Honorarium

  1. Office & Department Directory
  2. Business Office
  3. Honorarium

Honorarium Payments

Honorarium is a gratuitous payment of money or other thing of value to a person for their participation in a usual academic activity for which no fee is legally required.  An honorarium is provided as a token of appreciation for participation in an activity or event, and not as a contractual obligation to pay for services rendered.

Usual academic activity means activity conducted for the benefit of the university and includes lecturing, teaching, consulting, conducting research, attending meetings, or otherwise sharing knowledge.  Readings and performances are included academic activities so long as the activity is open without charge to the public.

Honorarium Payments to U.S. Citizens, Permanent Residents, Resident Aliens

- Honorarium payments are considered taxable compensation that is reported to the IRS if the sum of annual payments exceed $600 in a calendar year.  Honorariums will only be paid via check the next check run by the Business Office, after the performance.  Honorarium payments are generally not issued to employees.  There are some extenuating services for which such a payment would be issued, but it must be paid through the Human Resource/Payroll process rather than Accounts Payable and will be reported on the employee’s W-2 form.

- Departments should first check Unimarket to see if the individual is set up as a vendor. If not, please submit a supplier setup request within Unimarket. For vendor setup questions, contact the Procurement Department.

Honorarium payments, including those with travel reimbursements, should be processed through Unimarket. Travel-only reimbursements (without an honorarium) should be submitted as a Colleague payment request.

Honorarium Payments to Foreign Individuals

Guests with a J1 or B visa or waiver status may receive an honorarium payment under the following criteria.

- The activity lasts no more than 9 days and the guest has not accepted payments from more than 5 institutions in the previous 6 months.

- Guests with a J1 visa issued from another institution must have a letter from the institution recommending such activity and explaining how it would enhance the visitor’s exchange program.