Make a tax treaty claim with a W-8BEN form for VOD

ZenVideo On Demand sellers from countries other than the United States may be subject to withholding based on U.S. tax laws.

In this article:

• Businesses outside the United States
• Individuals outside the United States
• Making a tax treaty claim
• Guidelines for W-8BEN Part II

Businesses outside the United States

Businesses generally will not be subject to withholding if we have a valid W-8-BEN-E form on file before a payment is processed. These forms can be submitted via your Payment Settings page on ZenVideo.

Individuals outside the United States

Individuals may be subject to withholding up to 30% of net revenue unless your country has a tax treaty with the United States and you file a valid treaty claim. If you're an individual, check this IRS list to see if your country has a tax treaty with the U.S. If so, you can reduce your withholding rate to 0% by following the instructions below.

Making a tax treaty claim

Follow these instructions to make a tax treaty claim:

1. Download a W-8BEN form
2. Fill it our following the guidelines below
3. Submit your completed form to [e-mail]

Important: You must complete line 6 and Part II of the above form to reduce your withholding rate to 0%.

Guidelines for W-8BEN Part II

The following guidelines may be helpful in filling out Part II of the W-8BEN, although we recommend consulting a tax professional to ensure you are making a valid claim.

Article Number
To figure out which article to cite, you will first need to look up your country here, click the link and then find your country’s most recent tax treaty document. Within that document, you will find a section entitled "Business Profits" and an associated article number. For example, the Business Profits section of Australia’s tax treaty is "Article 7." Once you find the appropriate article for your country, note that in your form. Additionally, please also reference the paragraph within the Article that mentions that *business profits of a contracting state shall be taxable only in that state, unless the enterprise carried on business in the other contracting state through a permanent establishment situated therein.*

Income Type
ZenVideo has determined that ZenVideo On Demand payments are related to “Services” (and are not royalty-related) because ZenVideo is providing you with software as a service (i.e., the ZenVideo On Demand distribution platform). Therefore, you cannot make a royalty-based treaty claim and most sellers enter “Services” in this field.

Witholding Rate
Making a valid treaty claim can reduce a seller’s withholding rate to 0%, so you can enter “0%” in this field.

Reasoning
Sellers typically make a statement related to the premise that ZenVideo on Demand payments are going to a non-U.S. establishment.

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Once you have completed your form, you can email it to [e-mail].