IRS · United States

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Form W-8BEN: Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for US Tax Withholding (Individuals)

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Quick answer

Form W-8BEN, Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner, is the IRS form a non-US individual gives to a US payer or financial institution to certify they are not a US person and, where a tax treaty applies, to claim a reduced rate of withholding on US-source income. You give it to the withholding agent — not to the IRS. The current edition is Rev. October 2021, a one-page fillable PDF from the IRS; entities use Form W-8BEN-E instead. With JustFill you upload that blank PDF, the AI maps each field, you type your details, and the first clean completed PDF download is included at no charge.

Form
Form W-8BEN
Issued by
IRS
Country
United States
Free allowance
First clean download
Official edition
Rev. October 2021 (Instructions for Form W-8BEN Rev. October 2021); the IRS "About Form W-8 BEN" page, last reviewed 01-Oct-2025, lists no newer revision
Source checked

What is Form W-8BEN?

Form W-8BEN establishes that the beneficial owner of US-source income (interest, dividends, royalties, certain service payments) is a foreign individual, so the payer applies the correct withholding — often reduced under an income-tax treaty between the US and your country of residence. It is the foreign-person counterpart to Form W-9. You hand it to the bank, broker, or payer that requested it; it is not filed with the IRS. Individuals use W-8BEN; companies, partnerships and trusts use Form W-8BEN-E, and a foreign individual paid for services performed inside the United States uses Form 8233 or W-4 instead. JustFill lets you complete the W-8BEN online so your name, country, and treaty claim are legible; the first clean completed download is included at no charge.

Download the Form W-8BEN form PDF — free

The official Form W-8BEN PDF (Rev. October 2021, one page) is free at irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw8ben.pdf, with the separate instructions at irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/iw8ben.pdf; the IRS “About Form W-8 BEN” page lists no newer revision. It is already a fillable PDF. Entities need Form W-8BEN-E (Rev. October 2021, eight pages) at irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw8bene.pdf instead. Open the blank W-8BEN in JustFill to type your identification and treaty details on screen, download the completed form — the first clean completed download is included at no charge — and give it to your US payer, broker, or bank, not to the IRS.

Get the official Form W-8BEN PDF from IRS

Who fills out Form W-8BEN?

  • Non-US individuals receiving US-source income (freelancers, investors, authors)
  • Foreign account holders at US banks or brokerages
  • Non-resident contractors paid by US companies for work performed outside the United States (services performed inside the US use Form 8233 or W-4 instead)
  • Anyone claiming a reduced withholding rate under a tax treaty

Field-by-field breakdown

What each section of Form W-8BEN asks for. JustFill’s AI will detect these fields automatically when you upload the PDF — review the breakdown below so you know what to enter.

Part I — Identification

Lines 1–8: your name, country of citizenship, permanent residence address (no P.O. box or in-care-of address), a mailing address only if different, a US SSN or ITIN only if required (line 5), your foreign tax identifying number (line 6a) or the line 6b box if your country does not issue one, an optional reference number (line 7), and your date of birth (line 8, required for accounts at US financial institutions).

Part II — Treaty claim

Line 9 names the treaty country you are resident in. Line 10 is only for claims that need extra conditions — the article and paragraph, the rate, and the type of income — such as royalties taxed at several rates, student or researcher exemptions, or business profits not attributable to a permanent establishment. Ordinary dividend and interest claims leave line 10 blank.

Part III — Certification

The beneficial owner signs and dates under penalties of perjury and prints their name. An agent may sign only under a power of attorney (Form 2848 works), must tick the box certifying capacity to sign, and must attach the authorization. Typing your name is not an electronic signature; a payer may accept a genuine e-signature that shows when and by whom the form was signed.

Common mistakes to avoid

  • 1Sending the W-8BEN to the IRS — it goes to the payer/withholding agent who requested it.
  • 2Leaving the treaty section blank when you qualify, so full 30% withholding applies instead of the treaty rate.
  • 3Letting it expire — a W-8BEN stays in effect from the date signed until the last day of the third following calendar year (signed 30 September 2025, valid through 31 December 2028), and you must give a new one within 30 days if anything on it becomes incorrect.

Form W-8BEN example — what a filled-out form looks like

A fictional UK resident, Amelia Sample, opens an account with a US broker to hold US-listed shares. She is not a US person, has no SSN or ITIN, and wants the US–UK treaty rate on dividends instead of the default 30% withholding.

Line 1 — Name of individual who is the beneficial owner

Amelia Sample

Your own name as an individual. A company, partnership or trust must use Form W-8BEN-E instead.

Line 2 — Country of citizenship

United Kingdom

Dual citizens enter the country where they are both a citizen and a resident when they sign.

Line 3 — Permanent residence address

12 Example Road, Bath BA1 •••, United Kingdom

The address in the country where you are tax resident. No P.O. box, no in-care-of address, and not the broker’s address.

Line 4 — Mailing address

Left blank

Only needed if your mail goes somewhere other than the line 3 address.

Line 5 — US taxpayer identification number (SSN or ITIN)

Left blank

Not required here: she has no SSN, and the IRS instructions say an ITIN is not needed to claim treaty benefits on dividends from actively traded stocks when a foreign tax ID is given on line 6a.

Line 6a — Foreign tax identifying number

QQ 12 34 56 • (UK National Insurance number)

Required when you document an account held at a US financial institution, unless your country issues no TINs or you can tick line 6b.

Line 6b — FTIN not legally required

Left unchecked

Tick it only if your country of residence does not require you to have a tax identification number.

Line 8 — Date of birth

04-15-1980

Required for account holders at a US financial institution; the format is MM-DD-YYYY.

Line 9 — Treaty country

United Kingdom

This is the treaty claim. The broker applies the treaty’s portfolio-dividend rate (15% under the US–UK treaty) instead of the 30% statutory rate.

Line 10 — Special rates and conditions

Left blank

Line 10 is only for claims that depend on extra conditions — royalties with several rates, student or researcher exemptions, business profits not attributable to a permanent establishment. A standard dividend claim does not use it.

Part III — Signature, date, print name of signer

Amelia signs and dates; prints “Amelia Sample”; capacity box left unchecked

She signs for herself. The capacity box is only ticked by an agent signing under a power of attorney, who must also attach the authorization.

These values are made up. They are here to show what belongs on each line, not to be copied — every name, number, and address on your own Form W-8BEN has to be your own.

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Frequently asked questions

A foreign individual uses it to certify non-US status to a US payer and, where a treaty applies, to claim a reduced rate of US tax withholding on income like dividends, interest, or royalties.
No. You give it to the withholding agent — the US bank, broker, or company paying you. They keep it on file; it is not submitted to the IRS.
Yes — the IRS PDF itself is fillable, and you can also upload it to JustFill, where the AI detects each field so you can type your name, country, and treaty claim in the browser and download the completed form; the first clean completed download is included at no charge, and no Adobe is needed. Whichever way you fill it, the form must be signed by you (ink, or a genuine e-signature the payer accepts) and handed to the payer.
From the date you sign it through the last day of the third following calendar year — a form signed on 30 September 2025 is good through 31 December 2028. If anything on it becomes incorrect (you move, or you become a US citizen or resident), you must give the payer a new form within 30 days.
Part I: line 1 your name; line 2 country of citizenship; line 3 permanent residence address (no P.O. box); line 4 a mailing address only if different; line 5 an SSN or ITIN only if you have one and it is required; line 6a your home-country tax ID, or tick 6b if your country does not issue one; line 7 an optional account or reference number; line 8 date of birth as MM-DD-YYYY. Part II: line 9 the treaty country, and line 10 only if your claim needs special conditions. Part III: sign, date, and print your name. Give the form to the payer before it pays you — with no valid form on file it may withhold 30%.
W-8BEN is for individuals; W-8BEN-E is the entity version for companies, partnerships, and trusts — both are Rev. October 2021. W-8BEN-E runs to eight pages because it also documents FATCA status. A sole trader who is an individual still uses W-8BEN, and a foreign individual who is the single owner of a disregarded entity completes W-8BEN in their own name unless the entity claims treaty benefits as a hybrid. The W-8BEN-E PDF is at irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw8bene.pdf.
Usually not. Line 5 is for an SSN or ITIN only when one is required — for example a partner in a partnership that does business in the US, or someone claiming an exemption for certain annuities. To claim treaty benefits you generally need either an ITIN or your home-country tax ID on line 6a, and no US number at all is required for treaty claims on dividends and interest from actively traded stocks or mutual-fund dividends.

Official source: Form W-8BEN on IRS’s website

Edition checked: Rev. October 2021 (Instructions for Form W-8BEN Rev. October 2021); the IRS "About Form W-8 BEN" page, last reviewed 01-Oct-2025, lists no newer revision. Verified against the official source on .

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