My mother transferred condo to me back in Europe where I lived for 30 years before coming to US, I am US citizen and would like to sell that property there. Buyers bank is asking me to fill out form W8 and W9. What would be the purpose of those forms?
You will not provide the W-8BEN because that form specifically and explicitly states, Do NOT use this form if You are a U.S. citizen or other U.S. person, including a resident alien individual Instead, you will provide them with a W-9. The W-9 is how you provide them your SSN for tax reporting purposes. You are not required to provide it. But if you do not, then when you sell the closing agent is required by law to withhold a minimum of 20% for income taxes. Depending on the sales price, they could withhold as much as 38% for federal income tax. If your state taxes personal income, they may also be required to withhold s significant percentage for state taxes too. What percentage that would be, would depend on what state you are in and what the taxes rates are in that state for personal income.
As far as I could get, we're talking about W8-BEN and W-9 here. The thing is, if your mother is an American citizen, then she must file only W-9 with the very service she's got access to: https://w9.pdffiller.com In other cases, she must file W-8BEN. But not both of them. Possibly there are some misunderstandings from the bank
For all I know, for this situation only W9 form is required. My friends had similar case and they filled only this form. I think it's better for youto read itmore properly by yourself in the Internet or appeal to the specialists in your city. If you're dealing with it on your own, then I can give you a piece of advice to read about that here https://pdfliner.com/form_w_9 (you can also fill it). Maybe it'll make the whole process easier for you!
@alana_o04 It is nice to try and be helpful to other users. But pay attention to the dates their questions were posted. You posted your reply to a thread that is over two years old.