[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 26, Volume 9]
[Revised as of April 1, 2004]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 26CFR1.893-1]

[Page 512-515]
 
                       TITLE 26--INTERNAL REVENUE
 
    CHAPTER I--INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 
                               (CONTINUED)
 
PART 1_INCOME TAXES--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 1.893-1  Compensation of employees of foreign governments or 
international organizations.

    (a) Employees of foreign governments--(1) Exempt from tax. Except to 
the extent that the exemption is limited by the execution and filing of 
the waiver provided for in section 247(b) of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1257(b)), all employees of a foreign 
government (including consular or other officers, or nondiplomatic 
representatives) who are not citizens of

[[Page 513]]

the United States, or are citizens of the Republic of the Philippines 
(whether or not citizens of the United States), are exempt from Federal 
income tax with respect to wages, fees, or salaries received by them as 
compensation for official services rendered to such foreign government, 
provided (i) the services are of a character similar to those performed 
by employees of the Government of the United States in that foreign 
country and (ii) the foreign government whose employees are claiming 
exemption grants an equivalent exemption to employees of the Government 
of the United States performing similar services in that foreign 
country.
    (2) Certificate by Secretary of State. Section 893(b) provides that 
the Secretary of State shall certify to the Secretary of the Treasury 
the names of the foreign countries which grant an equivalent exemption 
to the employees of the Government of the United States performing 
services in such foreign countries, and the character of the services 
performed by employees of the Government of the United States in foreign 
countries.
    (3) Items not exempt. The income received by employees of foreign 
governments from sources other than their salaries, fees, or wages, 
referred to in subparagraph (1) of this paragraph, is subject to Federal 
income tax.
    (4) Immigration and Nationality Act. Section 247(b) of the 
Immigration and Nationality Act provides as follows:

    Sec. 247. Adjustment of status of certain resident aliens.* * *
    (b) The adjustment of status required by subsection (a) [of section 
247 of the Immigration and Nationality Act] shall not be applicable in 
the case of any alien who requests that he be permitted to retain his 
status as an immigrant and who, in such form as the Attorney General may 
require, executes and files with the Attorney General a written waiver 
of all rights, privileges, exemptions, and immunities under any law or 
any executive order which would otherwise accrue to him because of the 
acquisition of an occupational status entitling him to a nonimmigrant 
status under paragraph (15)(A), (15)(E), or (15)(G) of section 101(a).

    (5) Effect of waiver. An employee of a foreign government who 
executes and files with the Attorney General the waiver provided for in 
section 247(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act thereby waives the 
exemption conferred by section 893 of the Code. As a consequence, that 
exemption does not apply to income received by that alien after the date 
of filing of the waiver.
    (6) Citizens of the United States. The compensation of citizens of 
the United States (other than those who are also citizens of the 
Republic of the Philippines) who are officers or employees of a foreign 
government is not exempt from income tax pursuant to this paragraph. But 
see section 911 and the regulations thereunder.
    (b) Employees of international organizations--(1) Exempt from tax. 
Except to the extent that the exemption is limited by the execution and 
filing of the waiver provided for in section 247(b) of the Immigration 
and Nationality Act and subject to the provisions of sections 1, 8, and 
9 of the International Organizations Immunities Act (22 U.S.C. 288, 
288e, 288f), wages, fees, or salary of any officer or employee of an 
international organization (as defined in section 7701(a)(18)) received 
as compensation for official services to that international organization 
is exempt from Federal income tax, if that officer or employee (i) is 
not a citizen of the United States or (ii) is a citizen of the Republic 
of the Philippines (whether or not a citizen of the United States).
    (2) Income earned prior to executive action. An individual of the 
prescribed class who receives wages, fees, or salary as compensation for 
official services to an organization designated by the President through 
appropriate Executive order as entitled to enjoy the privileges, 
exemptions, and immunities provided in the International Organizations 
Immunities Act and who has been duly notified to, and accepted by, the 
Secretary of State as an officer or employee of that organization, or 
who has been designated by the Secretary of State, prior to formal 
notification and acceptance, as a prospective officer or employee of 
that organization, may enjoy the benefits of the exemption with respect 
to compensation of the prescribed character earned by that individual, 
either prior to the date of the Issuance of the Executive order, or 
prior to the date of the acceptance or designation by the Secretary of 
State,

[[Page 514]]

for official services to that organization, if (i) the Executive order 
does not provide otherwise, (ii) the organization is a public 
international organization in which the United States participates, 
pursuant to a treaty or under the authority of an act of Congress 
authorizing such participation or making an appropriation for such 
participation, at the time the compensation is earned, and (iii) the 
individual is an officer or employee of that organization at that time.
    (3) International Organizations Immunities Act. Sections 1, 8, and 9 
of the International Organizations Immunities Act (22 U.S.C. 288, 288e, 
288f) provide in part as follows:

    Section 1. For the purposes of this title [International 
Organizations Immunities Act], the term ``international organization'' 
means a public international organization in which the United States 
participates pursuant to any treaty or under the authority of any Act of 
Congress authorizing such participation or making an appropriation for 
such participation, and which shall have been designated by the 
President through appropriate Executive order as being entitled to enjoy 
the privileges, exemptions, and immunities herein provided. The 
President shall be authorized, in the light of the functions performed 
by any such international organization, by appropriate Executive order 
to withhold or withdraw from any such organization or its officers or 
employees any of the privileges, exemptions, and immunities provided for 
in this title (including the amendments made by this title) or to 
condition or limit the enjoyment by any such organization or its 
officers or employees of any such privilege, exemption, or immunity. The 
President shall be authorized, if in his judgment such action should be 
justified by reason of the abuse by an international organization or its 
officers and employees of the privileges, exemptions, and immunities 
herein provided or for any other reason, at any time to revoke the 
designation of any international organization under this section, 
whereupon the international organization in question shall cease to be 
classed as an international organization for the purposes of this title.

                                * * * * *

    Sec. 8. (a) No person shall be entitled to the benefits of this 
title [International Organizations Immunities Act] unless he (1) shall 
have been duly notified to and accepted by the Secretary of State as a * 
* * officer, or employee; or (2) shall have been designated by the 
Secretary of State, prior to formal notification and acceptance, as a 
prospective * * * officer, or employee; * * *.
    (b) Should the Secretary of State determine that the continued 
presence in the United States of any person entitled to the benefits of 
this title is not desirable, he shall so inform the * * * international 
organization concerned * * *, and after such person shall have had a 
reasonable length of time, to be determined by the Secretary of State, 
to depart from the United States, he shall cease to be entitled to such 
benefits.
    (c) No person shall, by reason of the provisions of this title, be 
considered as receiving diplomatic status or as receiving any of the 
privileges incident thereto other than such as are specifically set 
forth herein.
    Sec. 9. The privileges, exemptions, and immunities of international 
organizations and of their officers and employees * * * provided for in 
this title [International Organizations Immunities Act], shall be 
granted notwithstanding the fact that the similar privileges, 
exemptions, and immunities granted to a foreign government, its 
officers, or employees, may be conditioned upon the existence of 
reciprocity by that foreign government: Provided, That nothing contained 
in this title shall be construed as precluding the Secretary of State 
from withdrawing the privileges, exemptions, and immunities herein 
provided from persons who are nationals of any foreign country on the 
ground that such country is failing to accord corresponding privileges, 
exemptions, and immunities to citizens of the United States.

    (4) Effect of waiver. An officer or employee of an international 
organization who executes and files with the Attorney General the waiver 
provided for in section 247(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
U.S.C. 1257(b)) thereby waives the exemption conferred by section 893 of 
the Code. As a consequence, that exemption does not apply to income 
received by that individual after the date of filing of the waiver.
    (5) Citizens of the United States. The compensation of citizens of 
the United States (other than those who are also citizens of the 
Republic of the Philippines) who are officers or employees of an 
international organization is not exempt from income tax pursuant to 
this paragraph. But see section 911 and the regulations thereunder.
    (c) Tax conventions, consular conventions, and international 
agreements--(1) Exemption dependent upon internal revenue laws. A tax 
convention or consular convention between the United States and a 
foreign country, which provides

[[Page 515]]

that the United States may include in the tax base of its residents all 
income taxable under the internal revenue laws, and which makes no 
specific exception for the income of the employees of that foreign 
government, does not provide any exemption (with respect to residents of 
the United States) beyond that which is provided by the internal revenue 
laws. Accordingly, the effect of the execution and filing of a waiver 
under section 247(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act by an 
employee of a foreign government which is a party to such a convention 
is to subject the employee to tax to the same extent as provided in 
paragraph (a)(5) of this section with respect to the waiver of exemption 
under section 893.
    (2) Exemption not dependent upon internal revenue laws. If a tax 
convention, consular convention, or international agreement provides 
that compensation paid by the foreign government or international 
organization to its employees is exempt from Federal income tax, and the 
application of this exemption is not dependent upon the provisions of 
the internal revenue laws, the exemption so conferred is not affected by 
the execution and filing of a waiver under section 247(b) of the 
Immigration and Nationality Act. For examples of exemptions which are 
not affected by the Immigration and Nationality Act, see article X of 
the income tax convention between the United States and the United 
Kingdom (60 Stat. 1383); article IX, section 9(b), of the Articles of 
Agreement of the International Monetary Fund (60 Stat. 1414); and 
article VII, section 9(b), of the Articles of Agreement of the 
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (60 Stat. 1458).