W-8Ben Form Completion Instructions

More and more foreign enterprises and individuals are seeking development opportunities in the United States, for foreigners who working or conducting business dealings in the U.S, they must be familiar with Form W-8BEN in order to file a tax report for U.S.-based income. What is W-8Ben Form and How to fill it out? This article will give you an answer.

 

 

What is W-8Ben Form?

According to U.S. tax regulations, foreign individuals are normally subject to a 30% tax rate on certain types of income they receive from U.S. payers. W-8Ben is used by foreign individuals to claim a reduction or exemption from U.S. tax withholding if they reside in a country that has an income tax treaty with U.S. Therefore, foreign individuals fill out the form to certify that their country of residence for tax purposes is outside of the United States, qualifying foreign individuals for a lower withholding rate. You should provide W-8 Form to payers or withholding agents instead of the IRS. If you do not deliver your W-8Ben form on time, you may be required to pay taxes at a full rate of 30%. To download a W-8Ben Form Template, You can go to IRS or PDF Reader Pro Official Website. 

 

What will the W-8Ben form prove for you? 

1. You are not a U.S. resident.

2. You are the owner of income that requires a withholding tax.

3. Your country has an income tax treaty with U.S. so you can apply for a deduction for the withholding tax.

 

Pay attention, if you claim a tax deduction for a non-U.S. foreign business, you have to fill out W-8Ben-E Form.

 

How to Fill Out W-8Ben Form?

W-8Ben Form is divided into three parts, the first part has 8 lines, which is devoted to the identification of the beneficial owner.

 

 

Line 1

Enter the full name of the beneficial owner on the first line. Do not use abbreviations or acronyms.

 

Line 2

Enter your country of citizenship. If you are a dual citizen, enter the country where you are both a citizen and a resident at the time you complete this form. If you are not a resident in any country in which you have citizenship, enter the country where you were most recently a resident.

 

Line 3

Your permanent residence address is the address in the country where you claim to be a resident for purposes of that country’s income tax. You should enter a detailed address as well as City or town, state or province, including postal code where appropriate. 

 

Line 4

If your mailing address is different from the Permanent residence address, you need to fill out this field.

 

Line 5

If you have a social security number (SSN), type it here. If you do not have an SSN and are not qualified to get one, you can apply for an individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN). To get an ITIN, submit form W-7 to the IRS. You must provide an SSN or ITIN to claim the treaty benefit.

 

Line 6

In 6a field, enter your foreign tax identifying number (FTIN) issued by your jurisdiction of tax residence identified on line 3. Check the box in 6b if an ITIN is not required.

 

Line 7

This line may be used by the filer of Form W-8BEN or by the withholding agent to whom it is provided to include any referencing information that is useful to the withholding agent in performing its obligations.

 

Line 8

Enter the date of your birth. Make sure it’s in mm-dd-yyyy format.

 

Part 2 is the claim of treaty benefit, which includes two lines.

 

 

In Line 9, you should identify the country where you claim to be a resident for income tax treaty purposes.

 

Line 10 must be used only if you are claiming treaty benefits that require that you meet conditions not covered by the representations you make on line 9 and Part III.

 

Part 3 is certification. 

 

 

After confirming that your information is correct, you can sign the W-8Ben Form and add the current date.

 

How to Fill Out W-8Ben with PDF Reader Pro?

PDF Reader Pro allows you to fill out a form quickly. Firstly, download PDF Reader Pro and open the W-8Ben with it.

1. Form W-8Ben is a PDF document that contains interactive form field, so you can directly type on it;

2. Or you can tick the checkboxes as needed;

3. To sign on the W-8Ben Form, you can click Tools on the toolbar and choose Signature.

4. To print the form, click File on the top menu bar and choose Print. 

 

There are many different types of W8 form, including W-8Ben (the most common), W-8Ben-E (for enterprise), W-8ECI, W-8EXP, and W-8IMY. You need to distinguish the difference between each form. In addition, make sure to submit tax forms before the expiration date to avoid paying taxes in different two countries.