Alien Zone Plus Redeem Code

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Certainchanges to the withholding requirements under Regulations section 1.1446-4 for distributions made by PTPs (PTP distributions), which include an allowance for Qualified Intermediaries (QIs) and U.S. branches to act as withholding agents for the distributions; and

This publication is for withholding agents who pay income to foreign persons, including nonresident aliens, foreign corporations, foreign partnerships, foreign trusts, foreign estates, foreign governments, and international organizations. Specifically, it describes the persons responsible for withholding (withholding agents), the types of income subject to withholding, and the information return and tax return filing obligations of withholding agents. In addition to discussing the rules that apply generally to payments of U.S. source income to foreign persons, it also contains sections on the withholding that applies to the disposition of U.S. real property interests (USRPIs) and the withholding by partnerships on income effectively connected with the active conduct of a U.S. trade or business.

If you have a tax question not answered by this publication or the How To Get Tax Help section at the end of this publication, go to the IRS Interactive Tax Assistant page at IRS.gov/Help/ITA where you can find topics by using the search feature or viewing the categories listed.

In most cases, a foreign person is subject to U.S. tax on its U.S. source income. Most types of U.S. source income received by a foreign person are subject to U.S. tax of 30%. A reduced rate, including exemption, may apply if there is a tax treaty between the foreign person's country of residence and the United States. The tax is generally withheld (chapter 3 withholding) from the payment made to the foreign person.

You are a withholding agent if you are a U.S. or foreign person, in whatever capacity acting, that has control, receipt, custody, disposal, or payment of an amount subject to chapter 3 withholding. A withholding agent may be an individual, corporation, partnership, trust, association, nominee (under section 1446), or any other entity, including any foreign intermediary, foreign partnership, or U.S. branch of certain foreign banks and insurance companies. You may be a withholding agent even if there is no requirement to withhold from a payment or even if another person has withheld the required amount from the payment.

As a withholding agent, you are personally liable for any tax required to be withheld. This liability is independent of the tax liability of the foreign person to whom the payment is made. If you fail to withhold and the foreign payee fails to satisfy its U.S. tax liability, then both you and the foreign person are liable for tax, as well as interest and any applicable penalties.

Withholding is required at the time you make a payment of an amount subject to withholding. A payment is made to a person if that person realizes income, whether or not there is an actual transfer of cash or other property. A payment is considered made to a person if it is paid for that person's benefit. For example, a payment made to a creditor of a person in satisfaction of that person's debt to the creditor is considered made to the person. A payment is also considered made to a person if it is made to that person's agent.

You are a withholding agent for purposes of chapter 4 if you are a U.S. or foreign person, in whatever capacity you are acting, that has control, receipt, custody, disposal, or payment of a withholdable payment. Similar rules for determining who is a withholding agent as those described in Chapter 3 Withholding Requirements, earlier, also apply for chapter 4. For purposes of chapter 4, a withholding agent includes a participating foreign financial institution (FFI) (including a reporting Model 2 FFI) or registered deemed-compliant FFI to the extent such FFI makes a withholdable payment.

Under chapter 4 a withholding agent that makes a withholdable payment to a payee that is an FFI must withhold 30% on the payment unless the withholding agent is able to treat the FFI as a participating FFI, deemed-compliant FFI, or exempt beneficial owner. A withholding agent must also withhold 30% on a withholdable payment made to a payee that is a foreign entity other than an FFI (that is, a nonfinancial foreign entity, or NFFE) that fails to identify its substantial U.S. owners (or certify that it does not have any substantial U.S. owners) unless the payment is excepted from withholding under the regulations to section 1472. A participating FFI is a withholding agent under chapter 4 and is required to withhold on a withholdable payment to the extent required under the FFI agreement, including on a payment made to an account holder that the FFI is required to treat as a recalcitrant account holder. A reporting Model 1 FFI is required to withhold under chapter 4 to the extent required in the applicable Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA). A registered deemed-compliant FFI (other than a reporting Model 1 FFI) is required to withhold under chapter 4 to the extent required under the conditions applicable to its registered deemed-compliant FFI status. See Regulations section 1.1471-5(f)(1) for a description of the types of registered deemed-compliant FFIs that may have withholding requirements.

Generally, a withholdable payment is a payment of U.S. source fixed or determinable annual or periodical (FDAP) income. Specific exceptions to withholdable payments apply instead of the exemptions from withholding or taxation provided under chapter 3. See Income Subject to Withholding, later, for more information on payments of U.S. source FDAP income that are excepted from the definition of withholdable payment.

If a withholding agent makes a payment subject to both chapter 4 withholding and chapter 3 withholding, the withholding agent must apply the withholding provisions of chapter 4, and need not withhold on the payment under chapter 3 to the extent that it has withheld under chapter 4.

Similar rules for withholding agent liability for tax, determination of amount to withhold, and when to withhold as those described in Chapter 3 Withholding Requirements, earlier, also apply for chapter 4.

You may also be responsible as a payer for reporting payments to a U.S. person, generally on Form 1099. You must withhold 24% (backup withholding rate) from certain reportable payments made to a U.S. person that is subject to Form 1099 reporting if any of the following apply.

For chapter 4 purposes, you may be required to report on Form 8966, FATCA Report, if you make a withholdable payment to an entity you agree to treat as an owner-documented FFI or to a passive NFFE. See Returns Required, later.

A withholding agent that is a partnership (whether U.S. or foreign) is also responsible for withholding on its income effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business that is allocable to foreign partners. In the case of a publicly traded partnership, however, either the partnership or a nominee may be responsible for this withholding, as applied to distributions by the partnership (PTP distributions). See Partnership Withholding on ECTI, later, for more information.

A withholding agent is also responsible for withholding on the amount realized on the transfer by a foreign partner of an interest in a partnership (domestic or foreign) engaged in the conduct of a U.S. trade or business. See Section 1446(f) Withholding, later, for more information, including withholding requirements applicable to brokers effecting transfers of PTP interests.

A withholding agent may also be responsible for withholding if a foreign person transfers a USRPI to the agent, or if it is a corporation, partnership, trust, or estate that distributes a USRPI to a shareholder, partner, or beneficiary that is a foreign person. See U.S. Real Property Interest, later.

Usually, you determine the payee's status as a U.S. or foreign person or, if you are making a withholdable payment to an entity (or are an FFI making a payment to an account holder), the payee's chapter 4 status, based on the documentation that person provides. See Documentation, discussed later. However, if you have received no documentation or you cannot reliably associate all or a part of a payment with documentation upon which you can rely, then you must apply certain presumption rules, discussed later.

This section applies to both chapters 3 and 4 except where otherwise indicated and except where the text clearly applies to one or the other (for example, reduced rates and exemptions under income tax treaties).

In most cases, the payee is the person to whom you make the payment, regardless of whether that person is the beneficial owner of the income. However, there are situations in which the payee is a person other than the one to whom you actually make a payment.

For purposes of chapter 3, if you make a payment to a U.S. person and you have actual knowledge that the U.S. person is receiving the payment as an agent of a foreign person, you must treat the payment as made to the foreign person. However, if the U.S. person is a financial institution, you may treat the institution as the payee provided you have no reason to believe that the institution will not comply with its own obligation to withhold under chapter 3.

In general, a business entity that is not a corporation and that has a single owner may be disregarded as an entity separate from its owner (a disregarded entity) for federal tax purposes. The payee of a payment made to a disregarded entity is the owner of the entity.

If you make a withholdable payment to a disregarded entity owned by an FFI, for chapter 4 purposes you must determine whether you must treat the payment as made to a payee that is a nonparticipating FFI (to which chapter 4 withholding applies) or a payee that is an FFI with another chapter 4 status (such as a participating FFI). If you make a withholdable payment to a disregarded entity that is treated as a disregarded entity that is a branch of an FFI that cannot comply with the requirements of an applicable IGA or the regulations under chapter 4, you must treat the payment as made to a nonparticipating FFI and withhold 30% of the payment. See the Instructions for Form W-8BEN-E for more information on payments to disregarded entities.

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