Form W-8BEN Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding and Reporting (Individuals)

The IRS instructions say that if you receive certain types of income from U.S. sources, you must provide Form W-8BEN to establish that you are not a U.S. person, to claim that you are the beneficial owner of the income, and, if applicable, to claim a reduced rate of, or exemption from, withholding as a resident of a foreign country with which the United States has an income tax treaty. The instructions say foreign persons are subject to U.S. tax at a 30% rate on certain U.S.-source income, generally collected by withholding. RepeatForm cannot tell you whether you owe tax, what rate applies or whether a treaty applies to you.

The instructions say you must give Form W-8BEN to the withholding agent or payer if you are a nonresident alien who is the beneficial owner of an amount subject to withholding, or if you are an account holder of a foreign financial institution documenting yourself as a nonresident alien. They also say: do not send Form W-8BEN to the IRS. Give it to the person who is requesting it from you, before the payment is made, credited or allocated. Generally a separate W-8BEN must be given to each withholding agent. The instructions say that if you do not provide the form, the withholding agent may have to withhold at the 30% rate, the backup withholding rate, or another applicable rate.

The instructions say not to use Form W-8BEN if you are a foreign entity (use Form W-8BEN-E instead) or a U.S. citizen or other U.S. person, who use a different form. The IRS lists Form W-9 as the related form for a requester to collect the taxpayer identification number of a U.S. person. Which one applies to you is for the payer or a qualified adviser to say.

The instructions say a Form W-8BEN generally remains in effect for a period starting on the date the form is signed and ending on the last day of the third succeeding calendar year, unless a change in circumstances makes any information on the form incorrect. For example, one signed on September 30, 2015 remains valid through December 31, 2018. Under certain conditions it remains in effect until a change of circumstances occurs. If a change in circumstances makes information incorrect, the instructions say to notify the payer within 30 days and file a new Form W-8BEN or other appropriate form.

The IRS PDF is marked "Form W-8BEN (Rev. October 2021)". The About Form W-8BEN page on irs.gov links the current form and its instructions. RepeatForm does not supply the blank form: get it from irs.gov.

Part I asks for your name, country of citizenship, permanent residence address, mailing address if different, U.S. and foreign tax identification numbers, date of birth and other details. Part II is for claiming tax treaty benefits. Part III is the certification, which you sign and date. RepeatForm does not choose any answer or decide whether a treaty applies: read the IRS instructions for each line or ask the payer.