W-8BEN and W-9 Tax Forms

[ABOTadmin]

You may have noticed a new section in the payment settings called 'Tax Form'.

It is now a pre-requisite for all affiliates to fill up either one of the forms to be eligible for payment.

The W-8BEN form is for affiliates outside the United States, while the W-9 form is for US citizens.

Rest assured that your information will remain confidential and will only be divulged to related merchants to process payment.

Here's a brief summary of each form and how to fill them up. Simply put, the forms are for the merchants' use, they are not submitted to the IRS. Non-US affiliates will have to declare they're earnings to their respective tax bodies and be taxed accordingly in their home country.

!You have to complete the tax form before payment can be made!

Form W-8BEN (non-US affiliates)

The W-8BEN form (entitled Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding) is used in the United States taxation system by foreign individuals to certify their non-American status. The form, issued by the Internal Revenue Service, establishes that one is a foreign, non-resident alien or foreign national performing work outside the United States, in order to claim tax treaty benefits such as a lower amount of tax withholding from dividends paid by U.S. corporations. The W-8BEN form should be given to the withholding agent such as a stock broker, and not the IRS.

Instructions:

Part 1

1-5 -Self explanatory
6 - Leave blank
7 - Leave blank
8 - Leave blank

Part 2

9a - Tick and type in your country
9b - Leave blank
9c - Leave blank
9d - Leave blank
9e - Leave blank
10 - Leave blank
11 - Tick box

Part 3 -Type in your name and date


Form W-9 (US affiliates)

Form W-9, Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification, serves two purposes.

1) It is used to by third parties to file an information return with the IRS on reportable payments made to others.[7] It requests the name, address, and taxpayer identification information of a taxpayer (usually in the form of a Social Security Number or Employer Identification Number - either number is considered a Taxpayer Identification Number or TIN as it is commonly called).

The form is never actually sent to the IRS, but is maintained by the person who files the information return for verification purposes. The information on the W-9 and the payment made are usually reported on a Form 1096 or 1099.[8]

2) The second purpose is to help the payee avoid backup withholding. The payor must collect withholding taxes on certain reportable payments for the IRS. However, if the payee certifies on the W-9 they are not subject to backup withholding they generally receive the full payment due them from the payor.[9] This is similar to the withholding exemptions certifications found on Form W-4 for employees.

Instructions:

Fill up your particulars as per the instructions

Part 1: Fill in your social security number instead of the employer identification number

Signature: Fill in your name and date

[AffilXp]

mr admin... i need help on 'Part II' of W-8BEN form.

[ABOTadmin]

Sure. I'm working on a brief guide on each section of the tax form. Will post it up as soon as possible.

[SpaceBOT]

See above with more info added. More info will be added as the questions comes in on the first post.

[OwtTheeBox]

Hi! I am new to AffiliateBOT, and was wondering, is it really safe to write out my social security number on that form?

[SpaceBOT]

Yes it is safe... The US government requires this form before you can get paid if you're a US citizen.

[devilsrule2004]

yea these are required in almost all affiliate programs.

[sspamer]

Why is this tax form not on a secure connection (https) when this is sensitive information...??

[sirtaxster]

Sucks to be working in the US.

[metsfan]

Having trouble with the w-9 form. After I filled it out, it showed I hadn't filled it out yet. Tried once more, same thing. Not sure what I'm doing wrong?