Form W-9 (Rev. 12-2014)
Page 2
Note. If you are a U.S. person and a requester gives you a form other than Form
W-9 to request your TIN, you must use the requester’s form if it is substantially
similar to this Form W-9.
Definition of a U.S. person. For federal tax purposes, you are considered a U.S.
person if you are:
• An individual who is a U.S. citizen or U.S. resident alien;
• A partnership, corporation, company, or association created or organized in the
United States or under the laws of the United States;
• An estate (other than a foreign estate); or
• A domestic trust (as defined in Regulations section 301.7701-7).
Special rules for partnerships. Partnerships that conduct a trade or business in
the United States are generally required to pay a withholding tax under section
1446 on any foreign partners’ share of effectively connected taxable income from
such business. Further, in certain cases where a Form W-9 has not been received,
the rules under section 1446 require a partnership to presume that a partner is a
foreign person, and pay the section 1446 withholding tax. Therefore, if you are a
U.S. person that is a partner in a partnership conducting a trade or business in the
United States, provide Form W-9 to the partnership to establish your U.S. status
and avoid section 1446 withholding on your share of partnership income.
In the cases below, the following person must give Form W-9 to the partnership
for purposes of establishing its U.S. status and avoiding withholding on its
allocable share of net income from the partnership conducting a trade or business
in the United States:
• In the case of a disregarded entity with a U.S. owner, the U.S. owner of the
disregarded entity and not the entity;
• In the case of a grantor trust with a U.S. grantor or other U.S. owner, generally,
the U.S. grantor or other U.S. owner of the grantor trust and not the trust; and
• In the case of a U.S. trust (other than a grantor trust), the U.S. trust (other than a
grantor trust) and not the beneficiaries of the trust.
Foreign person. If you are a foreign person or the U.S. branch of a foreign bank
that has elected to be treated as a U.S. person, do not use Form W-9. Instead, use
the appropriate Form W-8 or Form 8233 (see Publication 515, Withholding of Tax
on Nonresident Aliens and Foreign Entities).
Nonresident alien who becomes a resident alien. Generally, only a nonresident
alien individual may use the terms of a tax treaty to reduce or eliminate U.S. tax on
certain types of income. However, most tax treaties contain a provision known as
a “saving clause.” Exceptions specified in the saving clause may permit an
exemption from tax to continue for certain types of income even after the payee
has otherwise become a U.S. resident alien for tax purposes.
If you are a U.S. resident alien who is relying on an exception contained in the
saving clause of a tax treaty to claim an exemption from U.S. tax on certain types
of income, you must attach a statement to Form W-9 that specifies the following
five items:
1. The treaty country. Generally, this must be the same treaty under which you
claimed exemption from tax as a nonresident alien.
2. The treaty article addressing the income.
3. The article number (or location) in the tax treaty that contains the saving
clause and its exceptions.
4. The type and amount of income that qualifies for the exemption from tax.
5. Sufficient facts to justify the exemption from tax under the terms of the treaty
article.
Example. Article 20 of the U.S.-China income tax treaty allows an exemption
from tax for scholarship income received by a Chinese student temporarily present
in the United States. Under U.S. law, this student will become a resident alien for
tax purposes if his or her stay in the United States exceeds 5 calendar years.
However, paragraph 2 of the first Protocol to the U.S.-China treaty (dated April 30,
1984) allows the provisions of Article 20 to continue to apply even after the
Chinese student becomes a resident alien of the United States. A Chinese student
who qualifies for this exception (under paragraph 2 of the first protocol) and is
relying on this exception to claim an exemption from tax on his or her scholarship
or fellowship income would attach to Form W-9 a statement that includes the
information described above to support that exemption.
If you are a nonresident alien or a foreign entity, give the requester the
appropriate completed Form W-8 or Form 8233.
Backup Withholding
What is backup withholding? Persons making certain payments to you must
under certain conditions withhold and pay to the IRS 28% of such payments. This
is called “backup withholding.” Payments that may be subject to backup
withholding include interest, tax-exempt interest, dividends, broker and barter
exchange transactions, rents, royalties, nonemployee pay, payments made in
settlement of payment card and third party network transactions, and certain
payments from fishing boat operators. Real estate transactions are not subject to
backup withholding.
You will not be subject to backup withholding on payments you receive if you
give the requester your correct TIN, make the proper certifications, and report all
your taxable interest and dividends on your tax return.
Payments you receive will be subject to backup withholding if:
1. You do not furnish your TIN to the requester,
2. You do not certify your TIN when required (see the Part II instructions on page
3 for details),
3. The IRS tells the requester that you furnished an incorrect TIN,
4. The IRS tells you that you are subject to backup withholding because you did
not report all your interest and dividends on your tax return (for reportable interest
and dividends only), or
5. You do not certify to the requester that you are not subject to backup
withholding under 4 above (for reportable interest and dividend accounts opened
after 1983 only).
Certain payees and payments are exempt from backup withholding. See Exempt
payee code on page 3 and the separate Instructions for the Requester of Form
W-9 for more information.
Also see Special rules for partnerships above.
What is FATCA reporting?
The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) requires a participating foreign
financial institution to report all United States account holders that are specified
United States persons. Certain payees are exempt from FATCA reporting. See
Exemption from FATCA reporting code on page 3 and the Instructions for the
Requester of Form W-9 for more information.
Updating Your Information
You must provide updated information to any person to whom you claimed to be
an exempt payee if you are no longer an exempt payee and anticipate receiving
reportable payments in the future from this person. For example, you may need to
provide updated information if you are a C corporation that elects to be an S
corporation, or if you no longer are tax exempt. In addition, you must furnish a new
Form W-9 if the name or TIN changes for the account; for example, if the grantor
of a grantor trust dies.
Penalties
Failure to furnish TIN. If you fail to furnish your correct TIN to a requester, you are
subject to a penalty of $50 for each such failure unless your failure is due to
reasonable cause and not to willful neglect.
Civil penalty for false information with respect to withholding. If you make a
false statement with no reasonable basis that results in no backup withholding,
you are subject to a $500 penalty.
Criminal penalty for falsifying information. Willfully falsifying certifications or
affirmations may subject you to criminal penalties including fines and/or
imprisonment.
Misuse of TINs. If the requester discloses or uses TINs in violation of federal law,
the requester may be subject to civil and criminal penalties.
Specific Instructions
Line 1
You must enter one of the following on this line; do not leave this line blank. The
name should match the name on your tax return.
If this Form W-9 is for a joint account, list first, and then circle, the name of the
person or entity whose number you entered in Part I of Form W-9.
a. Individual. Generally, enter the name shown on your tax return. If you have
changed your last name without informing the Social Security Administration (SSA)
of the name change, enter your first name, the last name as shown on your social
security card, and your new last name.
Note. ITIN applicant: Enter your individual name as it was entered on your Form
W-7 application, line 1a. This should also be the same as the name you entered on
the Form 1040/1040A/1040EZ you filed with your application.
b. Sole proprietor or single-member LLC. Enter your individual name as
shown on your 1040/1040A/1040EZ on line 1. You may enter your business, trade,
or “doing business as” (DBA) name on line 2.
c. Partnership, LLC that is not a single-member LLC, C Corporation, or S
Corporation. Enter the entity's name as shown on the entity's tax return on line 1
and any business, trade, or DBA name on line 2.
d. Other entities. Enter your name as shown on required U.S. federal tax
documents on line 1. This name should match the name shown on the charter or
other legal document creating the entity. You may enter any business, trade, or
DBA name on line 2.
e. Disregarded entity. For U.S. federal tax purposes, an entity that is
disregarded as an entity separate from its owner is treated as a “disregarded
entity.” See Regulations section 301.7701-2(c)(2)(iii). Enter the owner's name on
line 1. The name of the entity entered on line 1 should never be a disregarded
entity. The name on line 1 should be the name shown on the income tax return on
which the income should be reported. For example, if a foreign LLC that is treated
as a disregarded entity for U.S. federal tax purposes has a single owner that is a
U.S. person, the U.S. owner's name is required to be provided on line 1. If the
direct owner of the entity is also a disregarded entity, enter the first owner that is
not disregarded for federal tax purposes. Enter the disregarded entity's name on
line 2, “Business name/disregarded entity name.” If the owner of the disregarded
entity is a foreign person, the owner must complete an appropriate Form W-8
instead of a Form W-9. This is the case even if the foreign person has a U.S. TIN.
