What Form W-8BEN is for
Foreign persons pay U.S. tax at a 30% rate on many kinds of U.S. source income, such as interest, dividends, rents, royalties, and annuities. The payer collects that tax by holding it back before you get the money. Form W-8BEN is how you tell that payer you are not a U.S. person, that you own the income, and that a tax treaty may lower the rate.
Only individuals use this form. Entities use Form W-8BEN-E. You give it to the withholding agent, payer, or foreign financial institution that asks for it, not to the IRS. A bank or broker may also ask for it to document your account as something other than a U.S. account, and a payment settlement entity may ask for it before reporting card payments to you.
Who has to give a Form W-8BEN?
Give this form to the withholding agent or payer if you are a nonresident alien who is the beneficial owner of an amount subject to withholding. Give it if you hold an account at a foreign financial institution and are documenting yourself as a nonresident alien. Submit it when asked, whether or not you are claiming a reduced rate or an exemption. If you are the single owner of a disregarded entity, you count as the beneficial owner of income that entity receives.
- Not an individual: use Form W-8BEN-E
- U.S. citizen or resident alien, even living abroad: use Form W-9
- Income effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business: use Form W-8ECI
- Pay for personal services done in the United States: use Form 8233 or Form W-4
- Acting as an intermediary, agent, nominee, or custodian: use Form W-8IMY
- Trustee of a foreign trust: use Form W-8BEN-E or Form W-8IMY for the trust
When do you give it, and how long does it stay good?
There is no filing due date. Hand the form to the person requesting it before the payment is made to you, credited to your account, or allocated. Once signed, it generally stays in effect from the signing date through the last day of the third calendar year that follows. The instructions give this example: a form signed on September 30, 2015 remains valid through December 31, 2018. Under certain conditions it stays in effect indefinitely until something about your situation changes.
- If a change makes any information on the form wrong, tell the agent within 30 days and file a new form
- Moving to a U.S. address is a change in circumstances
- If you claim treaty benefits, moving to the United States or out of your treaty country is a change in circumstances
- If you become a U.S. citizen or resident alien, notify the agent within 30 days and you may need to provide a Form W-9
- Income that becomes effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business ends the form's validity for that income, and you must file Form W-8ECI
Where does Form W-8BEN go?
Do not send it to the IRS. Give it to the person asking you for it. That is usually whoever pays you, credits your account, or a partnership that allocates income to you. A foreign financial institution may also request it. Each withholding agent generally needs its own separate form. If you receive more than one type of income from the same agent and claim different benefits for each, that agent can require a separate form for each type of income. If you own the income or account jointly, all owners have to provide a Form W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E.
How do you fill out Form W-8BEN?
Part I is your identity. Use your own name and country of citizenship, and give the address in the country where you are a resident for income tax purposes. That address cannot be a post office box, an in-care-of address, a bank's address, or an address you use only for mail. Part II is only for claiming treaty benefits. Part III is the signature, signed under penalties of perjury. Leave Part II blank if you are only proving that you are a foreign person.
- A signer with a power of attorney must attach it, and Form 2848 works for this
- Typing your name into the signature line is not an electronic signature
- A withholding agent may accept an electronic signature that shows who signed and when
- It usually takes 4 to 6 weeks to get an ITIN after you file Form W-7
What changed in the October 2021 revision?
This revision adds line 6b for account holders who are not legally required to obtain a foreign tax identifying number, and renumbers the old line 6 as line 6a. The instructions now cover using the form as an individual transferring a partnership interest that is subject to withholding on the amount realized. They also cover sellers of life insurance contracts and recipients of reportable death benefits under section 6050Y, and they add guidance on electronic signatures on withholding certificates.
- Withholding on transfers of publicly traded partnership interests applies to transfers and distributions on or after January 1, 2023
- The rules for transfers of interests in partnerships that are not publicly traded generally apply to transfers after January 29, 2021
- Line 10 now covers treaty claims on business profits or gains not attributable to a permanent establishment, and treaty claims under a remittance-based tax system
Form W-8BEN line by line
| Line | What goes there |
|---|---|
| 1 | Your name as the individual beneficial owner. Do not put a disregarded entity's name here. |
| 2 | Your country of citizenship. Dual citizens enter the country where they are both a citizen and a resident now. |
| 3 | Your permanent residence address in the country where you are a tax resident. No P.O. box, no in-care-of address, no bank address. |
| 4 | Your mailing address, only if it differs from line 3. |
| 5 | Your U.S. taxpayer identification number, an SSN or ITIN, if one is required. |
| 6a | The foreign tax identifying number issued by your country of tax residence, if you hold a financial account at a U.S. office of a financial institution. |
| 6b | Check this box if you are not legally required to get a foreign tax identifying number from your country of residence. |
| 7 | Any reference number or account number that helps the withholding agent match the form to your payment or account. |
| 8 | Your date of birth in MM-DD-YYYY format, if you are documenting a financial account at a U.S. office of a financial institution. |
| 9 | The treaty country where you are a resident for income tax treaty purposes. |
| 10 | The treaty article, paragraph, rate, income type, and the extra conditions you meet. Only for treaty claims not already covered by line 9 and Part III. |
| Part III | Your signature, the date in MM-DD-YYYY format, and your printed name. Check the capacity box if you sign for someone else. |
Penalties and withholding
30%
Withholding on your U.S. source income if you do not provide the form when it is requested
Source: IRS, Form W-8BEN (Rev. Oct 2021) and Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding and Reporting (Individuals). This page explains the form in plain English. It is not tax advice.