IRS Updates Instructions for Form W-8BEN to Conform with New Regulations

This blog was last updated on March 11, 2019

The IRS has updated the instructions for Form W-8BEN, Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding and Reporting (Individuals). There are a number of changes from the previous revision:

• Some minor updates made to Form W-8BEN to conform with Form W-8BEN-E.
• Instructions have been updated to reflect temporary and final regulations under chapters 3 and 4 (published in January 2017)
  • Instructions include additional information on when a foreign TIN and date of birth are required to be included on Form W-8BEN
    • Some specific Line 6 changes:
      • If you are providing this form to document a financial account described above but you do not enter a TIN on line 6, and you are not a resident of a U.S. possession, you must provide the withholding agent with an explanation for why you have not been issued a TIN
        • The explanation may be written on line 6, in the margins of the form, or on a separate attached statement associated with the form.
      • If you are not using this form to document a financial account described above, you may provide the TIN issued to you by your jurisdiction of tax residence on line 6 for purposes of claiming treaty benefits (rather than providing a U.S. TIN on line 5, if required)
    • Instructions also include information about the use of electronic signatures
      • A withholding agent may allow you to provide this form with an electronic signature.
      • The electronic signature must indicate that the form was electronically signed by a person authorized to do so (for example, with a time and date stamp and statement that the form has been electronically signed).
        • Simply typing your name into the signature line is not considered an electronic signature.