On April 13, 2016, the IRS released a revised Form W-8BEN-E, which foreign entities must provide to withholding agents of their U.S.-sourced income under the FATCA regime. The form was last updated in 2014. The updated form includes ten new checkboxes in Part III, Question 14.b, for indicating which limitation-of-benefits treaty provision applies when claiming treaty benefits. Responses to this question are not intuitive, and the question may cause confusion, particularly if individuals charged with completing the form are not familiar with the reporting company's treaty positions. Additionally, Question 5 adds a checkbox for indicating a possible Chapter 4 Status of "Account that is not a financial account." The previous version of Form W-8BEN-E can no longer be issued six months after the release date of the revised form.
Updated Form W-8BEN-E
Instructions for updated Form W-8BEN-E