The W-8BEN-E form is a Certificate of Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding and Reporting (Entities). It is used to document the foreign entity status for purposes of chapters 3 and 4 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code.
The following process details the verification of the form to meet the IRS requirements and ensure the information accuracy:
- W8’s version. The version of the W8 must be the October 2021 rev. or later.
- Name of organization that is the beneficial owner. The company name must match the legal name entered on graphite and government records is available.
- Country of incorporation or organization. The country of registration must be filled.
- Chapter 3 Status (entity type). Only one checkbox must be selected.
- Chapter 4 Status (FATCA status). A checkbox must be selected and the follow up section indicated on the status chosen must be filled out. This section may be bypassed if the company does not apply to any of the categories.
- Permanent residence address. The address, city/town and country must be filled.
- U.S. taxpayer identification number (TIN), if required. “U.S. taxpayer identification number (TIN)" is a must ONLY if the supplier has entered it in his Graphite Profile and it is valid on the IRS records.
- Foreign TIN. This field must be filled in with one Tax ID. However, if the supplier has already answered question 8 (U.S. TIN) it's not mandatory. If the supplier checks the box for question 9c (Check if FTIN not legally required), they are no longer required to answer question 8 or 9b.
- Claim of Tax Treaty Benefits (if applicable). If the company is claiming treaty benefits, they must fill Part III
- Capacity to sign checkbox. This checkbox located at the end of the W8 form, must be checked.
- Signature, print name and date. These fields must be completed. Digital signatures are valid.