W-8BEN or W-9 for a Foreign-Owned LLC?

Your US client sends a W-9 for your LLC. If you live outside the US and own the LLC alone, the right answer is a W-8BEN from you (or a W-8BEN-E if your owner is a company), not a W-9.

The short answer

The IRS W-9 instructions say it directly: if the owner of a disregarded entity is a foreign person, the owner completes the appropriate Form W-8 instead of a Form W-9, even if the foreign person has a US taxpayer ID. A single-member LLC is a disregarded entity unless it elected corporate tax treatment.

Which form, for which owner

The form belongs to the owner, because the IRS looks through a disregarded entity to whoever owns it. The W-8BEN-E instructions add that a disregarded entity generally does not submit a W-8BEN-E for itself; its owner provides the documentation. The LLC's name can still appear on the owner's form as the disregarded entity receiving the payment.

Why not a W-9

A W-9 certifies that the person being paid is a US person. A single-member LLC owned by a non-US person is not one for this purpose, so signing a W-9 would certify something untrue, and it can lead the payer to report payments to the IRS as if you were a US taxpayer.

Filling in the W-8BEN

• Use your own name and your permanent residence address abroad.
• Give your foreign tax identifying number if your country issues one.
• Claim treaty benefits in Part II if your country has a tax treaty with the US and the income type qualifies. Our W-8BEN helper walks through it, and treaty rates lists the treaties.

When a client insists on a W-9

Many US clients send a W-9 by default. Reply with your W-8BEN and point their accounts team to the W-9 instructions on disregarded entities with foreign owners.

Sources: IRS: Form W-9 (Rev. March 2024), IRS: Instructions for Form W-8BEN-E, IRS: Instructions for Form W-9. Checked 5 October 2026.