Form W-8 is an IRS tax form which allows non-U.S. individuals and businesses to confirm their non-U.S. tax residency. There are different variations of the form based on the entity type and purpose. To simplify the process, Stripe has created a substitute Form W-8 for users to confirm their non-US tax residency.

A Form W-8 is an IRS tax form which allows non-U.S. individuals and businesses to confirm their non-U.S. tax residency.

We’ve simplified the submission process to only collect the mandatory information (Name, Address, Business Type, Tax ID, etc). You’ll be notified via email and asked to complete a Form W-8/W-9. Follow the prompts in the email or login into your platform’s dashboard to complete the submission process.

You can find an example of the Form W-8 collection fields in the screenshot below.

Above: Collection fields for Form W-8 submission in your platform's dashboard.

Once completed, a pdf version of the form is available for download via the documents page of your platform’s dashboard.

Above: Pdf of a completed Form W-8 submission

Follow the links to below to learn more about the unique IRS versions of Form W-8s:

• Form W-8BEN for individuals; instructions.
• Form W-8BEN-E for entities; instructions.
• Form W-8ECI for earned income that is effectively connected to the U.S.; instructions.

An updated Form W-8 may also be required if there's a change in information to an account that has already submitted a Form W-8.

Please note: Submission of an Affidavit of Unchanged status is not required in all instances. Most Stripe account holders will only be required to complete the Form W-8 section.

Affidavit of Unchanged Status collected by Stripe

An Affidavit of Unchanged Status is a certification that allows the account holder to confirm the information provided on the Form W-8 was accurate for a time period before the signature date and certifies that the content of the form is current and correct and has not changed from the time of account opening to the present time it was signed. A Form W-8 is used on a go forward basis from the time of the signature, so for some older Stripe accounts we may require an Affidavit of Unchanged Status to be completed along with your Form W-8 submission.

At the end of the Form W-8 submission you’ll see the Affidavit of Unchanged Status section if it is required.

Below you can see the Affidavit of Unchanged Status collection fields.

Above: Affidavit portion of Form W-8 collection fields.

The Affidavit of Unchanged Status will also be included in the pdf version that you can download from the documents page of your platform’s dashboard. Check out the screenshot below to see an example of how the completed submission will appear.

Above: Pdf version of a completed Affidavit of Unchanged Status.

This article is neither legal advice nor tax advice. We recommend that you speak to your lawyer or accounting firm with any questions or concerns around tax reporting.