w8 form what the worst that can happen

so what is the worst that an happen if i don t fill out the w8 form i have heard that the us governmetn will get 30% of my earnings and so can i avoid filling out the w8 form is this true
btw i live in england

 

Why exactly would you even have to fill out a W8 form for in the first place?

 

This really depends on context, I'd imagine.

You don't have to fill out a W9.

You probably don't need to fill out a W8 either. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IRS_tax_forms#W-8BEN

 

If The company insists on a W8 or W9 then they will not pay you anything over $600 that you earn in a year.

So if you think you are going to go over the $600 from them in any one year and you want to get it you will have to fill in the form.

 

im under 18 and im signing up to some cpa networks

 

is it true that the us government can get 30% of my earnings if i don t fill out the w8 form

 

What the us goverment gets is irrelevant. What is relevant is that you will NOT get paid if you dont.

I am also dubious as to if you legally can sign up - You are not of legal age to enter into a contract on your own. Do you have parential concent? if so then you may also have to send a copy of that.

If you lie about your age then you could end up working you rear off and earning a lot and then when/if thye find out, the program can say they are not paying you and there will be nothing you can do about it.

I strongly advise you to complete the W8

 

The W8 form states that you are not a US person and therefore you are not obliged to pay regular taxes every US citizen has to. However you may be in obligation to pay 30% income tax as an foreigner.

The companies based in the US usually requests W8 and W9 forms so they wouldn't run into any problems with the IRS. Some companies like Shareasale CPA network and Google only require you to fax them signed statement that you don't have any connections with the USA (which you don't if you operate as an affiliate only) instead of W8 forms. With this statement you are not in any obligation to pay any taxes to the US government as far as I know, nor will anyone require you to.

As for W8 form, if your country has a treaty with the US which prevents double taxes than you won't have to pay 30% of your earnings to the US government. UK should have this treaty signed.

However if you live in a country that does not have this treaty with the US government, than you are in obligation to pay 30% of your earnings to the US government and usually the company you work with will automatically deduct 30% from your earnings.

Hope this helps!

Best regards,
DrJale

 

By the way, if you lie and say that you are 18 years old, how are they going to find out that you are lying?

Just a thought.

 

This is a good question I agree. However I am sure I read another thread in here where the person was found out. So it can happen.

 

So if i am a us citizen, but my business is hosted in europe.. Can i lie and say that i am not a us citizen and stuff so i do not have to submit the IRS forms?

 

The point of the matter is that I don't know about you, but personally, I would not lie about verifiable information to the US government.

Like lcwadminbj said, some of these affiliate services will flat out not pay you unless you fill the form out (that includes Squidoo, CJ.com, eBay and all of the big ones). A few small affiliates never ask for the form, so it's all under the table.

No matter what you do, the government is going to rape you. That 30% is inaccurate, after everything is truly taken out, it seems more like 40%. I got absolutely killed in taxes last year. So bad that basically the first third of the year's revenue felt like it was completely taken by the gov't.

 

So does adsense report to the IRS of the earnings? or is just for taxing?

 

of course! not just google even paypal does! If you are in US i am afraid you cant escape IRS.

 

So what will happen if i say i am not a US citizen so i can avoid taxes? will they find out

 

How many different ways are you going to ask the same question?

You have had the advice and if you dont like it , posing the same question in a different way is not going to change the advice given.

You do what you want and if you get caught dont come crying here. It is as simple as that.

 

if you are not US citizen, then possibly you should belong some country in the world, where you are supposed to pay taxes. without w8 form no company located in US would do payment.