Home > Questions and Answers > General Questions

---

Re: Tax Form For Non US Affiliates (15)

---

Hi,
I'm based in UK & the US companies keep asking me to fill in a tax form,
which I don't need to.
How do you guys, who are Non US affiliates, get around this issue?

I believe all you have to do is submit a Certification Of No United States Activities, like with Commission Junction.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

---

you only need to send the w-8ben form

---

Yeah, they all have a form for non-US people, just fill that one out.

---

you have to send them the W8-BEN tax form...thats all you need..or did they ask for something else?

---

Yeah, they asked for the W8-BEN form.
But, I thought that does not apply to me as my business is non US.

google.com/adsense/taxinfo

(quoting)

********

Non U.S. Business (No U.S. Activities )

United States (U.S.) Activities involve having employees or owning equipment in the U.S. that are involved in any way with revenue earned through the AdSense programme. This includes, but is not limited to, owning a web server or owning a hosting service in the U.S., or having employees in the U.S. who are involved in either:

* setting up a web server, hosting service, or website
* developing content for your website
* marketing to create a user base for your site
* telephone support for your site
* buying products for your site
* maintaining your site

Generally, utilizing an unrelated third-party U.S. web hosting service to host your web pages, renting web servers that are located in the U.S. from an unrelated third party, or having your payment sent to a U.S. Post Office Box or mail forwarding address, do not of themselves constitute U.S. Activities.

If you do not have U.S. Activities, you will be asked to agree to a statement to that effect. No tax forms are required in this instance.

*********

---

and thats exactly what the W8-BEN is for...it states that you do not have U.S. Activities...thats why you need it on every network...if you google it you'll find more info about it...networks need it to have a legal paper to proof that you are not doing business within the states. so just fill it out and you are all set


if you don't submit a w8-ben form to them you have to pay around 30% taxes in the US which is stupid...because you don't have to since you are from the UK and don't own a company in the States..So you only pay taxes in the UK

---

Quoting from Warrior Forum:-

The W8-BEN form is only required to be filled out for US SOURCED income. Now "US Sourced" doesn't mean where the person writing the check is, it means where the work was done by the PAYEE.

The OECD (of which the USA is a member of) put it's head together many years ago and determined that if you OWN a webserver in a country, then the websites you have on that server are producing income SOURCED in that country. If you merely RENT a webserver in a country, the websites on it are producing FOREIGN SOURCED income.

FOREIGN SOURCED income is NOT subject to tax in the USA and does NOT require form W8-BEN to be filled out - W8-BEN is for foreigners to claim exemption from withholding tax on US SOURCED INCOME for tax treaty obligations.

The instructions for W8-BEN are clear:

"Who must file. You must give Form W8-BEN to the withholding agent or payer if you are a foreign person and you are the beneficial owner of an amount SUBJECT TO WITHHOLDING."

As I said previously, FOREIGN SOURCED INCOME IS NOT SUBJECT TO WITHHOLDING.

All that is required is that the foreign affiliate CERTIFIES they do not have any US SOURCED income and are not a US Taxpayer, etc.

---

Yepo sounds correct. Although you'd have to prove to your network that you fall into the category of foreign sourced otherwise I imagine it can come back at them, and this could take longer and involve more fluffing about, so probably easier in most cases to just fill a W8-BEN out anyway.

---

i don't think your right...my tax adviser told me that i have to fill out the W8-BEN form to avoid taxes in the states..and i wouldn't believe anything on warriorforum...they are just a bunch of dummies..my advice is to call a tax adviser/ tax laywer and ask him. germany has a double taxation agreement with the US..so i'm not sure if it's the same in the UK..

---

and the income you generated on a us network IS SUBJECT TO WITHHOLDING for them..thats why they need the W8-BEN from you

---

Quit relying on stuff you read on the Internet. You are most likely not an accountant by trade and surely do not know the ins and outs of the US/UK tax relationship.

Talk to your accountant. And if you don't have one, get one.

---

Just a quick question about Part 3 - Question 11 of the W8 BEN

I've had mixed responses from my affiliate managers regarding this. Some say to check the box and others have said its not necessary. My accountant told me that I don't have to check it since "notional principal contracts" are used mainly for investment firms and banks when they are engaging in interest rate swaps and other derivative securities activities. I've encountered one AM who would not release payment unless I checked the box and send in the form. It hasn't affected my earnings in any way but just curious as to what the consensus was with the rest of you.

---

You have a good point there zeno.

---

Last time I spoke to my accountant, which was a couple of years ago, I was told to submit a Certification Of No United States Activities, but I'll check again.
You got me! I am a dummy for checking out warriorforum. :-)
Yeah, we also have a double taxation agreement with the US in UK.
Thanks for a such a massive input, nusolutionz.

---

That's a good point.

---

Home > Questions and Answers > General Questions