Procedure: 103-Payments to Human Subjects
Date:
09/12/2012


Statement of Procedure:

Follow the below procedures when making payments to human subjects.

Payment Mechanisms

Payments of less than $100 (de minimis payments)

  • Custodian Funds and Payments to Individual Reports (PIRs) – Custodian Funds and PIRs may be used to make de minimis payments of less than $100.00. Departments are encouraged, but not required, to obtain a social security number from the subject when disbursing de minimis research subject payments.

Payments of less than $300

Payments of $300.00 or more

Note: Payments to Human Subjects are to be paid by the methods listed above only. Employees are not to pay these costs using P-Cards or personal funds and seek reimbursement.

Taxation and Identification Requirements

Per the Internal Revenue Service regulations, information on participants in research studies must be obtained for tax reporting purposes.  Dean/Director’s or their designees are responsible for monitoring the dollar amounts and frequency of human subject payments to ensure tax compliance.  If an exception exists, it should be noted on the PIR or Custodian Fund Request Form.

Documentation Requirements for use of Custodian Funds

Human Subjects Recipient Log must be completed for all payments. A copy of the log must be attached to the Custodian Fund Accounting Form to account for the distribution of custodian funds.  A W-9 must be attached to the log for each individual receiving a payment of $100 or more. The completed log must contain the following information for each participating recipient:

    1. Amount Paid to Each Recipient
    2. Name or Recipient Identifier
    3. Date Received by Recipient
    4. Check number or Gift Card Identifier
    5. Signature or Initials of Each Recipient

Related Policy:

103-Payments to Human Subjects

301-Custodian Funds


Who should know this procedure?

Deans, Directors, and staff handling payments to human subjects.


Related Documents:
Payment to Individual Instructions
Graduate School Human Subjects Committee
Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act


Contacts:

For tax questions contact Jose Carus.

For use of custodian funds contact Custodian Fund or Kathy Virnig.

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