26 CFR 509.112 – Compensation for labor or personal services
(a) Exemption from tax. Under Article X of the convention compensation received by a nonresident alien individual who is a resident of Switzerland for labor or personal services, including the practice of the liberal professions and the rendition of services as a director, performed in the United States shall not be included in gross income and shall be exempt from United States tax in either of the following situations:
(1) Swiss employer. Where such individual is temporarily present in the United States for a period or periods not exceeding in the aggregate a total of 183 days during a taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 1951, any compensation received by him (irrespective of when received, if received in taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 1951) for such labor or personal services performed in the United States during such year as an employee of, or under contract with, a nonresident alien (including a nonresident alien individual and fiduciary) who is a resident of Switzerland, or a Swiss corporation or other entity, whether or not such alien, corporation, or other entity is engaged in trade or business within the United States, shall not be included in gross income and shall be exempt from United States tax.
(2) Other employers. Where such individual is temporarily present in the United States for a period or periods not exceeding in the aggregate a total of 183 days during a taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 1951, any compensation received by him (irrespective of when received, if received in taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 1951) for such labor or personal services performed in the United States during such year shall not be included in gross income and shall be exempt from United States tax if such compensation does not exceed $10,000 in the aggregate. Thus, if a nonresident alien individual who is a resident of Switzerland performs personal services in the United States during the taxable year as an employee of a domestic corporation for which he receives compensation of $15,000 in the aggregate, none of such compensation shall be exempt from United States tax even though such individual is present in the United States during such year for a period or periods not exceeding a total of 183 days, since the aggregate compensation received is in excess of $10,000.
(b) Definitions. For purposes of this section, the term “compensation for labor or personal services” shall include, but shall not be limited to, the compensation, profits, emoluments, or other remuneration of public entertainers, such as, stage, motion picture, television, or radio artists, musicians, and athletes. For the allocation or segregation as between sources within, and sources without, the United States in the case of compensation for labor or personal services, see sections 861 through 864, Internal Revenue Code of 1954, and the regulations thereunder.
(c) Exception. The provisions of this section have no application to the income to which Article XI(1) of the convention relates.