Fill Out Form W-8IMY Online (Guide for Foreign Intermediaries, 2026)

Short answer: Form W-8IMY is the certificate a foreign intermediary, foreign flow-through entity or certain U.S. branch gives to a U.S. withholding agent when it receives a payment for other people rather than for itself. It states what kind of intermediary you are for chapter 3 (the withholding, generally 30%, on U.S.-source income) and, where required, chapter 4 (FATCA), and it is paired with a withholding statement that says who is behind each payment. It goes to the payer, never to the IRS. The blank form is free on irs.gov; you can also fill it on screen here.

PDFConverter2 is an independent website. It is not affiliated with the IRS or any government agency. This guide summarizes the official form and its instructions (Rev. October 2021) and is not tax advice. W-8IMY is one of the more technical IRS forms, so if you cannot tell which status applies, read the IRS instructions or ask a tax professional.

Who uses it, and who should not

The instructions list who provides it: foreign persons acting as a custodian, broker, nominee or agent, either as qualified intermediaries (QI) or nonqualified intermediaries (NQI); foreign partnerships and foreign simple or grantor trusts passing income to their partners or beneficiaries (flow-through entities), U.S. branches of foreign banks or insurers acting as intermediaries, and financial institutions organized in a U.S. territory. The person asking for it is the withholding agent: the U.S. payer, broker or partnership, or a financial institution where you hold an account.

The form itself lists who should use something else:

• a beneficial owner claiming only foreign status or treaty benefits: Form W-8BEN-E for an entity, Form W-8BEN for an individual;
• a foreign person whose income is effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business: Form W-8ECI;
• a disregarded entity with a single foreign owner: the owner files the appropriate W-8 instead;
• a hybrid entity claiming treaty benefits for itself: Form W-8BEN-E (it may still need a W-8IMY to give the chapter 4 status of its owners if it receives a withholdable payment);
• a foreign government, international organization, central bank, tax-exempt organization or private foundation claiming section 115(2), 501(c), 892, 895 or 1443(b): Form W-8EXP;
• a U.S. entity or U.S. citizen or resident: Form W-9.

A QI that also receives income it owns itself files the W-8 that fits its own status for that income, not W-8IMY.

Choose two statuses first: line 4 and line 5

The form asks for two separate classifications, and each must be one box only.

Line 4, chapter 3 status, decides which Part you complete next:

Line 4 box	Complete
QI (including a QDD)	Part III
Nonqualified intermediary	Part IV
Territory financial institution	Part V
U.S. branch	Part VI
Withholding foreign partnership or trust	Part VII
Nonwithholding foreign partnership, simple trust or grantor trust	Part VIII

Qualified status is not self-declared: the instructions define a QI as a party to a withholding agreement with the IRS, and a withholding foreign partnership or trust likewise has an agreement. You complete only one Part from III to VIII. If you act in two capacities, for example as a QI for one account and an NQI for another, the instructions say to give separate forms.

Line 5, chapter 4 (FATCA) status, is required only in some situations: when you act as an intermediary for a withholdable payment, when you are a flow-through entity receiving one for your owners, when your withholding statement allocates to a pool of U.S. payees, when an FFI asks you for it, or when you are a QI, withholding partnership or withholding trust. Many boxes point to a further Part between IX and XXVIII, for example Part XXVI for an Active NFFE or Part XIX for a nonreporting IGA FFI. Two cases to know: a financial institution in a country with a FATCA intergovernmental agreement (IGA) should tick Reporting Model 1 FFI or Reporting Model 2 FFI and not "Participating FFI"; and a U.S. branch that does not agree to be treated as a U.S. person and does not make the line 19c certification ticks nonparticipating FFI, otherwise it leaves line 5 blank.

Part I: identification (lines 1–10)

• Line 1: your legal name. By entering it you represent that you are not the beneficial owner of the amounts paid, apart from the QDD, QSL and substitute-interest exceptions. A disregarded entity enters its owner's name, not its own.
• Line 2: country of incorporation, or the country whose laws govern you.
• Line 3: required for a disregarded entity that receives a withholdable payment or holds an account with a requesting FFI, has its own GIIN, and is a reporting Model 1 or Model 2 FFI. Its GIIN then goes on line 13, not 9a.
• Line 6: permanent residence address. Not a P.O. box and not an in-care-of address, unless it is your registered address.
• Line 7: mailing address, only if different.
• Line 8: U.S. taxpayer identification number. A QI, withholding foreign partnership or withholding foreign trust ticks QI-EIN, WP-EIN or WT-EIN and enters the number issued in that capacity. A U.S. branch, or a territory financial institution that agreed to be treated as a U.S. person, must give an EIN. Nonqualified intermediaries and nonwithholding partnerships and trusts generally need none, with exceptions such as an upper-tier partnership allocated effectively connected income.
• Line 9a: GIIN, the Global Intermediary Identification Number assigned when you register with the IRS for chapter 4. See the FAQ above for when it is required.
• Line 9b: foreign tax identifying number, only for a QDD in the situations the instructions describe.
• Line 10: reference numbers. The withholding agent may use it to tie your W-8IMY to the W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E forms you pass on.

Part II (lines 11–13) is used only by a disregarded entity with its own GIIN that receives a withholdable payment, or by a branch in a country other than the entity's country of residence. The branch's GIIN goes on line 13.

The withholding statement

A W-8IMY on its own does not say who the income is for. That is the job of the withholding statement. The instructions define it as an allocation, by income type, of each payment you receive to each payee, or to a withholding rate pool where pooling is allowed. It is an integral part of the form, and the penalties-of-perjury statement you sign covers it too.

For a nonqualified intermediary, the statement must include, for each person you have documentation for, the name, address, U.S. TIN if any, chapter 4 status, the type of documentation (Form W-9, a type of Form W-8, or documentary evidence), the rate of withholding, the country of residence and the basis for any reduced rate. The withholding agent also needs the underlying withholding certificates, and if you pass income to another NQI or a non-withholding partnership or trust, that entity's own W-8IMY.

An NQI must provide it before the payment, and every intermediary must update it as often as needed for the agent to withhold and report correctly. The instructions describe an alternative procedure using withholding rate pools and an alternative withholding statement for cases where the withholding agent agrees. A QI that has assumed primary withholding responsibility under chapters 3 and 4 and primary Form 1099 responsibility (boxes 15a and 15f) does not have to provide a statement for those accounts.

Part XXIX: certification and signature

A person authorized to sign under penalties of perjury signs and dates (MM-DD-YYYY). By signing, they also agree to submit a new form within 30 days if a certification becomes incorrect. A withholding agent may accept an electronic signature, but the instructions say that simply typing your name on the line is not one; it must show the form was electronically signed by an authorized person, for example with a time and date stamp and a statement to that effect.

Common mistakes

• Filing W-8IMY as the owner of the income. If you are the beneficial owner, W-8BEN-E or W-8ECI is the form.
• Ticking more than one box on line 4 or line 5, or completing more than one Part from III to VIII.
• Combining two capacities on one form instead of filing a separate W-8IMY for each.
• Ticking Participating FFI in an IGA country. The instructions say to tick the Reporting Model 1 or 2 box.
• Leaving out the withholding statement, or sending it after the payment.
• A missing or unverified GIIN when the status requires one.
• Putting a disregarded entity's GIIN on line 9a instead of line 13.
• Mixing up EINs. A QI-EIN, WP-EIN or WT-EIN belongs only to that capacity; in any other capacity the instructions say to use your other U.S. TIN, if any.
• A P.O. box on line 6.
• Not updating it. A change in circumstances must be reported within 30 days; the instructions treat a change in your country's IGA status, such as Model 2 becoming Model 1, as one.

Where it goes and what happens next

Give the signed form and the withholding statement to whoever requested them, before income is paid or credited to your account. Do not send them to the IRS. The instructions say that a separate Form W-8IMY must generally be given to each withholding agent you receive payments from. Without it the withholding agent may have to withhold at the 30% rate, backup withhold, or withhold under section 1446 at the applicable rate. The agent relies on your form and statement to decide the rate for each person behind you and to report the payments, for example on Form 1042-S.

Related forms

• Form W-8BEN-E: the certificate for a foreign entity that owns the income itself.
• Form W-8BEN: the same for individuals.
• Form W-9: for U.S. persons.
• Form SS-4: apply for a U.S. EIN, which line 8 requires for some statuses. Line 8 asks for a QI-EIN, WP-EIN or WT-EIN when you act in that capacity, which is a separate number from your other U.S. TIN.

Filling it here

Press Fill out the form at the top of this page to open the official IRS PDF in our editor, in a new window. Type into the form's own boxes, tick the status checkboxes and add the signature, then review all eight pages. Filling is free. Downloading the completed PDF requires a paid plan, the same as our other tools. Only the Parts that match your line 4 and line 5 statuses need entries; the rest stay blank. The withholding statement is a separate document you prepare and attach. Files are processed in memory and are not stored beyond the short window described in our privacy policy.