If you’re a U.S. citizen or green card holder living abroad, your foreign bank will likely ask for your U.S. tax status under FATCA. The form you need is Form W-9 — not Form W-8BEN. W-8BEN is strictly for non-U.S. persons; signing it as a U.S. citizen or LPR is a false certification under penalty of perjury. Use W-9 to confirm your U.S. taxpayer status and provide your SSN.

What are all the IRS forms and their purposes? 

• W-9: Used by U.S. citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs) to provide their Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) to a third party.
• W-8BEN: Used by non-U.S. individuals to certify they are not “U.S. persons” for tax purposes.
• W-8BEN-E: An eight-page form used by foreign entities to identify “substantial U.S. owners”.
• W-7: Used by individuals who are not eligible for a Social Security Number to apply for an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN).
• W-8IMY: A form for foreign intermediaries or flow-through entities that was substantially modified due to FATCA.
• W-4: Used to determine an employee’s federal income tax withholding.
• W-8ECI: Used by foreign persons to claim that income is effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business.
• W-8EXP: Used by foreign governments or other foreign organizations to claim an exemption from withholding.
• W-8: A general category of forms for foreign status reporting.

What are Taxpayer Identification Numbers (TINs)? 

A TIN is a broad term for the identification number used for U.S. tax purposes. Its sub-types include:

• Social Security Number (SSN): For U.S. citizens, LPRs, and individuals with permission to work in the U.S. under specific visas.
• Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN): For individuals who are not U.S. citizens or LPRs and are ineligible for an SSN.
• Employer Identification Number (EIN): For business entities such as corporations, partnerships, and trusts.

Is Form W-9 the standard for Americans abroad? 

Yes. If a foreign bank or company asks for your U.S. tax status, Form W-9 is the standard form you should use. It’s how you officially tell them, “I’m a U.S. taxpayer, and here is my ID number”.

Who Can Sign Form W-8BEN?

• U.S. Citizens: They cannot sign this form. Doing so would be a false certification that they are not a “U.S. person” under federal tax law.
• Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs): Generally, they also cannot sign this form, as they are considered U.S. persons for tax purposes.
• Former Citizens with a CLN: While the source highlights the importance of a Certificate of Loss of Nationality (CLN) in relation to FATCA status, it does not explicitly state that holding one allows for the signing of a W-8BEN, though it notes that only non-U.S. persons can legally sign the form.

What are the banking requirements for U.S. Persons?

When a bank asks for tax status, a U.S. person should sign Form W-9. However, many Foreign Financial Institutions (FFIs) use substitute forms that comply with regulations but may not look exactly like the official IRS version.

What is the Form W-8BEN-E?

• Who completes it: Non-Financial Foreign Entities (NFFEs).
• Definitions: A “substantial U.S. owner” is generally a U.S. person who holds a 10% or greater economic interest in the foreign entity.
• Burdens: The form is eight pages long and requires the user to understand over 450 pages of FATCA regulations to select from roughly 30 different categories.
• Consequences: The form is signed under penalty of perjury. Due to its complexity, the source notes that many “good faith errors” are inevitable.

When does the 8-page Form W-8BEN-E become necessary? 

This massive 8-page form is usually for businesses, not just individuals. If you own 10% or more of a foreign company, that company has to use this form to report you to the IRS as a “substantial U.S. owner”.

What are the risks of misfiling these complex entity forms? 

It’s a major headache because the instructions for these forms are over 450 pages long, and you have to pick from about 30 different categories. If you check the wrong box, even by mistake, you’ve technically signed a false legal document under penalty of perjury.

Why are foreign banks suddenly demanding this information? 

Because of a law called FATCA, banks all over the world—including those in China and Hong Kong—are now required to hunt down and report data on any account holders who might be U.S. taxpayers.

How does this affect my ability to maintain a bank account? 

It puts you in a “Catch 22” situation. If you live abroad and want to open or keep a local bank account, you are often forced to give up this private tax info to the bank, or they might refuse to work with you.

If you’re an attorney, read this post instead: https://tax-expatriation.com/fatca-driven-new-irs-forms-w-8ben-versus-w-8ben-e-versus-w-9-etc-etc-for-uscs-and-lprs-overseas-its-all-about-information-and-more-information/