michaeldc

Hi, this will seem really unprofessional but hopefully someone here can help. If you have set up a company in the US as a foreign national then you may be able to save my skin!

I am in the US on an E Visa, we're a new company incorporated in CA and owned by our UK parent company. I am the only employee here (UKC) and am the CEO and sole signatory for our business in the US (though I do not own the UK parent company).

We made a sale which is awesome but they asked for a W-9 form which I can't fill in because I am not a US citizen, then they said they should get a W-8BEN form but I am unsure if that's correct as well - the IRS is impossible to contact and the information online is confusing to say the least. I thought maybe the W-8BEN-E form might be the answer but honestly I'm unsure. They all seem to want information about me personally and not being a US citizen makes that complicated. Some forms want specific information about the UK parent company for some reason too but I can't figure out why either as those forms do not request information on the US C Corp which is the company that requires payment.

To recap - our C corp in the US is run by me (UKC on an E2 visa) and the company is owned in whole by a UK company (with share documentation to prove it). Other US companies want to pay my US C Corp and have requested a form. Which one would you use?

I can't stress how naive I am with this, and we're learning as we go on but the tax system in the US does not make this easy!

Thanks for reading!

Orangepants

Why can't you complete a W-9?

michaeldc

It states that it requires the signature of a US citizen, which I am not.

MtbbikeVanlife

Michael,

Read the notes accompanying the W9 thoroughly.... you can sign it.

Page 2...
Definition of a U.S. person. For federal tax purposes, you are considered a U.S.
person if you are:
• An individual who is a U.S. citizen or U.S. resident alien;

As an E2 holder you are a resident alien.

Carl.

Orangepants

Crash course in taxation needed.! You are a resident alien and I would expect the C Corp has an EIN and you are the sole signatory. A W-8BEN-E documents foreign status.

michaeldc

Thank you Carl for pointing that out, I have used the W9 form and am very grateful for your advice!

OrangePants - I completely agree that I need a crash course in this - if you have any advice where I could find such a thing that would be amazing. I'm not lazy (at all) and I have looked and looked but found the whole system rather confused. I have my SSN, the company EIN, Employer ID number etc etc but there's a lot I do not know yet and I don't think it's easy!

Orangepants

The IRS website is your best resource and also the SBA (US Small Business Administration) is a independent agency of the federal govt which provides a lot of resources - I used a lot of their videos and links to learn about the tax code etc.
I had lived offshore tax free for a while so need a lot of help in understanding how the tax system worked when I got here in 2011.

michaeldc

Signed up for the SBA website, will read up on it over the weekend! Thank you, that looks to be a great tip!

kins

You're in California I think? Is there a California Small Business Development Council? I recently got loads of good advice from the Maine Small Business Development Council on taxes - an advisor spent 90 minutes going through my books, answering my questions, etc. If your state has something similar then I highly recommend contacting them.