W-8BEN-E instructions

On June 25, 2014 the IRS released the W-8BEN-E instructions.  Read my April 2 article on the W-8BEN-E here.  For analysis of the requirements of the 31 FATCA entity classifications pursuant to the regulations, see the previous articles of my blog:  http://profwilliambyrnes.com/category/fatca/

Who Must Provide W-8BEN-E?

A foreign entity must submit a Form W-8BEN-E to the withholding agent if it will receive a FATCA withholdable payment, receive a payment subject to chapter 3 withholding, or if it maintains an account with an FFI.

All Beneficial Owners

Form W-8BEN-E must be provided by ALL the entities that are beneficial owners of a payment, or of another entity that is the beneficial owner.  If the income or account is jointly owned by more than one person, then the income or account will be treated by the withholding agent as owned by a foreign beneficial owner only if Forms W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E are provided by EVERY owner of the account.

Treatment as US Account

If the withholding agent or financial institution receives a Form W-9 from any of the joint owners, then the payment must be treated as made to a U.S. person and the account treated as a U.S. account.  An account will be treated as a U.S. account for FATCA by an FFI if any of the account holders is a specified U.S. person or a U.S.-owned foreign entity (unless the account is otherwise excepted from U.S. account status for FATCA purposes).

Hybrids

Hybrid Entity: A hybrid entity should give Form W-8BEN-E on its own behalf to a withholding agent only for income for which it is claiming a reduced rate of withholding under an income tax treaty or to document its chapter 4 status for purposes of maintaining an account with an FFI requesting this form (when it is not receiving withholdable payments or payments subject to chapter 3 withholding).

Reverse Hybrid: A reverse hybrid entity should give Form W-8BEN-E on its own behalf to a withholding agent only for income for which no treaty benefit is being claimed or to establish its status for chapter 4 purposes (when required).

Who Should Not Use Form W-8BEN-E?

read my entire in-depth analysis:

http://profwilliambyrnes.com/2014/06/25/analysis-of-w-8ben-e-and-its-instructions-released-june-25/

Complying with FATCA

The LexisNexis® Guide to FATCA Compliance (2^nd Edition) comprises 34 Chapters by 50 industry experts grouped in three parts: compliance program (Chapters 1–4), analysis of FATCA regulations (Chapters 5–16) and analysis of Intergovernmental Agreements (IGAs) and local law compliance challenges (Chapters 17–34), including intergovernmental agreements as well as the OECD’s TRACE initiative for global automatic information exchange protocols and systems.   A free download of the first of the 34 chapters is available at http://www.lexisnexis.com/store/images/samples/9780769853734.pdf

Analysis of new 2014 Form W-8IMY by part and question

W-8IMY (Certificate of Foreign Intermediary, Foreign Flow-Through Entity, or Certain U.S. Branches for United States Tax Withholding and Reporting)

On June 19, 2014 the IRS released the new Form W-8IMY instructions for the 2014 Form W-8IMY that had been released in March.

Form W-8IMY is submitted generally by a payment recipient (the “filer”) with non-beneficial owner status, i.e. an intermediary.  Such intermediary can be a U.S. branch, a qualified intermediary, a non-qualified intermediary, foreign partnership, foreign grantor or a foreign simple trust.  Form W-8IMY requires a tax identification number.

The new Form W-8IMY has 28 parts whereas the previous August 2013 FATCA draft W-8IMY only contained 26.  The new 2014 Form W-8IMY is vastly different from the seven-part 2006 predecessor form.

Filing Form W-8IMY with the withholding agent before payment.

The filer does not send Form W-8IMY to the IRS.  Instead, the filer gives it to the withholding agent who is requesting it. Generally, this withholding agent will be the one from whom the filer receives a payment, who credits the filer’s account, or a partnership that allocates income to the filer.  The filer should give Form W-8IMY to the withholding agent requesting it before income is paid, credited, or allocated to the filer account.

read the full analysis of W-8IMY by Part and by question at http://profwilliambyrnes.com/2014/06/24/new-2014-form-w-8imy-analyzed/

Practical Compliance Aspects of FATCA and GATCA

The LexisNexis® Guide to FATCA Compliance (2^nd Edition) comprises 34 Chapters by 50 industry experts grouped in three parts: compliance program (Chapters 1–4), analysis of FATCA regulations (Chapters 5–16) and analysis of Intergovernmental Agreements (IGAs) and local law compliance challenges (Chapters 17–34), including intergovernmental agreements as well as the OECD’s TRACE initiative for global automatic information exchange protocols and systems.   A free download of the first of the 34 chapters is available at http://www.lexisnexis.com/store/images/samples/9780769853734.pdf

See all my FATCA Updates:  http://profwilliambyrnes.com/category/fatca/