Doesn't matter that you are an overseas company. Any payment made by a U.S. Company needs to also collect a w-9 before issuing payment or similar (W-8ECI from memory is what I used to do as an Aussie living in the U.S. as the sole owner of my LLC which for tax purposes is considered a disregarded entity, the forms explain which one applies to you). The company paying is meant to withhold 30% for not doing so as withholding tax. The w-9 they use for a 1099 which they report to the IRS (one of the many ways the IRS can keep you honest). Failure to submit the 1099 results in a fine for the company which is why everyone scrambles to meet the January 31 deadline of collecting w-9s. I believe an exception is when it's done by credit card as theoretically the credit card company does takes care of this in bulk. No idea if Stripe performs this function. I use Stripe but whenever someone asks for the w-9 I just send it as it's not worth the hassle to argue in not sending it. Another exception is for payments under a certain threshold. From memory it's about $500 or $600. No 1099 (or w-9) needed. For what it's worth what gets reported on the 1099 matters. As proof of this: I have to take the IRS to court now to fix an issue where a customer reported my income as one specific income category and I reported it as gross income with no distinction so the IRS thinks I didn't report it.
Sent from Outlook On Thu, May 14, 2015 at 10:49 PM -0700, "Hugh Stephens" <[email protected]> wrote: Hi guys Did a search and didn't come up with anything from the last few years, not sure if much if anything has changed. I run a SaaS app, and increasingly doing more and more business with US based customers. They're asking for a W8-BEN-E or W9 form, which is the tax registration/withholding forms for the IRS. I do have a stock Delaware LLC and EIN/TIN set up (wholly owned by our P/L company here), but which form am I meant to use? Can I just use a form and say we're a P/L Australian company, or do I need to "put it through" the LLC? Payments are all Stripe (in USD) so it's all automated – we don't have a US bank account (is on my list, but seems to be a pain to get one without visiting, plus then I'd have to muck around with Stripe to fix up the reconciliation to the new USD account, too much effort). Would appreciate any insights – I would be astonished if I was the only one getting lost in all of this tax mess, and I would imagine it's a pretty common problem for SaaS apps with customers in the states who are still only incorporated here... ThanksHugh -- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Silicon Beach Australia mailing list. Vist http://siliconbeachaustralia.org for more Forum rules 1) No lurkers! It is expected that you introduce yourself. 2) No jobs postings. You can use http://siliconbeachaustralia.org/jobs To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/silicon-beach-australia?hl=en?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Silicon Beach Australia" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Silicon Beach Australia mailing list. Vist http://siliconbeachaustralia.org for more Forum rules 1) No lurkers! It is expected that you introduce yourself. 2) No jobs postings. You can use http://siliconbeachaustralia.org/jobs To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/silicon-beach-australia?hl=en?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Silicon Beach Australia" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
