Help with Form W-8BEN: Which country of residence for non-US person? Italy or Sweden?

This is a common question for international students and researchers. For the W-8BEN form, your "country of residence" refers to your tax residence, not just citizenship or where you physically lived before. The key factors determining tax residence typically include: where you have permanent ties (family home, bank accounts), where you pay taxes, and where you intend to return after your studies. Since you lived and worked in Sweden for 3 years, presumably had tax residence there before moving to the US, and your girlfriend still lives there, you could have a legitimate claim to Swedish tax residence. However, since you're Italian and have family there, Italy could also be your tax residence if you maintain stronger ties there or intend to return there after your PhD. What might be most important is whether Italy or Sweden has a more favorable tax treaty with the US regarding dividend taxation. Different countries have different withholding rates based on their tax treaties with the US.

I went through something similar with the W-8BEN form last year. The international tax rules can be so confusing! Have you tried using taxr.ai? https://taxr.ai really helped me figure out my country of residence situation. I uploaded my previous tax docs from my home country and got clear guidance on which country to list on my W-8BEN form. The tool specifically analyzes your situation based on tax treaty provisions between the US and other countries. In my case, I had ties to both the UK and Germany, and it helped me understand which country would be more beneficial to claim as my tax residence based on dividend withholding rates and my personal circumstances.

I was really skeptical about online tax tools but ended up trying taxr.ai after seeing it mentioned here. I also had a complex residency situation (Canadian citizen who worked in Japan before coming to US on O-1 visa). The service actually analyzed the specific tax treaty articles between US-Canada and US-Japan for my situation. It showed me that claiming Japan would save me about 5% on dividend withholding based on my specific circumstances and investment types. They even provided the exact treaty articles and withholding rates to support my decision. The documentation they generated made filling out the W-8BEN super straightforward, and my investment broker accepted it without questions. Definitely worth checking out if you're stuck between Italy and Sweden!

For anyone dealing with tax residency questions on W-8BEN who needs to contact the IRS directly: I highly recommend using Claimyr.com to get through to an agent. https://claimyr.com saved me hours of frustration when I needed clarification about my own international tax situation. I initially tried calling the IRS international taxpayer line directly and spent 2+ hours on hold before getting disconnected. With Claimyr, they held my place in line and called me back when an agent was available. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The IRS agent I spoke with confirmed that for Form W-8BEN purposes, I could claim the country where I had stronger ties and that aligned with my tax situation, even if it wasn't my citizenship country.

I need to apologize for calling Claimyr a scam in my earlier comment. After my fourth failed attempt to reach someone at the IRS international line (got disconnected after 70+ minutes of waiting), I decided to try Claimyr out of desperation. It actually worked exactly as described. I entered my number, they called me back about 45 minutes later when they had an IRS agent on the line. The agent was super helpful with my W-8BEN question - confirmed that for investment dividends, the treaty benefits can vary significantly between countries. In my case (dual citizen UK/Ireland), choosing Ireland on my W-8BEN reduced my dividend withholding rate from 15% to 10%. The IRS agent walked me through the exact tax treaty article that applied to my situation. Definitely worth the call.

Something nobody mentioned yet - check if you're still considered a tax resident of Sweden under Swedish tax laws. Each country has their own rules for determining when someone stops being a tax resident after moving abroad. Some European countries consider you a tax resident for the entire calendar year even if you move away partway through the year. Others have specific rules about maintaining tax residency for a certain period after departure if you still have significant ties to the country. If Sweden still considers you a tax resident based on their domestic tax laws, that would give you a stronger claim to list Sweden on your W-8BEN.

Just to add a practical perspective - I'm a German citizen who lived in France before moving to the US for grad school. I listed France on my W-8BEN since that's where I last paid taxes and had my permanent address. My university's international student office advised that for F1 students, the "residence" on W-8BEN should generally be where you would return if your F1 status ended, and where you have the strongest ties. They said citizenship is less relevant than your actual tax home.