Travel Reimbursements for International Guests

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Travel Reimbursements for International Guests

Travel Reimbursements for International Guests

An active and approved BUY.IU supplier profile is required to request non-employee reimbursements. Visit the Chrome River Non-employee Traveler guide to learn how to request a profile on their behalf. Travel reimbursements are requested on a Non-employee/Nonstudent Travel expense report in Chrome River.

Non-employee travel expenses that are allowable by IU Travel Policy are assumed to be compliant with IU’s Accountable Plan. Thus, reimbursements are not taxed and no immigration or other tax documentation is required.

If a department elects to reimburse a guest’s non-accountable plan travel expenses, they will be classified as a Fellowship for tax withholding and reporting purposes. Common examples of non-accountable travel expenses include but are not limited to:

Travel expenses for spouses unless the non-employee guest is a job candidate.
Reimbursements submitted after the 120-day Accountable Plan safe harbor.

These payments require tax documentation.

Visit the Payment for Services to International Guests page to learn more about how to process these payments.

Before you start:

When working with guests from another country, you are encouraged to contact the Travel team at travel@iu.edu with questions.

Search for the traveler in BUY.IU and confirm they are active and approved. This video demonstrates how to confirm your guest is established and ready to use. Once your guest is approved, they will be available in Chrome River for use on expense reports.
Locate the traveler’s remittance address on their BUY.IU profile.
If you cannot locate your guest, contact Supplier Data Management via the Purchasing Support form. Select form options 'Suppliers' then 'Traveler not available in Chrome River'.

International guests may receive travel reimbursements in one of three ways:

Payment method	Description	Guest required to log into BUY.IU?	Resources
Wire transfer	Transfer of funds to bank account in guest's home country.	No – use Chrome River Non-employee Traveler	Wire Transfers in Chrome River walkthrough
Paper check	Printed check mailed to a US address. IU does not mail paper checks outside the US.	No -- use Chrome River Non-employee Traveler	Locate a supplier's payment address in BUY.IU.
Direct deposit	Funds deposited into a US-based bank account.	Yes	Invite a supplier to add ACH information

Securely collect wire transfer information

The department hosting the guest should prompt the traveler to collect international wire transfer routing details from their local banking institution, ideally, before they leave their home country. The guest should collect these details in a Word document, PDF, or other file type. See the Wire Transfers in Chrome River walkthrough for a detailed description of the required fields.

Wire transfer information is classified as critical data; do not email this information.

Follow these steps to securely collect wire transfer information from your guest:

Notify your guest that they will receive an email from Secure Share inviting them to upload their payment details.
Create a Guest Upload Link via Secure Share. Secure Share emails the upload link to your guest. Click here to view an example.
Instruct them to upload documentation containing their wire transfer routing details. Your guest will also be prompted to enter your email address and create a password.
Prompt guest to email Secure Share password to you.
You will receive an email from Secure Share with an access link. Use the password to access and download the wire transfer documentation.
Securely store the wire transfer information until reimbursement is issued. After payment is issued, securely delete the wire transfer information.

Wire transfers are manually processed by Treasury Operations. Contact IU Treasury Operations by calling 812-855-9268 or email moneymov@iu.edu with questions about a completed or pending wire transfer.