W-8BEN vs W-8BEN-E vs W-9: Which Form a Canadian Signs

The W-8BEN is for individuals, the W-8BEN-E is for entities, and the W-9 is for US persons. So a Canadian freelancer or sole proprietor signs the W-8BEN, a Canadian corporation signs the W-8BEN-E, and a Canadian who isn’t a US citizen or US resident doesn’t sign a W-9 at all. The IRS prints the split at the top of the W-8BEN-E itself: “For use by entities. Individuals must use Form W-8BEN.”

What’s the difference between W-8BEN and W-8BEN-E?

Who signs it. The W-8BEN is an individual’s certificate of foreign status and treaty claim. The W-8BEN-E is the entity version, and it asks for more: the entity’s US tax classification, its chapter 4 (FATCA) status with a matching certification, and, on a treaty claim, which limitation-on-benefits test it passes. The W-8BEN is one page; the W-8BEN-E runs eight.

The W-8BEN opens with “For use by individuals. Entities must use Form W-8BEN-E,” and its Part I asks only for your name, country of citizenship, address, a US or foreign tax number, and (for some bank accounts) your date of birth. The W-8BEN-E adds line 4 (chapter 3 status, such as “Corporation”), line 5 (chapter 4 status, such as “Active NFFE. Complete Part XXV.”), and line 14b, where the entity checks one limitation-on-benefits box such as “Company that meets the ownership and base erosion test.”

Both forms do the same core job. Each is given “to the withholding agent or payer,” never to the IRS, and each certifies that the person named “is not a U.S. person.” Each also lets you claim a reduced rate under the Canada-US tax treaty, for example 15% on portfolio dividends under Article X(2)(b) instead of the 30% that IRC 1441 and 1442 otherwise impose on US-source investment income.

Should a Canadian fill out a W-9 or a W-8BEN?

A W-8BEN, unless you’re a US citizen or a US resident. The W-9 certifies that you’re a US person, and the W-9 itself tells a foreign person not to use it. That holds even if you have a US tax number, and even if you’re paid through a US LLC that the IRS disregards.

The Form W-9 defines a US person as “An individual who is a U.S. citizen or U.S. resident alien,” a US-organized partnership or corporation, a US estate or a domestic trust. For everyone else: “If you are a foreign person … do not use Form W-9. Instead, use the appropriate Form W-8 or Form 8233.” On a single-member LLC it’s explicit: “If the owner of the disregarded entity is a foreign person, the owner must complete an appropriate Form W-8 instead of a Form W-9. This is the case even if the foreign person has a U.S. TIN.”

A US citizen living in Canada is the reverse case. You’re a US person wherever you live, so the W-8BEN instructions send you to the W-9: “You are a U.S. citizen (even if you reside outside the United States).” Our W-9 guide for Canadians covers what to say when a US client insists on a W-9 anyway.

Which form does a Canadian business sign?

It turns on how US tax rules classify the business, not on what it’s called in Canada. A sole proprietor is an individual, so W-8BEN. A Canadian corporation is a corporation for US purposes, so W-8BEN-E. A partnership generally gives a W-8IMY. A one-owner entity the IRS disregards has its owner sign in the owner’s own name.

The W-8BEN-E instructions say line 4 must show “your classification … under U.S. tax principles (not under the law of a treaty country).” For Canadian corporations that classification is fixed: the per se corporation list in Treas. Reg. 301.7701-2(b)(8) names “Canada, Corporation and Company,” and carves out “a Nova Scotia Unlimited Liability Company (or any other company or corporation all of whose owners have unlimited liability pursuant to federal or provincial law).” Under 301.7701-3(b)(2), a carved-out ULC with one owner is by default “Disregarded as an entity separate from its owner.” For how these entities compare on the Canadian side, see LLC in Canada.

Who is being paid	Form to give	What decides it
US citizen or US resident, wherever they live	W-9	The W-9 is for US persons only
Canadian individual (employee, investor, retiree)	W-8BEN	”For use by individuals”
Canadian sole proprietor	W-8BEN, in your own name	No separate entity; the W-9 itself treats “Individual/sole proprietor” as one category
Canadian corporation, including a CCPC	W-8BEN-E, line 4 “Corporation”	A Canadian corporation is on the IRS per se list
Canadian partnership treated as a partnership for US tax	W-8IMY, with partners’ W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E forms attached for treaty claims	”If you are a partnership, you should provide a Form W-8IMY”
US single-member LLC owned by a Canadian	The owner’s W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E, never a W-9	A foreign owner of a disregarded entity signs the W-8
ULC with one owner	The owner’s form: a W-9 if the owner is a US company	Disregarded by default; a US owner is a US person
Foreign person whose US income is effectively connected and not treaty-exempt	W-8ECI	The W-8BEN-E sends ECI there “(unless claiming treaty benefits)”

The partnership row comes from the W-8BEN-E instructions, which also say that where a fiscally transparent entity’s interest holder claims a treaty benefit, “the interest holder should complete Form W-8BEN (if an individual) or Form W-8BEN-E (if an entity) on its own behalf,” and the entity attaches it to its own W-8IMY. The W-8ECI row covers income such as US rent: Publication 515 says a foreign payee who “elects to treat this income as effectively connected” gives the payer Form W-8ECI. If you’re running a US LLC from Canada, the tax mismatch is the bigger issue than the form, and it’s covered in why a US LLC is a tax trap for Canadian residents.

What does the W-8BEN-E ask that the W-8BEN doesn’t?

Three things: the entity’s chapter 4 (FATCA) status with its certification part, the limitation-on-benefits test it meets for any treaty claim, and its US tax classification. An individual’s W-8BEN has none of these, and there’s no LOB box because a Canadian-resident individual is automatically a “qualifying person” under the treaty’s limitation-on-benefits article.

Chapter 4 status. Most Canadian operating companies check “Active NFFE” on line 5 and certify in Part XXV that “Less than 50% of such entity’s gross income for the preceding calendar year is passive income” and less than 50% of its assets produce passive income. The instructions list passive income as including “dividends, interest, rents, royalties, annuities.” A holding company that fails those tests is usually a passive NFFE (Part XXVI), and it must either certify it has no substantial US owners or list them in Part XXIX. A substantial US owner is a specified US person who owns “more than 10 percent (by vote or value)” of a foreign corporation’s stock, so a US citizen living in Canada who owns the company is one.

Limitation on benefits. Article XXIX A(2)(a) of the treaty makes “a natural person” a qualifying person, which is why the W-8BEN has no LOB box. A corporation has to fit a test. The ones a private Canadian company usually relies on are the ownership and base erosion test in Article XXIX A(2)(e) (50% or more of vote and value held by qualifying persons, and deductible payments to non-qualifying persons under 50% of gross income) and the active trade or business test in Article XXIX A(3), which covers only income connected with a substantial Canadian business.

The line-by-line version for a Canadian corporation, with a filled-in example, is in our W-8BEN-E guide for Canadian corporations. The individual’s version is in the W-8BEN guide for Canadian investors.

How long is a W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E valid?

Generally from the day you sign it through December 31 of the third calendar year after that. A form signed in 2026 is good through December 31, 2029, unless something on it becomes wrong first. Then you have 30 days to give the payer a new one.

The W-8BEN-E instructions put it as “a period starting on the date the form is signed and ending on the last day of the third succeeding calendar year, unless a change in circumstances makes any information on the form incorrect,” with the example that a form “signed on September 30, 2014, remains valid through December 31, 2017.” The W-8BEN instructions use the same rule. Both forms carry the promise: “I agree that I will submit a new form within 30 days if any certification on this form becomes incorrect.” A move to the US, a new US owner of a passive company, or a shift from passive to active income are the usual triggers.

Each payer needs its own copy. The instructions say “Generally, a separate Form W-8BEN-E must be given to each withholding agent.” On the W-9 side, the form says “you must furnish a new Form W-9 if the name or TIN changes for the account.”

What happens if you give the wrong form or none?

With no valid W-8 or W-9, the payer applies the IRS presumption rules. If they treat you as foreign, US-source investment income such as dividends takes the full 30%, with no treaty rate. If they treat you as a US payee, 24% backup withholding can apply. A W-9 from a non-US person is worse still, because it tells the payer you’re a US taxpayer.

The Instructions for the Requester of Forms W-8 say that under the presumption rules “the statutory 30% withholding rate applies to a payment subject to withholding under chapter 3 and cannot be reduced (for example, no treaty rate).” The W-9 puts backup withholding at “24% of such payments,” on items including “interest, tax-exempt interest, dividends, broker and barter exchange transactions, rents, royalties, nonemployee pay,” and it applies if “You do not furnish your TIN to the requester.” A W-9 exists so the payer can collect your US tax number for information returns like “Form 1099-INT” and “Form 1099-DIV.”

Fee income for work you do in Canada is a separate case. Publication 515 says “The place where the services are performed determines the source of the income,” so services you perform from Canada are foreign-source and outside the 30% chapter 3 withholding. The payer still asks for a W-8, because a valid one lets it skip the 1099: the requester instructions say a payer that can rely on a Form W-8 is “exempt from reporting the payment on a Form 1099 and withholding under section 3406.”

Getting excess withholding back runs through a US return. A corporation claims it on Form 1120-F, which the 1120-F instructions cover under a “Simplified Procedure for Claiming a Refund of U.S. Tax Withheld at Source.” An individual files Form 1040-NR, which the 1040-NR instructions list for someone “filing Form 1040-NR solely to claim a refund of U.S. tax withheld at the source.” The Form 1042-S refund guide walks through the individual side.

Related guides

• W-8BEN for Canadian freelancers, when the income is fees from US clients
• W-8BEN for Canadian investors, for US dividends and brokerage accounts
• W-8BEN-E for a Canadian corporation, the line-by-line entity version
• W-9 form in Canada, why a Canadian shouldn’t sign one

This guide is general information, not tax advice for your specific situation. Which points apply, and how, depends on your facts.