Help! How to fill the W-8BEN-E form for PayPal as a foreigner with zero US connections?

PayPal sometimes incorrectly requests W-8BEN-E forms from individuals who should actually be submitting W-8BEN forms. This happens more often than you'd think. First, double-check your PayPal account settings to make sure it's not registered as a business account. If it is, that would explain why they're requesting the W-8BEN-E form instead of the W-8BEN. If you're certain your account is registered as an individual account, I recommend contacting PayPal support directly to clarify. Explain that you're an individual, not an entity, and request the correct form (W-8BEN). If for some reason they insist on the W-8BEN-E, here's the basic approach: For Part I, fill in your personal information. For entity type in line 4, you might select "Individual" if available or "Other" and specify "Sole proprietor." For Part XXX (Certification), sign as yourself. Skip parts that clearly don't apply to you. But honestly, the better approach is to get them to send you the correct W-8BEN form instead of trying to force your information into a form designed for entities.

After struggling with international tax forms for my side hustle, I found this amazing tool called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that helped me navigate the whole W-8BEN-E situation with PayPal. It basically analyzed my specific situation and walked me through exactly which parts of the form I needed to fill out as a non-US person. What really helped was that it explained all the technical tax jargon in plain language and showed me which sections could be skipped entirely since they didn't apply to my situation. The tool actually pointed out that many PayPal users get confused with this exact issue, and gave me specific instructions for my country. It saved me hours of research and prevented me from making mistakes that could have caused payment delays!

Just wanted to update that I tried taxr.ai for my PayPal W-8BEN-E situation in Thailand and it was surprisingly helpful! The tool immediately identified that I should be using W-8BEN instead and gave me specific instructions to contact PayPal about this. It even provided template language to use when contacting their support. When PayPal insisted I still needed the W-8BEN-E form (apparently because I had registered as a sole proprietor), the tool gave me country-specific guidance for Thailand including which tax treaty articles applied to my situation. I was able to complete the form correctly in about 15 minutes even though I had been stuck on it for weeks. For anyone else struggling with this, it's worth checking out - saved me a massive headache!

If you're still having trouble with PayPal after trying to get the correct form, you might want to try Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) to get direct support. I was stuck in an endless loop with PayPal's automated system when trying to resolve my W-8BEN-E issue - they kept sending me generic responses that didn't address my specific situation. I was skeptical at first, but Claimyr helped me get through to an actual human at PayPal who specialized in international tax forms. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The PayPal rep I spoke with immediately understood my situation and confirmed I could actually submit a modified W-8BEN form even though their system had originally requested the W-8BEN-E. Without getting a real person on the phone, I would have been stuck in email purgatory forever.

I need to eat my words about being skeptical! After seeing the responses here, I decided to try Claimyr to reach PayPal about my W-8BEN-E issue that had been unresolved for over a month. Within 27 minutes (I timed it), I was talking to an actual PayPal tax specialist. The specialist confirmed that there was a known issue in their system where some individual accounts were being incorrectly flagged to receive the W-8BEN-E form. She manually overrode something in my account and sent me the correct W-8BEN form instead. She also gave me her direct extension for follow-up questions, which apparently is like finding a unicorn in the PayPal customer service world. Problem solved after a 15-minute conversation versus the weeks I spent getting nowhere with email support!

Something nobody has mentioned yet - if you're operating as a sole proprietor/freelancer, some countries actually DO require you to fill out the W-8BEN-E instead of the W-8BEN, depending on how you're registered locally. For example, in my country (Chile), even though I'm a one-person business, I'm technically registered as a simplified corporation for local tax purposes. PayPal was actually correct to ask me for the W-8BEN-E form. The key sections to pay attention to if you're in this situation: - Part I (identification) - use your business name if you have one registered - Part III (claim of tax treaty benefits) - this varies by country - For Part XXX (certification) - sign as the authorized representative of yourself You might want to check how you're officially registered for tax purposes in your country before assuming PayPal made a mistake.

Has anyone successfully received payments through PayPal after submitting the W-8BEN-E? I submitted mine 3 weeks ago and my account is still limited. Customer service just keeps telling me "it's being reviewed" but I'm getting worried because I have clients trying to pay me.

I went through this exact same nightmare a few months ago! PayPal's system seems to have a bug where it automatically requests W-8BEN-E forms from anyone who has ever selected "business" during account setup, even if you're just a freelancer. Here's what worked for me: First, check if your PayPal account is set to "business" type. If it is, you'll need the W-8BEN-E regardless of whether you think you should use W-8BEN. Don't try to fight the system on this - just fill out what they're asking for. For the W-8BEN-E form as a sole proprietor with no US connections: - Part I: Use your legal name and address - Line 4 (Entity type): Select "Disregarded entity" if you file business taxes, or "Individual" if you don't - Part II: Skip most of this unless you have specific US tax situations - Part III: Only fill out if your country has a tax treaty with the US (most do) - Certification: Sign as yourself The key is being consistent with how you're registered locally for tax purposes. Don't overthink it - most sections won't apply to your situation as a simple freelancer. PayPal's review process typically takes 2-3 weeks, but your account should work normally once approved.