W-8BEN tax form? Help
 

I got a letter from Adult Friend Finder saying they want me to submit a W-8BEN tax form to claim exemption from tax withholding because I'm a foreigner.

I've never had to send in any tax forms or similar stuff before to any other sponsor. Why do I need to do this now? Is it a new ruling or something?

Can any other "foreigners" shed light on this one?

PS... no wonder people think there's a conspiracy in the government to cover up the existence of aliens. This is from the W-8BEN form:

Do not use Form W-8BEN if:
You are a nonresident alien individual...
You are a reverse hybrid entity...

and it talks about being "fiscally transparent".

Eeek!
|ufo|

Forgot to include the URL:
this is the form - http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/iw8ben.pdf

Basically when a sponsor pays webmasters more than $600 (or so, can't remember, my accountant deals with it), and they are a US resident, a 1099 needs to be filed. For this, a W-9 form is requested when the person signs up. Many sponsors and processors don't do this.

However, if the IRS questions it, then you have to show that you are either withholding, or exempt. For non-US webmasters getting paid from a US Based corporation, the W8BEN needs to be filed. Refusal to file the W8BEN could end up having the company either not send the payment -- or withholding 30% which you would later have to claim from the US Government.

The law has always been there, however, its usually not enforced until someone at the IRS questions the company doing the payouts.

I would imagine in the next year, many many sponsors will start sending W9 and W8BEN forms to webmasters -- no matter how much the payout.

That is really strange, because I've had 3 non-US Independent Contractors for years now & my accountant never had me fill anything out for them like that form.

Its a matter of how much is being spent.

If you are running a $50 million enterprise, and $30 million is going offshore, the government really wants to make sure that the $30 million isn't subject to tax. Heaven forbid they miss a penny. :)

Yeah - that's probably why he told me there were no forms to fill out - I don't pay my slaves that well :D

Grandma... ignore it.... it's not for us down here...

DD

Hey guys,

The W-8BEN is just a from that explains to the IRS why you have not filled out a W-9. Basically it's proof to our government that you are not a US resident. Filling the W-8BEN form ensures that the IRS won't ask us to withhold your funds. If you have any questions about you can call 1-800-388-0760 or e-mail affiliates@friendfinderinc.com.

So Sagi_AFF,

Are you saying that we all have to fill them out US res. or not?


I have never had to fill out any form before..

DD

Fetish Cash (I think it was them) requires you to fill out a W-8BEN or they withhold your payments

DD,

the way it works is this.

US corporation pays people, some of these checks are more than $600, US Corp says, these are sales commisions. IRS says, hmm. IRS says, lets see the W9 filed for each of these, so US corp goes on a push to get W9's from those people in the USA because IRS doesn't care about the offshore guys.

Nafta (ha, remember Nafta) opens up the community, we have a war with terrorists, Up comes a new law (not really new, just newly in the spotlight) championed by the OECD to prevent we US citizens from having foreign bank accounts.

IRS says, hey, you have a lot of checks going out of the country, according to our new powers granted by OECD, we believe you might be trying to launder money.

US corp then has to request W8BEN's from everyone that did not formerly file a W9.

The penalty here for the US corporation varies. If I send money to a US resident without sending a 1099 at the end of the year, and the person doesn't claim the income, the corporation is then responsible for any tax due.

So, a US corporation that pays out to a webmaster that doesn't have a W9 or W8-BEN on file is liable for any taxes that might arise which can often times exceed 30%. In the case of affiliate programs, this becomes a pain to adminster because now you must have a W9 or W8 filed for EVERY webmaster.

The other option is that the US corporation withholds 30% of the checks due to you and sends it to the Government, at which point, you must claim it from the US Government.

So, if a US corporation asks you to fill out a W8-BEN, its usually in your best interest to do so -- or, the US Corp could withhold the 30%. Typcially the company requesting it is just trying to get their paperwork in order in case the IRS knocks on the door and questions the large percentage of 'affiliate' checks that are going out. The W8BEN form just tells the IRS that there is an entity that claims they are a non-US citizen and is not subject to withholding tax. The form is filed with the sponsor, not the IRS and is only used IF there is a question within the next 7 years.

I would suspect that the financial borders of the USA will get a bit more complex in the next 8 months.

Thanks cd34
I figured it was something like that. The thing that tripped me up is I've never had to do this sort of thing before.

It's bad enough filling out forms for my own government.

And I HATE having to send anything by snail mail LOL

You know people, I think I'm getting tired of international borders. When are we going to unite and form the People's Republic of the Internet?