How to fill out Form W-8BEN-E

Who needs this form

You need Form W-8BEN-E if your entity is organized outside the United States and is the beneficial owner of a payment, meaning it keeps the income for itself. The typical case is a small foreign company paid by a US client or platform. The request can come from a US withholding agent or payer, or from a foreign financial institution (FFI) that wants to document an account you hold.

Some readers need a different form:

• A foreign individual, including a sole proprietor with no company, uses Form W-8BEN.
• A US entity, US citizen or US resident uses Form W-9.
• Income effectively connected with a US trade or business goes on Form W-8ECI.
• An intermediary, or a foreign partnership or simple or grantor trust that is not making a treaty claim, generally uses Form W-8IMY.
• A foreign government, international organization, central bank of issue or foreign tax-exempt organization claiming an exemption under section 115(2), 501(c), 892, 895 or 1443(b) uses Form W-8EXP, unless it is claiming treaty benefits.

A disregarded entity (a single-owner entity that is not a corporation for US tax) generally does not give this form. Its owner does. So a US LLC with one foreign owner, which is disregarded unless it elected otherwise, does not sign in its own name: a foreign company that owns it gives Form W-8BEN-E with the company's own name on Line 1, and can put the LLC's name on Line 10. A foreign individual owner uses Form W-8BEN.

What to have ready

• The entity's exact legal name, as in its incorporation documents.
• The country where it was incorporated or organized.
• Its US tax classification (for most foreign companies with limited liability, this is a corporation).
• Its permanent residence address, the street address where it is resident for tax.
• A separate mailing address, only if mail goes elsewhere.
• Its US EIN, if it has one.
• The tax identification number its country of residence issued to it (foreign TIN).
• Last year's income split (sales and services versus dividends, interest, rents, royalties) and a rough view of its assets, to choose its FATCA status.
• If it may be a passive NFFE: the name, address and US TIN of any US person owning more than 10% of it.
• If it claims a treaty: the treaty article and the limitation on benefits test it meets.
• Any reference or account number the requester gave you.
• The name of an officer or authorized representative who can sign.

Step by step

1. Enter the name of the beneficial owner Line 1

   Write the legal name of the entity that owns the income. If the payment goes to a disregarded entity or a branch, do not enter its business name. Enter the name of its owner, or of the entity the branch belongs to. A hybrid entity claiming a treaty on its own behalf follows the special instructions instead.

2. Give the country of organization Line 2

   A corporation enters its country of incorporation. Any other entity enters the country under whose laws it was created or organized.

3. Leave the disregarded entity line empty in most cases Line 3

   Line 3 is for a disregarded entity receiving the payment that has its own GIIN and is a reporting Model 1 or Model 2 FFI. An ordinary operating company leaves it blank.

4. Check one chapter 3 status Line 4

   Check one box with the entity's classification under US tax principles, not under your local law. Most foreign companies whose owners all have limited liability are corporations unless they elected otherwise on Form 8832. If you check partnership, disregarded entity, simple trust or grantor trust, answer the hybrid question: check "Yes" only if the entity is a hybrid making a treaty claim on its own behalf, and then complete Part III.

5. Check one chapter 4 (FATCA) status Line 5

   This is a separate question from Line 4. Most small companies that are not banks, funds, brokers or insurers are a nonfinancial foreign entity (NFFE), either active or passive. Choose active NFFE if the entity is not a financial institution and both of these are true: less than 50% of its gross income for the preceding calendar year is passive income, and less than 50% of its assets produce or are held to produce passive income (a weighted average measured quarterly). Passive income includes dividends, interest, rents, royalties and annuities. A company selling goods or services usually passes; a holding company living on dividends usually is a passive NFFE. If the test is close, ask a tax professional.

6. Enter the permanent residence address Line 6

   Use the address in the country where the entity is resident for income tax. Do not use a P.O. box, an in-care-of address, a bank's address or a mail-only address, unless it is your registered address in your organizational documents and the only one you use. If the entity has no tax residence anywhere, use its principal office.

7. Add a mailing address only if different Line 7

   Leave it empty if mail goes to the Line 6 address.

8. Enter a US EIN if you have or need one Line 8

   Many foreign companies have no EIN and leave this blank. You need a US TIN if the entity must file a US return, for example as a partner in a partnership doing business in the US. You also need one to claim treaty benefits when you do not give a foreign TIN on Line 9b. You apply for an EIN with Form SS-4 or online at irs.gov.

9. Enter the GIIN or foreign TIN Line 9a

   Line 9a is the GIIN. Only registered financial institutions and direct reporting NFFEs have one, so an active or passive NFFE leaves it empty. On Line 9b, enter the tax number issued by your country of residence. It is required when the form documents a financial account at a US office of a financial institution and you receive income reported on Form 1042-S, unless your country is on the IRS list of jurisdictions that do not issue foreign TINs. You can also give it to support a treaty claim instead of an EIN. Check Line 9c only if you are not legally required to obtain a foreign TIN; you can add an explanation in the margin or on an attached statement.

10. Add a reference number Line 10

    Optional. Use it for an account or reference number the requester gave you. The single owner of a disregarded entity can note here that the account is in the disregarded entity's name.

11. Fill Part II only for a disregarded entity or branch Part II

    Complete Part II only if the payment goes to a disregarded entity with its own GIIN, or to a branch in a country other than the one on Line 2. Enter its FATCA status on Line 11, its address on Line 12 and its GIIN on Line 13.

12. Claim treaty benefits, if any Part III

    On Line 14a, enter the country where the entity is resident for treaty purposes and check the box. On Line 14b, certify that the entity derives the income and meets the treaty's limitation on benefits (LOB) article, and check the one LOB test it meets, or "No LOB article in treaty" if the treaty has none. The tests vary by treaty, so read the LOB article itself and Table 4 of the IRS treaty tables. Line 14c applies only to certain dividends and branch interest under treaties in force before 1987. Use Line 15 only for a rate that needs conditions beyond Line 14, such as a dividend rate tied to an ownership percentage and period: give the article and paragraph, the rate, the type of income and the conditions you meet.

13. Complete the part for your FATCA status Part XXV

    Complete only the one part that matches Line 5. An active NFFE checks the box on Line 39. A passive NFFE completes Part XXVI: check Line 40a, then either Line 40b (no substantial US owners) or Line 40c and list each substantial US owner's name, address and US TIN in Part XXIX. A substantial US owner is generally a specified US person owning more than 10% of the entity, directly or indirectly. Every other status (FFIs, exempt beneficial owners, nonprofits, publicly traded NFFEs and others) has its own part named next to its box on Line 5; follow the instructions for it.

14. Sign and date the certification Part XXX

    An officer or authorized representative checks the box confirming capacity to sign for the entity on Line 1, signs, prints the name and dates it (MM-DD-YYYY). An agent signing under a power of attorney attaches it (Form 2848 can be used). A withholding agent may accept an electronic signature that shows it was signed electronically by an authorized person; typing a name alone is not one. Signing also commits the entity to give a new form within 30 days of a change.

Common mistakes

Where it goes

Give the completed form to the withholding agent, payer or financial institution that asked for it. 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 one that pays you several types of income may ask for a separate form for each.

Without a valid form, the withholding agent may have to withhold 30% of the payment under chapter 3 or chapter 4, or apply backup withholding.

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 stays valid through December 31, 2029. If something on it becomes incorrect, such as your address, ownership or FATCA status, you must tell the withholding agent or financial institution and give a new form within 30 days.