2003 HTML Instructions for Form W-8ECI,

This is archived information that pertains only to the 2003 Tax Year. If you
are looking for information for the current tax year, go to the Tax Prep Help Area.

Table of Contents

Definitions

Note: For definitions of terms used throughout these instructions, see Definitions on pages 2 and 3.

Purpose of form. Foreign persons are generally subject to U.S. tax at a 30% rate on income they receive from U.S. sources. However, no withholding is required on income (other than personal services income and income subject to withholding under section 1445 (dispositions of U.S. real property interests) or section 1446 (foreign partner's share of effectively connected income)) that is, or is deemed to be, effectively connected with the conduct of a trade or business within the United States and is includible in the beneficial owner's gross income for the tax year.

If you receive effectively connected income from sources within the United States, you must provide Form W-8ECI to:

Establish that you are not a U.S. person,
Claim that you are the beneficial owner of the income for which Form W-8ECI is being provided, and
Claim that the income is effectively connected with the conduct of a trade or business within the United States.

If you expect to receive both income that is effectively connected and income that is not effectively connected from a withholding agent, you must provide Form W-8ECI for the effectively connected income and Form W-8BEN (or Form W-8EXP or Form W-8IMY) for income that is not effectively connected.

If you are a foreign partnership, a foreign simple trust, or a foreign grantor trust with effectively connected income, you may submit Form W-8ECI without attaching Forms W-8BEN or other documentation for your foreign partners, beneficiaries, or owners.

A withholding agent or payer of the income may rely on a properly completed Form W-8ECI to treat the payment associated with the Form W-8ECI as a payment to a foreign person who beneficially owns the amounts paid and is entitled to an exemption from withholding because the income is effectively connected with the conduct of a trade or business within the United States.

Provide Form W-8ECI to the withholding agent or payer before income is paid or credited to you. Failure by a beneficial owner to provide a Form W-8ECI when requested may lead to withholding at a 30% rate (foreign-person withholding) or the backup withholding rate.

Note:

For additional information and instructions for the withholding agent, see the Instructions for the Requester of Forms W-8BEN, W-8ECI, W-8EXP, and W-8IMY.

Who must file. You must give Form W-8ECI to the withholding agent or payer if you are a foreign person and you are the beneficial owner of U.S. source income that is (or is deemed to be) effectively connected with the conduct of a trade or business within the United States.

Do not use Form W-8ECI if:

You are a nonresident alien individual who claims exemption from withholding on compensation for independent or certain dependent personal services performed in the United States. Instead, provide Form 8233, Exemption from Withholding on Compensation for Independent (and Certain Dependent) Personal Services of a Nonresident Alien, or Form W-4, Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate.
You are claiming an exemption from withholding for a reason other than a claim that the income is effectively connected with the conduct of a trade or business within the United States. For example, if you are a foreign person and the beneficial owner of U.S. source income that is not effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business and are claiming a reduced rate of withholding as a resident of a foreign country with which the United States has an income tax treaty in effect, do not use this form. Instead, provide Form W-8BEN, Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding.
You are a foreign person receiving proceeds from the disposition of a U.S. real property interest. Instead, see Form 8288-B, Application for Withholding Certificate for Dispositions by Foreign Persons of U.S. Real Property Interests.
You are filing for a foreign government, international organization, foreign central bank of issue, foreign tax-exempt organization, foreign private foundation, or government of a U.S. possession claiming the applicability of section 115(2), 501(c), 892, 895, or 1443(b). Instead, provide Form W-8EXP, Certificate of Foreign Government or Other Foreign Organization for United States Tax Withholding. However, these entities should use Form W-8BEN if they are claiming treaty benefits or are providing the form only to claim exempt recipient status for backup withholding purposes. They should use Form W-8ECI if they received effectively connected income (for example, income from commercial activities).
You are acting as an intermediary (that is, acting not for your own account or for that of your partners, but for the account of others as an agent, nominee, or custodian). Instead, provide Form W-8IMY, Certificate of Foreign Intermediary, Foreign Flow-Through Entity, or Certain U.S. Branches for United States Tax Withholding.
You are a withholding foreign partnership or a withholding foreign trust. A withholding foreign partnership is, generally, a foreign partnership that has entered into a withholding agreement with the IRS under which it agrees to assume primary withholding responsibility for each partner's distributive share of income subject to withholding that is paid to the partnership. A withholding foreign trust is, generally, a foreign simple trust or a foreign grantor trust that has entered into a withholding agreement with the IRS under which it agrees to assume primary withholding responsibility for each beneficiary's or owner's distributive share of income subject to withholding that is paid to the trust. Instead, provide Form W-8IMY.
You are a foreign corporation that is a personal holding company receiving compensation described in section 543(a)(7). Such compensation is not exempt from withholding as effectively connected income, but may be exempt from withholding on another basis.
You are a foreign partner in a partnership and the income you receive from the partnership is effectively connected with the conduct of a trade or business within the United States. See section 1446 and Rev. Proc. 89-31, 1989-1 C.B. 895.

Giving Form W-8ECI to the withholding agent. Do not send Form W-8ECI to the IRS. Instead, give it to the person who is requesting it from you. Generally, this will be the person from whom you receive the payment or who credits your account. Give Form W-8ECI to the person requesting it before the payment is made to you or credited to your account. If you do not provide this form, the withholding agent may have to withhold at a 30% rate (foreign-person withholding) or the backup withholding rate. A separate Form W-8ECI must be given to each withholding agent.

U.S. branch of foreign bank or insurance company. A payment to a U.S. branch of a foreign bank or a foreign insurance company that is subject to U.S. regulation by the Federal Reserve Board or state insurance authorities is presumed to be effectively connected with the conduct of a trade or business in the United States unless the branch provides a withholding agent with a Form W-8BEN or Form W-8IMY for the income.

Change in circumstances. If a change in circumstances makes any information on the Form W-8ECI you have submitted incorrect, you must notify the withholding agent or payer within 30 days of the change in circumstances and you must file a new Form W-8ECI or other appropriate form. For example, if during the tax year any part or all of the income is no longer effectively connected with the conduct of a trade or business within the United States, your Form W-8ECI is no longer valid. You must notify the withholding agent and provide Form W-8BEN, W-8EXP, or W-8IMY.

If you become a citizen or a resident of the United States after you submit Form W-8ECI, you are no longer subject to the 30% foreign-person withholding rules. You must notify the withholding agent or payer within 30 days of becoming a U.S. citizen or resident. For more information, see the Instructions for the Requester of Form W-9.

Expiration of Form W-8ECI. Generally, a Form W-8ECI will remain in effect for 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. For example, a Form W-8ECI signed on September 30, 2003, remains valid through December 31, 2006. Upon the expiration of the 3-year period, you must provide a new Form W-8ECI.

Definitions

Beneficial owner. For payments other than those for which a reduced rate of withholding is claimed under an income tax treaty, the beneficial owner of income is generally the person who is required under U.S. tax principles to include the income in gross income on a tax return. A person is not a beneficial owner of income, however, to the extent that person is receiving the income as a nominee, agent, or custodian, or to the extent the person is a conduit whose participation in a transaction is disregarded. In the case of amounts paid that do not constitute income, beneficial ownership is determined as if the payment were income.

Foreign partnerships, foreign simple trusts, and foreign grantor trusts are not the beneficial owners of income paid to the partnership or trust. The beneficial owners of income paid to a foreign partnership are generally the partners in the partnership, provided that the partner is not itself a partnership, foreign simple or grantor trust, nominee or other agent. The beneficial owners of income paid to a foreign simple trust (that is, a foreign trust that is described in section 651(a)) are generally the beneficiaries of the trust, if the beneficiary is not a foreign partnership, foreign simple or grantor trust, nominee or other agent. The beneficial owners of a foreign grantor trust (that is, a foreign trust to the extent that all or a portion of the income of the trust is treated as owned by the grantor or another person under sections 671 through 679) are the persons treated as the owners of the trust. The beneficial owners of income paid to a foreign complex trust (that is, a foreign trust that is not a foreign simple trust or foreign grantor trust) is the trust itself.

The beneficial owner of income paid to a foreign estate is the estate itself.

Note:

A payment to a U.S. partnership, U.S. trust, or U.S. estate is treated as a payment to a U.S. payee that is not subject to 30% foreign-person withholding. A U.S. partnership, trust, or estate should provide the withholding agent with a Form W-9.

Disregarded entity. A business entity that has a single owner and is not a corporation under Regulations section 301.7701-2(b) is disregarded as an entity separate from its owner.

Effectively connected income. Generally, when a foreign person engages in a trade or business within the United States, all income from sources within the United States other than fixed or determinable annual or periodical (FDAP) income (for example, interest, dividends, rents, and certain similar amounts) is considered income effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business. FDAP income may or may not be effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business. Factors to be considered to determine whether FDAP income and similar amounts from U.S. sources are effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business include whether:

The income is from assets used in, or held for use in, the conduct of that trade or business or
The activities of that trade or business were a material factor in the realization of the income.

There are special rules for determining whether income from securities is effectively connected with the active conduct of a U.S. banking, financing, or similar business. See section 864(c)(4)(B)(ii) and Regulations section 1.864-4(c)(5)(ii) for more information.

Effectively connected income, after allowable deductions, is taxed at graduated rates applicable to U.S. citizens and residents, rather than at a 30% foreign-person withholding rate. You must report this income on your annual U.S. income tax or information return.

Foreign person. A foreign person includes a nonresident alien individual, a foreign corporation, a foreign partnership, a foreign trust, a foreign estate, and any other person that is not a U.S. person.

Nonresident alien individual. Any individual who is not a citizen or resident of the United States is a nonresident alien individual. An alien individual meeting either the “green card test” or the “substantial presence test” for the calendar year is a resident alien. Any person not meeting either test is a nonresident alien individual. Additionally, an alien individual who is a resident of a foreign country under the residence article of an income tax treaty, or an alien individual who is a resident of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, or American Samoa is a nonresident alien individual.

Note:

Even though a nonresident alien individual married to a U.S. citizen or resident alien may choose to be treated as a resident alien for certain purposes (for example, filing a joint income tax return), such individual is still treated as a nonresident alien for withholding tax purposes on all income except wages.

See Pub. 519, U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens, for more information on resident and nonresident alien status.

Withholding agent. Any person, U.S. or foreign, that has control, receipt, or custody of an amount subject to withholding or who can disburse or make payments of an amount subject to withholding is a withholding agent. The withholding agent may be an individual, corporation, partnership, trust, association, or any other entity including (but not limited to) any foreign intermediary, foreign partnership, and U.S. branches of certain foreign banks and insurance companies. Generally, the person who pays (or causes to be paid) an amount subject to withholding to the foreign person (or to its agent) must withhold.

General Instructions