Form W-9 (Rev. 11-2017)
Page 2
Example. Article 20 of the U.S.-China income tax treaty allows an
By signing the filled-out form, you:
exemption from tax for scholarship income received by a Chinese
student temporarily present in the United States. Under U.S. law, this
student will become a resident alien for tax purposes if his or her stay in
the United States exceeds 5 calendar years. However, paragraph 2 of
the first Protocol to the U.S.-China treaty (dated April 30, 1984) allows
the provisions of Article 20 to continue to apply even after the Chinese
student becomes a resident alien of the United States. A Chinese
student who qualifies for this exception (under paragraph 2 of the first
protocol) and is relying on this exception to claim an exemption from tax
on his or her scholarship or fellowship income would attach to Form
W-9 a statement that includes the information described above to
support that exemption.
1
. Certify that the TIN you are giving is correct (or you are waiting for a
number to be issued),
2
3
. Certify that you are not subject to backup withholding, or
. Claim exemption from backup withholding if you are a U.S. exempt
payee. If applicable, you are also certifying that as a U.S. person, your
allocable share of any partnership income from a U.S. trade or business
is not subject to the withholding tax on foreign partners' share of
effectively connected income, and
4. Certify that FATCA code(s) entered on this form (if any) indicating
that you are exempt from the FATCA reporting, is correct. See What is
FATCA reporting, later, for further information.
If you are a nonresident alien or a foreign entity, give the requester the
appropriate completed Form W-8 or Form 8233.
Note: If you are a U.S. person and a requester gives you a form other
than Form W-9 to request your TIN, you must use the requester’s form if
it is substantially similar to this Form W-9.
Backup Withholding
What is backup withholding? Persons making certain payments to you
must under certain conditions withhold and pay to the IRS 28% of such
payments. This is called “backup withholding.” Payments that may be
subject to backup withholding include interest, tax-exempt interest,
dividends, broker and barter exchange transactions, rents, royalties,
nonemployee pay, payments made in settlement of payment card and
third party network transactions, and certain payments from fishing boat
operators. Real estate transactions are not subject to backup
withholding.
Definition of a U.S. person. For federal tax purposes, you are
considered a U.S. person if you are:
•
An individual who is a U.S. citizen or U.S. resident alien;
•
A partnership, corporation, company, or association created or
organized in the United States or under the laws of the United States;
•
•
An estate (other than a foreign estate); or
A domestic trust (as defined in Regulations section 301.7701-7).
You will not be subject to backup withholding on payments you
receive if you give the requester your correct TIN, make the proper
certifications, and report all your taxable interest and dividends on your
tax return.
Special rules for partnerships. Partnerships that conduct a trade or
business in the United States are generally required to pay a withholding
tax under section 1446 on any foreign partners’ share of effectively
connected taxable income from such business. Further, in certain cases
where a Form W-9 has not been received, the rules under section 1446
require a partnership to presume that a partner is a foreign person, and
pay the section 1446 withholding tax. Therefore, if you are a U.S. person
that is a partner in a partnership conducting a trade or business in the
United States, provide Form W-9 to the partnership to establish your
U.S. status and avoid section 1446 withholding on your share of
partnership income.
Payments you receive will be subject to backup withholding if:
1. You do not furnish your TIN to the requester,
2. You do not certify your TIN when required (see the instructions for
Part II for details),
3. The IRS tells the requester that you furnished an incorrect TIN,
4. The IRS tells you that you are subject to backup withholding
In the cases below, the following person must give Form W-9 to the
partnership for purposes of establishing its U.S. status and avoiding
withholding on its allocable share of net income from the partnership
conducting a trade or business in the United States.
because you did not report all your interest and dividends on your tax
return (for reportable interest and dividends only), or
5. You do not certify to the requester that you are not subject to
backup withholding under 4 above (for reportable interest and dividend
accounts opened after 1983 only).
•
In the case of a disregarded entity with a U.S. owner, the U.S. owner
of the disregarded entity and not the entity;
In the case of a grantor trust with a U.S. grantor or other U.S. owner,
Certain payees and payments are exempt from backup withholding.
See Exempt payee code, later, and the separate Instructions for the
Requester of Form W-9 for more information.
•
generally, the U.S. grantor or other U.S. owner of the grantor trust and
not the trust; and
Also see Special rules for partnerships, earlier.
•
In the case of a U.S. trust (other than a grantor trust), the U.S. trust
(
other than a grantor trust) and not the beneficiaries of the trust.
What is FATCA Reporting?
Foreign person. If you are a foreign person or the U.S. branch of a
foreign bank that has elected to be treated as a U.S. person, do not use
Form W-9. Instead, use the appropriate Form W-8 or Form 8233 (see
Pub. 515, Withholding of Tax on Nonresident Aliens and Foreign
Entities).
The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) requires a
participating foreign financial institution to report all United States
account holders that are specified United States persons. Certain
payees are exempt from FATCA reporting. See Exemption from FATCA
reporting code, later, and the Instructions for the Requester of Form
W-9 for more information.
Nonresident alien who becomes a resident alien. Generally, only a
nonresident alien individual may use the terms of a tax treaty to reduce
or eliminate U.S. tax on certain types of income. However, most tax
treaties contain a provision known as a “saving clause.” Exceptions
specified in the saving clause may permit an exemption from tax to
continue for certain types of income even after the payee has otherwise
become a U.S. resident alien for tax purposes.
Updating Your Information
You must provide updated information to any person to whom you
claimed to be an exempt payee if you are no longer an exempt payee
and anticipate receiving reportable payments in the future from this
person. For example, you may need to provide updated information if
you are a C corporation that elects to be an S corporation, or if you no
longer are tax exempt. In addition, you must furnish a new Form W-9 if
the name or TIN changes for the account; for example, if the grantor of a
grantor trust dies.
If you are a U.S. resident alien who is relying on an exception
contained in the saving clause of a tax treaty to claim an exemption
from U.S. tax on certain types of income, you must attach a statement
to Form W-9 that specifies the following five items.
1. The treaty country. Generally, this must be the same treaty under
which you claimed exemption from tax as a nonresident alien.
Penalties
2
3
. The treaty article addressing the income.
. The article number (or location) in the tax treaty that contains the
Failure to furnish TIN. If you fail to furnish your correct TIN to a
requester, you are subject to a penalty of $50 for each such failure
unless your failure is due to reasonable cause and not to willful neglect.
saving clause and its exceptions.
4. The type and amount of income that qualifies for the exemption
Civil penalty for false information with respect to withholding. If you
make a false statement with no reasonable basis that results in no
backup withholding, you are subject to a $500 penalty.
from tax.
5. Sufficient facts to justify the exemption from tax under the terms of
the treaty article.