USA Withholding Tax

JodieR

Client creates websites for businesses all around the world. One of them has now asked him to complete form 'W-8BEN' which is a 'Certificate for Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for US withholding tax'. Now I've heard of withholding tax on interest/dividends, but not on trading income. The official guidance seems to be here: http://www.irs.gov/instructions/iw8ben/ch01.html and this does include 'Compensation for, or in expectation of, services performed' - does anyone know if this covers ordinary trading income? I don't understand why this is the first time I've seen this form - has anyone come across it before?

stevo5678

Hi Jodie, I have seen it before with a client who had it stopped each year. We just treated it under the normal DTR rules. Steve