IRS Form W-9 “Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification” (Cx22) includes a certification of the signer that “I am a U.S. citizen or other U.S. person (defined below)”. The instructions include the following related information:
“Definition of a U.S. person. For federal tax purposes, you are considered a U.S. person if you are:
- An individual who is a U.S. citizen or U.S. resident alien;
- A partnership, corporation, company, or association created or organized in the United States or under the laws of the United States;
- An estate (other than a foreign estate); or
- A domestic trust…
Foreign person. If you are a foreign person or the U.S. branch of a foreign bank that has elected to be treated as a U.S. person, do not use Form W-9. Instead, use the appropriate Form W-8 or Form 8233…”
IRS Form W-8BEN “Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding and Reporting” (Cx7938) triggers for a borrower in ConformX when the borrower’s “Permanent Resident/Qualified Alien Status” is set to:
- Not a Permanent Resident or Qualified Alien;
- Foreign National; or
- Unknown
On the other hand, IRS Form W-9 “Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification” (Cx22) triggers for a borrower in ConformX when the borrower’s “Permanent Resident/Qualified Alien Status” is set to:
- U.S. Citizen/Not Applicable;
- Permanent Resident or Qualified Alien; or
- The borrower’s Status has not been not set.
In addition, a copy of the W-9 also prints if the borrower’s Social Security Number has a value. This means even if a borrower’s Status is specifically set to “Not a Permanent Resident or Qualified Alien” and the W-8BEN is printing, the W-9 incorrectly prints for the borrower as well. To prevent this issue from occurring, the condition to print IRS Form W-9 for a borrower whenever the borrower’s Social Security Number has a value will be removed. Now only the borrower’s “Permanent Resident/Qualified Alien Status” will determine whether a copy of the W-9 prints. This means either IRS Form W-8BEN will print or IRS Form W-9 will print, but never both for the same borrower.
This change (switching the multi-doc collection for “W-9 Taxpayer ID” (Cx22) from “US Citizen or SSN Borrowers” to “US Citizen or Resident Alien Borrowers”) is currently on ConformX Stage servers for testing purposes and will be moved to ConformX Production servers on December 7, 2018. If you have any questions or concerns about these changes, please contact Client Support at 1.800.497.3584.
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