Payments: Honorarium

• An honorarium is payment in recognition of an individual's or organization's special service or distinguished achievement where propriety precludes setting a fixed price.

• Activities for which honorarium payments can be made include:
  • Appraisal of a manuscript or article submitted to a professional publication (letter of request or invoice required)
  • Board Member: Request a payment to a person for services performed as a member of a committee, board or panel (flyer and/or letter of invite required)
  • Commission Art Work (scope of work and/or letter of invite required)
  • Grand Round: Request a payment to a person for participation in a grand round (flyer and/or letter of invite required)
  • Musical demonstration related to Music Department instruction (letter of invite required)
  • Non-Professional Services: Request a payment to a person or business entity for non-professional services (i.e. Mock Patients, Models, Note Taker, Proctor, Referee) 
  • Professional Legal Service: Invoice must be attached (invoice required)
  • Professional Lecturer - Public Speaker: Request a payment to a person for professional speaking or lecturer services (UEO Performance Agreement required)
  • Public Speaker (letter of invite and/or guest speaker agreement required)
  • Performing Artist: Request a payment to a person or business entity for services rendered as a performing artist (UEO Performance Agreement required)
  • Special lecture, concert, or other creative academic-related activities (letter of invite required)

• For payments requiring a letter of invite, please attach the letter to your Payment Request. If you need assistance, our Honoraria Invite Letter Template is available for download by clicking here: Honoraria Invite Letter

• Non-allowable honorarium transactions include:
  • Performance fees for entertainers or speakers at a non-academic based university event
  • Services provided by independent consultants and contractors

• A typical honorarium amount is $250-$500 per day, depending on the fund source and expertise of the speaker. Honoraria are limited to $250 per event day, for a maximum of 10 days. Amounts in excess of $250 per day require academic personnel approval.

• Initiate payments to university employees through payroll using the Inter-Location One-Time Payment Form 

• The following requirements must be fulfilled for foreign citizens to receive honorarium payments:
  • Payee must have a U.S. Taxpayer Identification Number, and completed Glacier Record
  • Payee must have appropriate visa type (some types may restrict payment)
  • Note: If the payee's Green Card application is pending, submit a copy of the visitor's "Work Authorization" card. If the payee has a Green Card, the income tax reporting will be handled the same as a U.S. citizen's.

• If a payee declines to submit the W-8BEN or 8233, any applicable federal and state taxes will be withheld from the payment.
• Non-U.S. citizens ineligible for a SSN must apply for an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, or ITIN (PDF), in order to qualify for honorarium payment. For more information, see ITIN guidelines (PDF).
• California state tax is withheld for income paid by UCSD to non-California residents or foreign citizens, for service provided in California, in excess of $1500, either in part or whole, during a single calendar year.

• Individuals Who Decline an Honorarium - Requesting that in lieu of receiving an honorarium, you would like a donation to be made to a specific charitable organization MUST be done prior to performing the service.

  • Indicate in writing to the University before the services are performed that the guest lecturer declines the honorarium.  As long as the guest lecturer declines the honorarium before it is earned, the payment will not be treated as the lecturer receiving taxable income

  • Submit a Services & Support Non-PO Payment Request with the charitable organization as the Payee (not the name of the guest lecturer), and attach his/her/their letter declining the honorarium to the document. A sample letter can be found on Page 11 of University of California - Policy D-371-35: Disbursements: Honorarium Payments

  • Charitable Organization should be invited to register through PaymentWorks.

• Gather this information:
  • The payee's employment status (UC employee or non-employee)
  • California residence status (Income state withholding may apply for non-California residents)
  • Country of residence (non U.S. citizens only)
  • The dates of the honorarium
  • The purpose of the honorarium
  • Letter of invite, poster, or flyer
• If the payee is not a U.S. citizen, Glacier Record must be completed (glacier should be completed at time of setup), and have appropriate visa type (some types may restrict payment). 

Note: Non U.S. citizens who are ineligible for a SSN must apply for an ITIN in order to be eligible for an honorarium payment. If the payee's Green Card application is pending, submit a copy of the visitor's "Work Authorization" card. If the payee has a Green Card, the income tax reporting will be handled the same as a U.S. citizen's.

Need more information about the ITIN? See the IRS publication 1915 (PDF) or the ITIN application(PDF).

• For payment of an honorarium, use the Payment Request form available in Services & Support. Select 'Honorarium/Miscellaneous Services' from the 'Payment Type' drop-down. Please use account code 536600 when completing the form.