Form W-8BEN

Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding and Reporting (Individuals). It is the mirror image of Form W-9: a non-US person gives it to a US withholding agent to certify foreign status and, where a treaty applies, to claim a reduced rate of withholding on US-source income such as dividends or interest. The reason it belongs in an expat glossary is the error it invites. A foreign bank or broker that assumes its customers are local will hand a US citizen a W-8BEN as a matter of routine — and signing it certifies, under penalties of perjury, that you are not a US person. That is a false certification, and it does nothing to remove the US filing obligation it appears to sidestep. The correct response to a W-8BEN request from a US person is a Form W-9.