European Accounts

For European residents opening an account to trade U.S.-listed securities, a W-8BEN form should be submitted at onboarding. Because European clients are not registered U.S. taxpayers, this form is critical to establish their foreign status and claim the reduced 15% tax treaty rate on U.S.-source FDAP income (such as dividends). If a valid W-8BEN is missing or expired, the default 30% U.S. withholding rate will automatically apply. The IRS explains here which individuals this applies to and provides instructions on completing the form.

Every three years, in addition to the calendar year it was signed, a new W-8BEN form must be submitted. Partners are responsible for monitoring the expiration date of their users' forms and prompting them to renew before the expiration occurs.

The form can be submitted via the API in JSON, JSONC, PNG, JPEG or PDF. If submitting it in JSON, please see the W-8 BEN completed with the corresponding field names for the API here.

Note: The dates collected on the form are in a slightly different format than how they need to be submitted via the Accounts API. It is requested by the user on the form in MM-DD-YYYY, but should be submitted as YYYY-MM-DD.