The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released revised IRS Form W-8BEN (Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding (Individuals)). The IRS has also released revised IRS Instructions for Form W-8BEN .

Generally, certain foreign persons are required to provide IRS Form W-8BEN to their withholding agents or payors with regard to certain income payments, including fixed or determinable annual or periodical income (FDAP income) from US sources, in order to:

• establish that such persons are not US persons;
• claim that they are the beneficial owners of the payments; and
• claim income tax treaty benefits, if applicable, for the purpose of chapter 3 of the US Internal Revenue Code (IRC).
• The revised IRS Form W-8BEN modifies, Line 8 to request the date of birth for a beneficial owner who holds a financial account with a US office of a financial institution.

IRS Form W-8BEN has been updated to reflect the documentation requirements of IRC chapter 4, i.e. the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).

• IRS Form W-8BEN is now used exclusively by individuals.
• Entities should use IRS Form W-8BEN-E, however,
• the new W-8BEN-E is still in draft form.

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