are not taxable since they are not cash or cash equivalents. Still, items need to be permissible for purchase with the spending source and 91±¬ÁÏ policies. Items tend to be 91±¬ÁÏ branded items or other things that are aligned with 91±¬ÁÏ’s and the sponsor’s educational or research values and mission. Food is generally not an allowable item. If food or a particular diet is needed for study completion, food should be included as a needed supply on the eGC1/proposal and allowed by the sponsor. Consider using Revolving Funds if repeated food purchases are necessary for participation and study completion. If food is only occasionally needed, such as to encourage participant or research contributors attendance to informational and planning meetings during the grant award period, then this will need to be called out in the eGC1/proposal. Food is otherwise not allowed spending on grants by 91±¬ÁÏ; it needs to be a listed expense on the grant with an explanation on how the food benefits the grant. Meals also need to follow 91±¬ÁÏ’s per diem requirements and the sponsors, using whichever per diem is lower.

If the funding source allows, the community partner’s expenses can be reimbursed or the researcher can provide services that enable the community partner to participate.

Reimbursement

Reimbursement is paying the participant for their expenses after they have already incurred the cost. Generally, travel related expenses for participation are the only reimbursable expenses, but it is possible for other expenses to be reimbursed if allowed by the sponsor. If the reimbursement is coming out of a Revolving Fund, a check is made for the participant by the account custodian. Unless a Revolving Fund is being used for research expenses, all reimbursements go through 91±¬ÁÏ’s Miscellaneous Payment process.

Policy Requirements and Potential Barriers for Community Partners

Reimbursements can have potential barriers for participation or for community partners to continue through the entire study.

Since reimbursements must happen after the cost has been incurred, participants must have the resources already available. Including funds to cover these initial resources in an incentive payment at the beginning of the activity is not allowed for several reasons. First, incentive payments are taxable and second, this could contribute to undue influence on the participant. Researchers may be able to pay for services to a vendor/supplier for these participation support costs instead (see below). Additionally, consider what the research locations will be and if it is possible for researchers to travel to participants.

Reimbursements need original receipts and documents. While 91±¬ÁÏ has a policy to allow perjury forms for some missing receipts/documents, it is against policy to allow a perjury form for reimbursement when it is being paid from a grant. Getting a receipt, sending it to the researcher (in person, mail, or scanned/emailed) may be difficult or impossible in some situations. If the reimbursement is for mileage, maps need to be generated via internet access and electronically sent along with trip logs. Researchers can anticipate these barriers and offer administrative support by preparing templates or assisting with assembling the needed documents.

Participant Support Costs

Payments to suppliers/vendors for the goods and services necessary for participants to begin and remain in the research study. If many or most participants will have the same barrier to participation, such as needing interpretation or childcare, then this may be provided through a contracted supplier. Researchers should see what types of support costs are allowed by the funding sponsor, then include these as ‘Participant Support Costs’ in their eGC1/proposal. 

Any supplier contracted to provide these goods or services are under the same requirements as the other contracted suppliers. See the section below on ‘Vendors’ for considerations with a community partner vendor, plus the Frequently Asked Questions for more information on contracting with small businesses and diverse suppliers.

91±¬ÁÏ employees should see Staff and Faculty for information on participating as a research subject. Employees cannot be reimbursed for coming to their duty station to perform their paid work, so consider this when planning activities and any possible reimbursements.

Suppliers can be reimbursed for travel and business expenses, but these are invoiced expenses and not reimbursed through Miscellaneous Payments or Revolving Funds to the individual travelers. This invoiced reimbursement is different from the reimbursements listed above because these are taxable earnings (and deductible expenses) for the business. See the ‘Vendor’ section below for more information on working with suppliers.

Subrecipients are participating along with 91±¬ÁÏ researchers for a portion of the project on activities such as designing the project, creating the proposal, gathering and analyzing data, IP development and ownership, and reporting findings.

Subrecipients generally need to be certified subrecipients, completing the forms found here, before they can be found as a selectable subrecipient in SAGE. Additionally, subrecipients need to complete their 91±¬ÁÏ supplier registration, which is initiated by 91±¬ÁÏ program staff.

The subaward will go to the subrecipient through their invoice against the issued Purchase Order. See full subaward process here.

Policy Requirements and Potential Barriers for Community Partners:

• Most funding sources require that subrecipients cannot be individuals, but need to be either for-profit or non-profit businesses, foundations, agencies, and if this is a domestic organization, must have an Employee ID Number. The subrecipient may compensate individual researchers or 91±¬ÁÏ may hire researchers for a project, if the sponsor allows research compensation costs.
• There is a substantial administrative load on a subrecipient to complete all of the needed registrations, including knowledge of the organization’s finances. Additionally, most of these intake processes are only in English and require computer access for submission. Planning for additional time, more than the typical 2-3 weeks, and facilitating any other needed support for submission will minimize these barriers.
• The Purchase Order (PO) issuance from 91±¬ÁÏ and the invoicing against the PO does not involve action items from the 91±¬ÁÏ researcher and their program staff. It is recommended that the program has administrative staff to watch the process and check for issues with any of these steps so any problems can be quickly addressed to minimize delays in payments.

Vendors are providing goods and services to the research project, fulfilling the contracted deliverables and not otherwise involved with any part of the research project’s design, management, or grant deliverables.

Vendors may be individuals or businesses. They may be named in the grant, if the vendor offers unique goods or services, or the vendor may be selected because they are the best fit for business needs and value after market research is completed.

Policy Requirements and Potential Barriers for Community Partners:

• If the vendor is a business, if they are providing goods, or if they are providing services over $10,000, then 91±¬ÁÏ supplier registration will need to happen before payment. Allow about 2 weeks for supplier registration and up to two additional weeks if the partner is a business and signing up for direct deposit payments (ACH).
• If the vendor is an individual and will be paid no more than $10,000, then they may be paid through 91±¬ÁÏ’s Miscellaneous Payments instead of registering as a supplier. Individuals being paid through Miscellaneous Payments can be paid by direct deposit and if they are paid by check, this check payment is issued shortly after payment is approved. Vendors cannot be reimbursed for business expenses if they will be paid for services through Miscellaneous Payments.
• If the vendor will be paid more than $10,000 over the planned activity, then 91±¬ÁÏ’s sole source approval will need to be completed.
• Vendors are also required to follow all the safety and compliance requirements for the materials they will be working with. 
• See ‘Planning Payments and Timelines for Community Partners’ from the Downloads and review Day-to-Day Business payment resources for more information on working with and supporting vendors. If the payment is going through PO/invoicing rather than Miscellaneous Payments, processes and payments are generally slower.

Consultants are subject matter experts who give advice, review, or otherwise provide service that they are uniquely qualified to perform, unlike services provided by a vendor.

Consultants may be individuals or businesses. Since they are subject matter experts, consider naming them in the grant proposal if they are uniquely qualified. If they are not named in the grant, the consultant may be selected because they are the best fit for business needs and value after market research is completed.

Policy Requirements and Potential Barriers for Community Partners:

• Consultants will have the same policy requirements and potential barriers as listed for the vendors (above).
• Sometimes community partners may already have a relationship with 91±¬ÁÏ as an employee or an affiliate academic position. Their consulting work may overlap with the expertise used in their 91±¬ÁÏ position and will need 91±¬ÁÏ review. It will generally not be possible to pay anyone for their consulting who currently is or has recently left 91±¬ÁÏ payroll unless they are hired into a 91±¬ÁÏ position for this work or it is a part of their current position. The 91±¬ÁÏ program supervising the research should work with their HR staff to see what is possible in their particular situation.