GLACIER—Nonresident Tax Compliance System

The University of Texas at Austin has implemented use of a Web application called GLACIER to assist with compliance with federal nonresident tax rules.

GLACIER is an independent software system provided by Arctic International LLC. It is designed to collect information about an individual's immigration status, citizenship, residency, and history of presence in the U.S. to determine an individual's residency tax status (nonresident or resident alien for tax purposes) and eligibility to claim a tax treaty exemption and/or the nonresident social security tax exemption. The system is designed to allow the individual to complete all information from any computer with an Internet connection.

GLACIER presents easy-to-understand question and answer screens that allow employees to quickly and easily enter their information, calculate their substantial presence test, and print their tax forms (provided as PDF documents on the final screen). Users will be required to print and sign their forms and submit them to UT Payroll Services (MAI 134, G0200) along with copies of their visas, passports, and immigration documents.

Note: The forms provided by GLACIER will replace the need to submit a Payment Request Form.

Beginning in November 2007, all non-United States citizen employees (excluding permanent residents) will begin using GLACIER. Individuals who need to create a GLACIER record will be programmatically identified based on their I-9 citizenship code. For a new employee, if the I-9 has not been updated, the self-reported citizenship code from My Paycheck Profile may be used. Individuals will receive an e-mail notifying them when they need to create a GLACIER record. The e-mail will provide a link to a UT Secure Message which will provide them with the access information to log in to the GLACIER Web site.

Upon initial login to GLACIER, users will immediately be prompted to create a new UserID and password for use in the GLACIER system. Users must remember these because they will need them to return to GLACIER in the future if they wish to renew a tax treaty or make a change to the information entered in GLACIER.

Throughout the year, all individuals who have established records in GLACIER will be periodically reminded to log back in to GLACIER to update their records if there are changes to the following:

• immigration status
• expected departure date
• e-mail or home address
• social security number

Doing so will prompt Payroll Services to make any changes required in a timely manner to ensure compliance with all federal nonresident tax laws. Additionally, individuals claiming a tax treaty exemption will be required to log in to GLACIER to create a new Form 8233 each tax year, as required by the IRS.

Establishing new Employee Records for Non-United States Citizens