How to fill out Form W-8BEN

Who needs this form

You give Form W-8BEN to a withholding agent or payer when you are a nonresident alien individual who is the beneficial owner of income subject to US withholding. Common cases:

• You are a freelancer outside the United States, paid by a US client or platform.
• You hold an account at a US bank, broker or other financial institution.
• A US payer sends you royalties, interest, dividends or other US-source income.

You give it when asked, whether or not you claim a reduced rate. If you are the only owner of a disregarded entity (for example a single-member US LLC), you are the beneficial owner, so you give the form in your own name.

Use a different form if any of these fits you:

• You are a US citizen (even living abroad) or another US person, including a resident alien: Form W-9.
• You are a company, partnership or other entity: Form W-8BEN-E.
• Your income is effectively connected with a US trade or business: Form W-8ECI.
• You receive the income as an agent or intermediary for someone else: Form W-8IMY.
• You are a foreign government, international organization, foreign central bank or foreign tax-exempt organization: Form W-8EXP.
• You claim a treaty exemption on pay for personal services performed in the United States: Form 8233, or Form W-4 for wages.

Watch the day count. If you meet the substantial presence test, you are a US resident for tax and must give a W-9 instead, within 30 days.

What to have ready

• Your full legal name.
• Your country of citizenship. Dual citizens enter the country where they are both a citizen and a resident.
• Your permanent residence address: the address in the country where you are a resident for its income tax. No P.O. box, in-care-of address, bank address or mailing-only address.
• A mailing address, only if it is different.
• Your US TIN (SSN or ITIN), only if required. Most people abroad have none.
• Your foreign tax identifying number (FTIN) from your country of tax residence, or the reason you are not legally required to have one.
• Your date of birth.
• For a treaty claim: your treaty country, and if line 10 applies, the article, paragraph, rate and income type.

Step by step

1. Enter your name and citizenship Line 1

   Write your own name on Line 1. If you own a disregarded entity, still use your name, not the entity's. Enter your country of citizenship on Line 2. If you are not a resident of any country where you are a citizen, enter the country where you most recently lived.

2. Give your permanent residence address Line 3

   This is where you live in the country that taxes you as a resident. If you claim a treaty, determine residency the way the treaty requires. If you have no tax residence anywhere, use where you normally live. In a country without street addresses, a descriptive address is fine if it accurately shows your residence.

3. Add a mailing address only if different Line 4

   Leave Line 4 blank when mail goes to your line 3 address.

4. Enter a US TIN if you need one Line 5

   Enter your SSN if you have one. If you are not eligible for an SSN, an ITIN comes from Form W-7. A treaty claim generally needs either a US TIN here or an FTIN on line 6a. The exceptions are income from actively traded stocks and debt, US mutual fund dividends, and publicly offered unit investment trusts. An SSN or ITIN is also required for certain annuity exemptions and for forms given to a partnership with a US trade or business.

5. Enter your foreign tax number or check the box Line 6a

   Line 6a is required when you document a financial account held at a US office of a financial institution and receive US-source income reported on Form 1042-S. It is not required if you live in a US territory, or if your country is on the IRS list of jurisdictions that do not issue foreign TINs. You may also enter your FTIN to support a treaty claim instead of a US TIN.

   Check Line 6b only if you are not legally required to obtain an FTIN, including when your country does not issue them. Checking it counts as your explanation. You can add more in the margin or on an attached statement.

6. Add a reference number and date of birth Line 7

   Line 7 is optional. Use it for a reference code the requester gave you or your account number. A disregarded entity owner can note the entity's name and account number here.

   On Line 8, enter your date of birth as MM-DD-YYYY. April 15, 1956 is 04-15-1956. It is required when you document a financial account at a US office of a financial institution.

7. Name your treaty country Line 9

   Fill in Part II only if you claim treaty benefits. On Line 9, name the country where you are a resident under the treaty. Check that the United States has an income tax treaty with that country on the IRS tax treaties page. If you are related to the withholding agent and receive more than $500,000 in a year, you generally also file Form 8833.

8. State special rates and conditions Line 10

   Use Line 10 only when the treaty benefit needs conditions not covered by line 9 and Part III. Plain interest and most dividends do not need it. It is required for royalties when the treaty sets different rates by type, for students and researchers, for business profits or gains not attributable to a permanent establishment, and for remittance-based claims.

   Fill in the article and paragraph, the withholding rate, the type of income, and an explanation of the conditions you meet. The rate depends on your treaty and your income. Look it up in the tax treaty tables and Publication 901, or ask a tax professional.

9. Sign, date and print your name Part III

   Read the certifications in Part III: you sign under penalties of perjury. Sign, enter the date as MM-DD-YYYY, and print your name. The check box certifies that the signer has capacity to sign for the person on line 1. An agent signing under a power of attorney must check it and attach the power of attorney (Form 2848 can serve).

   The withholding agent decides whether it accepts an electronic signature. Typing your name on the signature line is not one.

Common mistakes

Where it goes

Give the form to the person who asked for it: the payer, the platform, the partnership or the financial institution. Do not send it to the IRS. Give it before the payment is made or credited. Each withholding agent generally needs its own copy, and a payer may ask for one form per income type.

The form generally stays valid from the date you sign it until the last day of the third calendar year after that. A form signed on September 30, 2026 is valid through December 31, 2029. Some forms stay valid indefinitely under the regulations.

If anything on it becomes incorrect, tell the withholding agent and give a new form within 30 days. Moving to the United States is a change in circumstances. So is moving out of your treaty country if you claim treaty benefits. Becoming a US citizen or resident alien means you may need a W-9.

Without a valid W-8BEN, the payer may withhold at 30% on US-source income such as compensation, royalties, interest and dividends, or apply backup withholding.