Tax ID formats by country

When completing your W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E form, you need to enter your country’s tax identification number (TIN) in the correct format. This reference covers common countries with formatting tips.

Not tax advice

This page provides TIN formatting guidance only. It does not constitute tax, legal, or financial advice. For treaty rates and eligibility, refer to the IRS Tax Treaty Tables and consult a qualified tax professional for your specific situation.

General formatting rules

Strip all dots, dashes, spaces, and slashes from your TIN before entering it. Enter digits and letters only, unless noted otherwise.

For step-by-step instructions on completing your tax form, see Tax Information.

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Individuals and organizations need different numbers

Most countries issue one kind of tax number to people and a different one to companies. Which number you need depends on the form you’re filling in:

Your form	Who files it	Enter
W-8BEN	You, as an individual	The tax number issued to you as a person
W-8BEN-E	A company, label, or other organization	The tax number issued to your organization

Your number is checked against the format expected for your type of filer. So a company that enters a director’s or owner’s personal tax number can be rejected even though that number is genuine and correctly formatted — it’s simply not the number this form is asking for. The same applies the other way round.

Every country below lists both. Read the column that matches your form.

Not sure which form you’re on?

Individuals file the W-8BEN. Companies, labels, partnerships, trusts and other organizations file the W-8BEN-E. See Tax Information for the full breakdown.

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Is a foreign TIN required?

A foreign TIN is required on your W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E unless either:

• you provide a U.S. TIN (an SSN or ITIN for individuals; an EIN or GIIN for entities), or
• your country of residence is on the IRS no-foreign-TIN list.

Countries currently treated as not requiring a foreign TIN are Australia, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, and Japan. This list can change, so it reflects the current position.

Most countries are not exempt. If your country isn’t on that short list, enter your national tax number as the foreign TIN — for example, Spain residents enter their NIF or NIE.

If you leave the foreign TIN blank and your country isn’t exempt, your form will be rejected — see TIN validation failed.

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Country reference

Australia

	Individual (W-8BEN)	Organization (W-8BEN-E)
TIN name	Tax File Number (TFN)	Tax File Number (TFN)
Format	8 or 9 digits	8 or 9 digits
Example	123456789	123456789

Australia uses the same identifier for both. The TFN is issued to individuals and to non-individual entities alike — companies, trusts, partnerships and superannuation funds. Enter digits only, and strip any spaces.

Australian businesses also hold an Australian Business Number (ABN, 11 digits) for their dealings with the ATO. Enter your TFN in the foreign TIN field.

On the IRS no-foreign-TIN list

Australia is currently on the IRS no-foreign-TIN list, so you may leave the foreign TIN field blank if you don’t have a U.S. TIN.

View Australia–US tax treaty (IRS)

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Brazil

	Individual (W-8BEN)	Organization (W-8BEN-E)
TIN name	CPF (Cadastro de Pessoas Físicas)	CNPJ (Cadastro Nacional da Pessoa Jurídica)
Format	11 digits	14 digits
Example	99999999999	12345678000199

Strip dots, slashes and dashes from both. A CPF written 999.999.999-99 becomes 99999999999. A CNPJ written 12.345.678/0001-99 becomes 12345678000199.

The CNPJ is issued to companies, partnerships and foundations. In a CNPJ, the first 8 digits identify the company, the 4 after the slash identify the branch, and the last 2 are check digits.

No US tax treaty

Brazil does not have a tax treaty with the United States. The standard 30% withholding rate applies. See the IRS tax treaty list for countries with active treaties.

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Canada

	Individual (W-8BEN)	Organization (W-8BEN-E)
TIN name	Social Insurance Number (SIN)	Business Number (BN)
Format	9 digits	9 digits
Example	123456789	123456789

Strip dashes and spaces. 123-456-789 becomes 123456789.

Corporations and partnerships use the nine-digit Business Number issued by the Canada Revenue Agency. Trusts are the exception: a trust uses its eight-digit trust account number preceded by the letter T.

View Canada–US tax treaty (IRS)

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France

	Individual (W-8BEN)	Organization (W-8BEN-E)
TIN name	Numéro fiscal de référence (numéro SPI)	Numéro SIREN
Format	13 digits	9 digits
Example	0123456789012	123456789

Strip spaces from both. An individual’s numéro fiscal always starts with 0, 1, 2 or 3.

French companies (and individuals carrying out business activities) receive a SIREN when they’re created. Each establishment also has a 14-digit SIRET, which extends the SIREN — enter the 9-digit SIREN.

View France–US tax treaty (IRS)

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Germany

	Individual (W-8BEN)	Organization (W-8BEN-E)
TIN name	Steuerliche Identifikationsnummer (IdNr)	Steuernummer
Format	11 digits	10 or 11 digits as issued by your Finanzamt (13 in the standardized nationwide format)
Example	12345678901	1234567890

The IdNr is issued to individual people and is fixed for life, so a GmbH, UG, AG or other company does not have one. If you’re completing a W-8BEN-E for a German company, enter the Steuernummer issued by your local Finanzamt.

The Steuernummer is normally written with slashes, for example 12/345/67890. Remove them and enter digits only.

About your USt-IdNr

German companies also hold a USt-IdNr (VAT number, DE followed by 9 digits). It’s a genuine German tax number, but it isn’t the number our tax form checks for German organizations — enter your Steuernummer instead.

View Germany–US tax treaty (IRS)

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India

	Individual (W-8BEN)	Organization (W-8BEN-E)
TIN name	Permanent Account Number (PAN)	Permanent Account Number (PAN)
Format	10 characters — 5 letters + 4 digits + 1 letter	10 characters — 5 letters + 4 digits + 1 letter
Example	ABCPE1234F	ABCCE1234F

India uses the PAN for both, in the same 10-character format. Enter it in uppercase.

The fourth character encodes who holds the PAN, which is how the individual and organization versions differ:

• P — individual
• C — company
• F — firm
• T — trust
• H — Hindu Undivided Family
• A — association of persons
• B — body of individuals
• L — local authority
• J — artificial juridical person
• G — government

If you’re filing a W-8BEN-E, use your organization’s own PAN — not a director’s.

View India–US tax treaty (IRS)

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Indonesia

	Individual (W-8BEN)	Organization (W-8BEN-E)
TIN name	NPWP (Nomor Pokok Wajib Pajak)	NPWP (Nomor Pokok Wajib Pajak)
Format	16 digits	16 digits
Example	0123456789012345	0123456789012345

Indonesia uses a 16-digit NPWP for both. Strip dots and dashes.

Indonesian-resident individuals use their national identity number (NIK) as their NPWP. Non-resident individuals, corporate taxpayers and government agencies use a 16-digit NPWP issued by the Directorate General of Taxes.

Common error: “Tax ID number is too short”

If you see this error, your NPWP is likely in the old 15-digit format. Add a 0 at the beginning. For example, 123456789012345 becomes 0123456789012345.

View Indonesia–US tax treaty (IRS)

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Italy

	Individual (W-8BEN)	Organization (W-8BEN-E)
TIN name	Codice Fiscale	See note below
Format	16 alphanumeric characters	—
Example	RSSMRA85M01H501Z	—

Individuals enter their Codice Fiscale in uppercase. Some positions may contain letters instead of digits due to omocodia (duplicate resolution) — this is valid.

Italian organizations

Italian companies hold more than one number, and which one to enter isn’t the same for every organization. If you’re completing a W-8BEN-E for an Italian company, contact our support team before submitting and we’ll confirm which number to use for your entity.

View Italy–US tax treaty (IRS)

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Japan

	Individual (W-8BEN)	Organization (W-8BEN-E)
TIN name	Individual Number (“My Number”)	Corporate Number
Format	12 digits	13 digits
Example	123456789012	1234567890123

Digits only for both.

Japanese law restricts the sharing of My Number, so you may need to check whether providing it to a foreign entity is permitted in your situation. The Corporate Number has no such restriction — it’s a public number that anyone may use.

On the IRS no-foreign-TIN list

Japan is currently on the IRS no-foreign-TIN list, so you may leave the foreign TIN field blank if you don’t have a U.S. TIN.

View Japan–US tax treaty (IRS)

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Mexico

	Individual (W-8BEN)	Organization (W-8BEN-E)
TIN name	RFC (Registro Federal de Contribuyentes)	RFC (Registro Federal de Contribuyentes)
Format	13 characters — 4 letters + 6 digits + 3 alphanumeric	12 characters — 3 letters + 6 digits + 3 alphanumeric
Example	ABCD850101AB1	ABC850101AB1

Mexico uses the RFC for both, but the length differs: 13 characters for individuals and 12 for legal entities. The leading letters come from the name, the 6 digits are the date of birth or date of incorporation, and the final characters are the check characters (homoclave).

Do not use your CURP (18 characters — that’s a different ID).

View Mexico–US tax treaty (IRS)

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Netherlands

	Individual (W-8BEN)	Organization (W-8BEN-E)
TIN name	BSN (Burgerservicenummer)	RSIN
Format	8 or 9 digits	9 digits
Example	123456789	123456789

Strip spaces from both.

The BSN is issued to people at birth or at registration with a municipality, so a company doesn’t have one. Legal persons and partnerships — bv, nv, vereniging, stichting, coöperatie, vof, maatschap, cv — receive an RSIN when they’re entered in the Handelsregister.

The RSIN is not your KVK number. The KVK number has 8 digits and identifies your Handelsregister entry; the RSIN has 9 digits and is the tax number. Both appear on your Handelsregister extract.

Sole traders

An eenmanszaak has no RSIN. If you trade as a sole trader you’re filing as an individual, so use the W-8BEN and your BSN.

View Netherlands–US tax treaty (IRS)

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Philippines

	Individual (W-8BEN)	Organization (W-8BEN-E)
TIN name	TIN (Tax Identification Number)	See note below
Format	9 digits	—
Example	123456789	—

Individuals strip dashes: XXX-XXX-XXX becomes 9 digits.

Philippine organizations

Philippine corporate TINs are issued with an additional branch code, and we haven’t yet confirmed which format the tax form expects. If you’re completing a W-8BEN-E for a Philippine company, contact our support team before submitting.

View Philippines–US tax treaty (IRS)

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South Korea

	Individual (W-8BEN)	Organization (W-8BEN-E)
TIN name	Resident Registration Number (RRN)	Business Registration Number
Format	13 digits	10 digits
Example	1234561234567	1234567890

Strip hyphens from both. A Business Registration Number written 123-45-67890 becomes 1234567890.

Entities receive their Business Registration Number from their district tax office when they start a business. A legal person that has registered its foundation with the court also holds a 13-digit Corporation Registration Number, which is accepted as an alternative.

For individuals, privacy laws may restrict sharing your RRN — a tax-office-issued number may be used instead.

View South Korea–US tax treaty (IRS)

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Spain

	Individual (W-8BEN)	Organization (W-8BEN-E)
TIN name	NIF or NIE	NIF (entity)
Format	NIF: 8 digits + 1 letter. NIE: 1 letter + 7 digits + 1 letter	1 letter + 7 digits + 1 control character
Example	12345678Z or X1234567L	A1234567B

Enter the full code including letters. Spanish TINs are 9 characters for both individuals and entities.

For an entity, the first letter identifies the legal form: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, J, P, Q, S, U or V for a Spanish entity, N for a foreign entity, and W for a permanent establishment of a non-resident in Spain.

View Spain–US tax treaty (IRS)

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Sweden

	Individual (W-8BEN)	Organization (W-8BEN-E)
TIN name	Personnummer (personal identity number)	Organisationsnummer
Format	10 or 12 digits	10 digits
Example	8501011234 or 198501011234	5561234567

Strip hyphens from both. For individuals, both the 10-digit (YYMMDDXXXX) and 12-digit (YYYYMMDDXXXX) forms are accepted.

Legal persons use the organisationsnummer, assigned by the Swedish authority that registers the legal person. It is always 10 digits.

If you’re an individual who has never been registered in the Swedish population records, you may hold a samordningsnummer (co-ordination number) instead of a personnummer. It’s also 10 digits and is used the same way.

View Sweden–US tax treaty (IRS)

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United Kingdom

	Individual (W-8BEN)	Organization (W-8BEN-E)
TIN name	UTR or National Insurance Number (NINO)	UTR (Unique Taxpayer Reference)
Format	UTR: 10 digits. NINO: 2 letters + 6 digits + 1 letter	10 digits
Example	1234567890 or AB123456C	1234567890

Strip spaces from both.

HMRC allocates a UTR to individuals and to organizations that have to submit a tax return, so a company uses its own UTR. A National Insurance Number belongs to a person, so it is not an option on a W-8BEN-E — an organization should enter its UTR.

You’ll find a UTR on the front page of a tax return: form SA100 for an individual, form CT600 for a company.

View UK–US tax treaty (IRS)

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Countries without US tax treaties

Some countries — including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru, and others — do not have tax treaties with the United States. If your country is not listed above or does not have a treaty, the standard 30% withholding rate applies.

Check the IRS list of treaty countries to see if your country has a treaty.

Note

Even without a treaty, you still need to complete your W-8BEN form and provide your foreign TIN to receive royalty payments.

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Treaty rates and benefits

To find out if your country has a tax treaty with the US and what withholding rate may apply to royalty income, see these official IRS resources:

• Tax Treaty Table 1 — Withholding Rates (PDF) — Rates by country and income type
• Tax Treaties A to Z — Full list of treaty countries with documents
• Claiming Treaty Benefits — IRS guidance on how treaty benefits work

Consult a tax professional

Whether you qualify for treaty benefits depends on your individual circumstances. We recommend consulting a tax professional familiar with US international tax requirements.

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Don’t see your country?

If your country isn’t listed, check the IRS tax treaty list to see if a treaty exists. For TIN format help, check your country’s tax authority website.

If you’re completing a W-8BEN-E, look for the number your tax authority issues to companies rather than to individuals. The two are usually different numbers, and a personal tax number entered on a W-8BEN-E can be rejected.

Need help? Contact our support team.