hannahc16

please can anyone help.

I am on an L2 visa and do not work, i have just received a letter from my bank asking me to complete a W-8BEN. i have had a look at it and not sure if this is even the correct form i need to complete.

Please can someone advise if i need to complete this or a W9, i dont have an ssn or itin as wasn't in the country long enough last year to be included on my husbands tax return.

tbm

The question to ask is: are you a U.S. person? If no, you have to file W-8BEN. If yes, you have to file the W-9.

A U.S. person is "An individual who is a U.S. citizen or U.S. resident alien;" You're not a citizen but I believe you're a US resident alien. To determine whether you're a resident alien, you have to look at the Substantive Presence Test. It sounds like you live in the US, i.e. you're in the US for 183+ days in 2018 (this is a simplification of the actual rules), so you'd meet the SPT.

Hence, I believe you have to get a TIN and file a W-9. (If you have a work permit (EAD), you could apply for an SSN instead.)

Maybe too late now anyway but you could probably have been treated as resident if that had been advantageous: https://www.irs.gov/individuals/inte...t-alien-spouse

Rete

Never too late to file an amended tax return.

durham_lad

Bud the Wiser

We do not have citizenship or a green card, however our status as a E2 visa holder was ' resident for tax purposes' . So I am assuming we fill in a W9. Is this correct? Also do we send in just one W9, or separate ones for me and my wife and another with the corporation EIN? We have already transferred some assets across to our UK bank 1/3rd of which was the proceeds from our house sale, another 1/3rd was net wages with tax already paid and the final 1/3rd was a percentage from the proceeds from our business sale from which we have retained a percentage in our US business account to pay any tax that may be due. As we are about to purchase a property here in the UK, my fear is that our UK bank may freeze our assets until all the tax complexities are sorted out.

Cook_County

If you are in the UK then you are probably no longer US resident, so you'd file a W-8BEN. If you own the US corporation & are UK resident then the US corporation is also UK tax resident, so required to pay UK corporation tax. You'll want to double check how much UK corporation tax is due so you don't spend the money...

Bud the Wiser

Thanks for taking the time to reply. My thinking is that the substantial presence test would mean that for 2018, taxes would be due in the US. The corporation will be wound up this year.

Cook_County

Having imported the entity into the UK, there are a UK corporation tax & PAYE (and possibly VAT) issues irrespective of when the entity is dissolved. If the entity has not already taken advice, this would be prudent to avoid deadlines, tax & possible penalties. US tax filing for 2018 may indeed separately be required.

Bud the Wiser

The company was sold in June 2018 and ceased trading then. Winding up the corporation takes time, training, credits, debits. taxes etc. We left the US mid-October with everything cleared apart from tax which we have left adequate provision for once the final payment due has been calculated,