Form W-8BEN (for individuals) and W-8BEN-E (for business entities) is the "Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding." These forms are used by U.S. payers to determine if U.S. tax withholding is required on their payments made to non-U.S. recipients. There has been an increase in fraudulent activity regarding these forms, where fake forms have been issued to unsuspecting recipients.
These fake forms require additional information such as:
- mother's maiden name,
- passport number,
- date of birth,
- PIN numbers and passcodes,
- bank account information.
The official IRS Form W-8BEN and W8-BEN-E do not require this information. Enclosed are the links to the official forms from the IRS website:
- Form W-8BEN (for individuals) : http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw8ben.pdf
- Form W-8BEN-E (for business entities) : http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw8bene.pdf
If you receive any request for the forms by email, fax, mail or other format and you suspect fraud, the IRS has provided the following guidelines to follow:
- Do not reply.
- Do not open any attachments.
- Do not click on any links.
- Forward the original request to the IRS at phishing@irs.gov.
- Delete the original request after it has been forwarded.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
