Voip Blog
Form W-8
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
In continuation of my earlier blog entry about tax reporting for U.S. citizens and permanent residents, let's look at the form meant for affiliates outside the United States. Both are required to be received by the advertiser prior to the first commission payment.
For non-U.S. affiliates the form is called W-8-BEN, also known as Beneficial Owner's Certificate of Foreign Status for U.S. Tax Withholding and it's very similar to Form W-9 except that one has to provide the proper information regarding the tax relationship between the affiliate's country and the United States. Form W-8 also assures the tax authorities that the "Beneficial Owner" (the affiliate) is not conducting actual business transactions with the U.S.
Affiliates outside the U.S. that have businesses in the country are required to submit other W-8 forms. If that's the case, contact an accountant to make sure your documents are correct.
The direct link to the form is http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw8ben.pdf
For complete instructions visit http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/iw8.pdf
