# What is Form W-8BEN?

URL: https://www.orla.finance/en/glossary/w-8ben
Markdown twin of that page. Append `.md` to any Orla page URL to get one.

Form W-8BEN is the IRS form on which a foreign individual certifies to a US payer that they are not a US person and, where a tax treaty applies, claims a reduced rate of withholding.

It also certifies that they are the beneficial owner of the income being paid. The IRS puts it in one line: "Give Form W-8 BEN to the withholding agent or payer if you are a foreign person and you are the beneficial owner of an amount subject to withholding." The payer asks for it and the payer keeps it: "Do not send Form W-8BEN to the IRS."

Which form is whose. W-8BEN is for an individual. A foreign company gives W-8BEN-E, which the IRS describes as the form foreign entities use to document their status. A US person or a US company gives a W-9, the form that provides a correct taxpayer identification number to whoever files an information return about them. So a US business paying a designer in Lisbon collects one W-8BEN before the first payment and files it in its own records; nothing goes to the IRS.

How long it lasts: from the date it is signed to the last day of the third succeeding calendar year. A form signed in March 2026 covers payments to 31 December 2029.

What it does for the payer is documentation. It records why that contractor's payments are not reported on a [1099-NEC](https://www.orla.finance/en/glossary/1099-nec) (payments to nonresident aliens go on Form 1042-S where withholding applies) and what rate, if any, was withheld. Whether any US withholding applies to a given payment depends on where the work was performed and on the treaty between the two countries, and that is a question for an accountant, not for the form.

#### How this shows up in Orla

Orla does not prepare or file W-8BENs, files nothing with any tax authority and withholds nothing. A W-8BEN a contractor sends you is a file in Documents, and a sorting rule you describe once ("a folder per client, and inside it by year") puts it where you will look for it. The contact card carries the person's country and tax id.

The year's payments to that contact leave in the Payments CSV with date, payee, amount, currency, status and the amount in USD, so the accountant gets the form and the payments it covers from the same place.

Not tax advice. This describes what the IRS publishes; which of it applies to you is your accountant's call.

#### Sources, read on 26 September 2026

- IRS, About Form W-8 BEN: "Give Form W-8 BEN to the withholding agent or payer if you are a foreign person and you are the beneficial owner of an amount subject to withholding." https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-w-8-ben
- IRS, Instructions for Form W-8BEN: "Do not send Form W-8BEN to the IRS. Instead, give it to the person who is requesting it from you." https://www.irs.gov/instructions/iw8ben
- IRS, About Form W-8 BEN-E: "Form W-8 BEN-E is used by foreign entities to document their status for purposes of chapter 3 and chapter 4, as well as other code provisions." https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-w-8-ben-e
- IRS, About Form W-9: "Use Form W-9 to provide your correct Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) to the person who is required to file an information return with the IRS" https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-w-9

#### Related terms

- 1099-NEC: https://www.orla.finance/en/glossary/1099-nec
- ACH vs SWIFT: https://www.orla.finance/en/glossary/ach-vs-swift

#### Read next

- How to pay international contractors, five ways: https://www.orla.finance/en/pay-contractors/international
- Invoicing a client in another country: https://www.orla.finance/en/blog/invoicing-a-client-in-another-country
- Contacts, documents and the counterparty check: https://www.orla.finance/en/product/people