Sign your W-8BEN if you're not a US person

W-9 or W-8BEN: which one do you sign?

The W-9 is for US persons: US citizens, green card holders and others who are US residents for tax purposes. Everyone else who is an individual signs a W-8BEN. Businesses outside the US use the W-8BEN-E instead, and income connected with a trade or business in the US calls for the W-8ECI.

If a client sends you a W-9 and you're not a US person, don't sign it — signing certifies that you are one. Reply that you'll send a W-8BEN instead.

A few individuals need yet another form: a nonresident alien claiming a treaty exemption on pay for services performed inside the US uses Form 8233 or Form W-4, and the trustee of a foreign trust files for the trust rather than for themselves. Freelancers who do all their work from outside the US are in neither group.

Part I — who you are

Line 1: your name as the beneficial owner of the income. Line 2: your country of citizenship. Line 3: your permanent residence address, including the country. Line 4: a mailing address, only if it's different.

Line 5 is for a US taxpayer identification number (SSN or ITIN) if you have one. Line 6a is your tax ID from your home country — the foreign TIN. The instructions make it mandatory when the form documents a financial account you hold at a US office of a financial institution, unless your country is on the IRS list of jurisdictions that don't issue TINs; it can also stand in for a US TIN when you claim treaty benefits. An account holder who isn't legally required to get a TIN ticks 6b instead. Line 7 is optional — a reference such as your account or vendor number. Line 8 is your date of birth as MM-DD-YYYY.

Part II — tax treaty claims

Part II claims a reduced rate of US withholding under a tax treaty between the US and your country of residence — for example on royalties or dividends. Line 9 names your country; line 10 covers special rates and conditions, such as the treaty article and rate.

Pay for services is sourced where the work is done, so fees for work you do entirely outside the US are generally not US-source income — a freelancer working only from abroad usually has no treaty claim to make and leaves Part II blank. If you're unsure whether a treaty applies to your income, ask the payer or a tax adviser before you fill it in. Claiming certain treaty benefits requires a US TIN on line 5 or a foreign TIN on line 6.

Part III — certification and signature

By signing you certify, under penalties of perjury, that you're the beneficial owner of the income, that you're not a US person, and that the information on the form is correct. Tick the box confirming you have the capacity to sign, then sign, add the date and print your name.

Someone signing for you — for example under a power of attorney — must attach the power of attorney or a copy of it; the IRS notes that Form 2848 can be used. The agent ticks the same capacity box.

Signing a W-8BEN electronically

The W-8BEN instructions allow a withholding agent to accept the form with an electronic signature, but they set a bar: the signature must show that the form was electronically signed by someone authorized to do so — for example with a time and date stamp and a statement that it was signed electronically. The instructions say plainly that simply typing your name into the signature line is not an electronic signature. The agent may also ask for extra information showing it was really you.

In practice that means: if your payer has its own online tax interview or e-signature process, use it. If they want a PDF, draw your signature rather than typing it, and add a short line next to it such as “Electronically signed by Maria Rossi on 09-27-2026” with the signer's Add Text tool. Type the date into the form's own date field as MM-DD-YYYY; the Add Date button writes the month out in words. If the payer still asks for a handwritten signature, print, sign and scan.

How long a W-8BEN stays valid, and when to replace it

Generally until the last day of the third calendar year after the year you sign it — a form signed in 2026 is good until December 31, 2029. If something on it changes before then, such as your address or residence, you have 30 days to tell the payer and give them a new form.

Moving to the US, or spending enough days there to meet the substantial presence test, makes you a US resident for tax purposes: tell each payer within 30 days and give them a W-9 instead. Each payer needs its own W-8BEN; one form doesn't cover all your clients. If you don't provide one, the payer may withhold 30% of US-source payments, or apply backup withholding.

Sources

• IRS — Instructions for Form W-8BEN (Rev. October 2021)
• IRS — Form W-8BEN
• IRS — List of jurisdictions that do not issue foreign TINs
• IRS — Publication 519: source of income for personal services
• IRS — Form W-9: definition of a US person