Purpose of Instructions

These instructions supplement the instructions for the forms listed below and provide notes to assist withholding agents and foreign financial institutions (FFIs) in validating the forms for chapters 3 and 4 purposes. These instructions also outline the due diligence requirements applicable to withholding agents for establishing a beneficial owner’s foreign status and claim for reduced withholding under an income tax treaty. These instructions are not inclusive of all requirements that may apply to a withholding agent for validating Forms W-8. A withholding agent should also reference the applicable regulations under chapters 3 and 4 and the instructions for each Form W-8 listed below.

• Form W-8BEN, Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding and Reporting (Individuals).

• Form W-8BEN-E, Certificate of Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding and Reporting (Entities).

• Form W-8ECI, Certificate of Foreign Person's Claim That Income Is Effectively Connected With the Conduct of a Trade or Business in the United States.

• Form W-8EXP, Certificate of Foreign Government or Other Foreign Organization for United States Tax Withholding and Reporting.

• Form W-8IMY, Certificate of Foreign Intermediary, Foreign Flow-Through Entity, or Certain U.S. Branches for United States Tax Withholding and Reporting.

For definitions of terms not defined in these instructions, see the Forms W-8 and their accompanying instructions.

Throughout these instructions, a reference to or

TIP mention of “Form W-8” includes Forms W-8BEN,

W-8BEN-E, W-8ECI, W-8EXP, and W-8IMY. References to “chapter 3” in the Forms W-8 and their accompanying instructions were generally updated to exclude sections 1445 and 1446 (which those instructions addressed separately as applicable). Thus, references to “chapter 3” in these instructions similarly exclude sections 1445 and 1446.

These instructions reflect the regulatory changes described earlier and the updates to Forms W-8 and their instructions and certain other changes reflected on the most current revisions to the Form W-8 series published as of the date of publication of these instructions. Thus, different rules may apply to withholding agents with respect to prior revisions of Forms W-8 for which these regulatory changes did not yet apply, and different requirements may apply to future revisions of these forms. See Requesting Prior Versions of Form W-8 , later, including the limitations on such use.