With the form, you indicate that you are not a citizen of the United States. According to the regulations of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the U.S. federal tax agency, a W-8 form is only valid for three calendar years. If your most recent form was accepted more than three years ago, you are required to submit a new form. If you are asked to submit a form for the first time, or if you have had difficulties with this form in the past, it is advisable to have it filled out by a tax accountant.
- A new Form W-4 must be filed with a taxpayer’s employer whenever the taxpayer’s personal or financial situation changes (e.g., they get married, have a baby, or their spouse enters or leaves the workplace).
- You may check the box in this line 6b if you are an account holder as described for purposes of line 6a and you are not legally required to obtain an FTIN from your jurisdiction of residence (including if the jurisdiction does not issue TINs).
- For the latest information about developments related to Form W-8BEN-E and its instructions, such as legislation enacted after they were published, go to IRS.gov/FormW8BENE.
- However, if you are a partnership (or nominee for a PTP interest), you should request a Form W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E (as applicable) from a foreign partner that is allocated income that is ECTI for purposes of withholding under section 1446(a).
If you live in another country but receive your pension from an American pension fund, you will most likely also be asked by this pension fund to fill out this form. Income from transactions with a broker or a barter exchange is subject to reporting rules and backup withholding unless Form W-8BEN or a substitute form is filed to notify the broker or barter exchange that you are an exempt foreign person. A recalcitrant account holder includes an individual who fails to comply with the requests of an FFI for documentation and information for determining the U.S. or foreign status of the individual’s account, including furnishing this Form W-8BEN when requested. A PSE is a merchant acquiring entity or third-party settlement organization. Under section 6050W, a PSE is generally required to report payments made in settlement of payment card transactions or third-party network transactions. You must provide Form W-8BEN to the payor (as defined in Regulations section 1.6050Y-1(a)(11)), to establish your foreign status if you are an individual receiving a payment of reportable death benefits for purposes of section 6050Y or chapter 3.
Example of IRS Form W-8
A payment is considered to have been made whether it is made directly to the beneficial owner or to another person, such as an intermediary, agent, or partnership, for the benefit of the beneficial owner. Line 8b (new), FTIN not legally required, has been added for account holders otherwise required to provide an FTIN on new line 8a ‘Foreign tax identification number (FTIN)’ to indicate that they are not legally required to obtain a FTIN in their jurisdiction of residence. Details provided on W-9 forms are important as they allow the paying organization to understand the type of entity they are paying, based on information such as an address and TIN.
If you are a territory financial institution you must check the box to certify that you meet all of the requirements for this status. See instructions for Line 9a for when a GIIN is required for a nonreporting IGA FFI (including a trustee of a trustee-documented trust that is a foreign person). If you are a nonreporting financial institution under an applicable IGA because you qualify as an owner-documented FFI under the regulations, do not what is a w8 check „Nonreporting IGA FFI.“ Instead, you must check „Owner-documented FFI“ and complete Part X rather than this Part XII. Each of the tests is summarized below for your general convenience but may not be relied upon for making a final determination that you meet an LOB test. Rather you must check the text of the LOB article itself to determine which tests are available under that treaty and the particular requirements of those tests.
Forms & Instructions
Entities from countries that have tax treaties with the US may enjoy lower tax withholding rates on types of income that are exempted from tax withholding or qualify for lower rates. Different countries that have tax treaties with the US may have different terms and enjoy different tax benefits. If the applicable W8 form is not submitted to the payer or withholding agent beforehand, then you could be required to pay the 30% rate or a backup withholding rate.
W-8BEN is an IRS form used by individual nonresident aliens (NRA) to report information to withholding agents, payers, or FFIs if they are the beneficial owner of an amount from U.S. sources subject to income tax withholding or the NRA account holder at a foreign financial institution (FFI). TIN entered on line 7, you may not rely on Form W-8ECI to treat the income as effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business and you must apply the appropriate presumption rules or obtain another Form W-8 for the payee that you may rely upon. You should request Form W-8BEN from any foreign individual for any of the purposes described previously in these instructions.