Your W-8BEN, the right form, the right rate, filled in.
If you own a single-member US LLC and live abroad, you give US payers a W-8BEN in your own name, with the LLC on line 7. Pay for work you do outside the US has nothing withheld. Royalties, dividends and interest are withheld at 30% unless your country's treaty lowers it. Answer three questions and download the official form, filled in.
Checked against the IRS instructions, Treaty Table 1 and the OECD's tax number sheets.
Three questions, and the form to sign.
1Who is being paid?
The form to give
W-8BEN
In the name of: You, the owner. The LLC goes on as a reference: The LLC's name, on line 7.
The IRS looks through a single-member LLC to its owner, so the form is yours, not the LLC's.
2Where you live, and what you're paid for
Fees for work done outside the US
0%
withheld
Work you do outside the US isn't US-source income, so nothing is withheld on it. Lines 9 and 10 stay blank.
3Fill in your W-8BEN
Dated 21 October 2026, valid until 31 December 2029.
Sign it by hand or with your payer's e-signature, then give it to the payer. It never goes to the IRS.
The official IRS form, filled in your browser. Nothing you type is sent to us.
The rate for every one of the 65 treaty countries.
The helper reads the same IRS Treaty Table 1 as our treaty rate tool, which lists every income type and every condition. Without a treaty, it's 30%.
No US income tax treaty, so 30% on royalties, dividends and interest, and lines 9 and 10 stay blank: Algeria, Argentina, Bahrain, Bolivia, Brazil, Cameroon, Colombia, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Nepal, Nigeria, Oman, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Qatar, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Singapore, Taiwan, Tanzania, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Vietnam, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
The mistakes that cost 30%.
Your LLC's name on line 1. For a single-member LLC the form is yours. The LLC goes on line 7.
A US address on line 3. Line 3 is where you live for tax. A US address there says you're a US resident.
A blank line 6a. Your own country's tax number is required, unless you aren't legally required to have one.
Day before month. The IRS reads 03-06-2026 as 6 March. Dates are month, day, year.
A treaty that doesn't exist. Leave lines 9 and 10 blank if your country has no treaty with the US.
A form that lapsed. It ends on 31 December of the third year after you signed. Payers withhold once it does.
Questions about Form W-8BEN.
If yours is not here, email us at hello@baseacross.com before you order.
If the LLC has one owner and that owner is a person living abroad, a W-8BEN in your own name, with the LLC's name on line 7. The IRS says the owner of a disregarded entity gives the form, not the entity. A multi-member LLC, a corporation or an LLC taxed as one gives a W-9 with its EIN.
Not on pay for work you do outside the US: that isn't US-source income, so nothing is withheld on it. US-source royalties, dividends and interest are withheld at 30%, or at your treaty rate if you claim it on lines 9 and 10.
The tax identification number your own country issued you: in India, your PAN; in Pakistan, your CNIC number. The helper names it for 60 countries. You may leave it blank and tick 6b only if you aren't legally required to have one.
The treaty article, the rate and the type of income, from the IRS's treaty table. For copyright royalties from India, for example, Article 12(2)-(4) at 15%. Leave lines 9 and 10 blank if you aren't claiming a treaty rate.
From the day you sign it to the last day of the third calendar year after that, so a form signed in October 2026 lapses on 31 December 2029. Give a new one sooner if anything on it changes.
No. Line 5 is only for a US number you already have. Your own country's tax number goes on line 6a.
If the payer allows it. The IRS accepts an electronic signature that shows the form was signed electronically, with a time and date. Typing your name into the box isn't enough on its own.
No. You give it to the person or platform paying you, and they keep it. Platforms like Stripe, Amazon and YouTube ask the same questions in their own tax forms.
Yes. It shows you aren't a US person. You leave lines 9 and 10 blank, and US-source royalties, dividends and interest are withheld at 30%.
Where the rules and rates come from
- IRS: instructions for Form W-8BEN (Rev. October 2021)
- IRS: Form W-8BEN
- IRS Tax Treaty Table 1 (Rev. May 2023)
- IRS Publication 515: withholding on nonresident aliens
- IRS: jurisdictions that do not issue foreign TINs
- OECD, tax identification numbers by jurisdiction
BaseAcross is a filing agent, not a tax adviser, and this page isn't tax advice. A treaty claim depends on facts the form can't see, such as whether you have a permanent establishment in the US.
Get paid as a US company. From abroad.
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