How to fill out Form W-8BEN-E for a Latin American contractor's company, part by part

The header says the form is for use by entities and that individuals must use Form W-8BEN, and it tells the company to give the form to the withholding agent or payer, not to send it to the IRS.[2] Ask for it when the contract and the invoices are in the company’s name. The box under the title lists who must not use this form, starting with a US entity, citizen or resident, who uses Form W-9, and a foreign individual, who uses Form W-8BEN.[2]

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Line 1 is the company’s legal name and line 2 the country where it was incorporated or organized.[4] Line 3 is only for a disregarded entity receiving the payment in specific cases, so a company paid in its own name leaves it blank.[4] Line 4 asks for the chapter 3 status: check the one box that represents the company’s classification.[4]

For most Latin American companies that box is Corporation. US regulations list the Sociedad Anónima of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay as per se corporations, and the Mexican entry includes a Sociedad Anónima de Capital Variable (S.A. de C.V.).[3] Companies that are not on that list, such as a Brazilian LTDA, a Colombian S.A.S. or an Argentine S.R.L., are classified by default as an association, that is, a corporation, when all their members have limited liability, unless the company has elected otherwise.[6]

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Line 5 asks for the company’s chapter 4 (FATCA) status, and checking a box is a representation that the company qualifies for that status in its country of residence.[4] An operating company that sells services and is not a financial institution is normally an active NFFE, a non-financial foreign entity, as long as less than 50% of its gross income and less than 50% of its assets are passive.[2] Check Active NFFE. Complete Part XXV.

A company whose income is mostly passive, which the instructions describe as dividends, interest, rents, royalties, annuities and similar income, would check Passive NFFE and complete Part XXVI instead.[4]

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Line 6 is the permanent residence address of the company named on line 1. It cannot be a financial institution’s address, a post office box or an address used only for mail,[4] although the form accepts a registered address.[2] Line 7 is a mailing address, only if it differs.

As with the individual form, a US address here is a reason to stop and ask: the IRS tells payers that a US permanent residence or mailing address on a Form W-8 can be a reason to know it is unreliable.[5]

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Line 8 asks for a US employer identification number (EIN) only in the cases the instructions list, such as a treaty claim made without a foreign tax ID; a company paid for work done abroad leaves it blank.[4] Line 9a is the GIIN, which the instructions require from certain financial institutions and certain NFFEs; an operating company certifying active NFFE status has none to enter.[4] Line 9b is the foreign tax identifying number issued by the country where the company is a tax resident,[4] and line 10 is an optional reference.

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Line 39 is a single checkbox, and checking it certifies three things: that the company is a foreign entity that is not a financial institution, that less than 50% of its gross income for the preceding calendar year was passive income, and that less than 50% of its assets produce or are held to produce passive income, measured as a quarterly weighted average.[2] The instructions describe passive income as dividends, interest, rents, royalties, annuities and certain other forms of income.[4] A company whose revenue is fees for the services its people perform usually meets both tests.

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The form must be signed and dated by an authorized representative or officer of the company, and the signer must check the box certifying that they have the legal capacity to sign for it.[4] A withholding agent may accept an electronic signature, which must show that the form was signed electronically by a person authorized to do so.[4] By signing, the company also agrees to submit a new form within 30 days if any certification becomes incorrect.[2]

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For the same reason an individual contractor gives you a W-8BEN: it documents that the payee is a foreign person. IRS Publication 515 says that a foreign person who gives you a valid Form W-8 is exempt from backup withholding and Form 1099 reporting.[13] And because pay for services is sourced where the work is performed, a company whose people work in Latin America earns foreign-source income from you, outside US withholding.[14]

The only question is which W-8. If the contractor agreement and the invoices are in the company’s name, the company is the payee and the form is the W-8BEN-E. If the person invoices under their own name and tax ID, even with a business registration, use the W-8BEN for individuals instead.

Almost all of them. The W-8BEN-E has thirty parts because it serves banks, funds, governments and charities as well as ordinary companies; an operating company that sells services and certifies as an active NFFE completes Part I, Part XXV and Part XXX.[2]

Part III stays blank for the same reason as on the individual form: a treaty only reduces US withholding on US-source income, and pay for work done outside the United States is not US-source.[14]

Until December 31 of the third calendar year after the year it was signed, unless a change in circumstances makes it incorrect first.[5] In the certification, the company agrees to submit a new form within 30 days if any certification becomes incorrect.[2] A form signed in 2026 is valid through December 31, 2029; note the date in your vendor records.

The form follows the legal entity, not the headcount. A one-person company that issues the invoices is still an entity and uses the W-8BEN-E; for US purposes, a foreign eligible entity whose single owner has limited liability is classified as an association, which is why it checks Corporation on line 4 unless it has elected otherwise.[6] A person who works under their own name and tax ID is an individual, and the right form is the W-8BEN.[2]