Question

Filing W-8 or W-9 for Fidelity International account in India

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
August 16, 2024
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I have a Fidelity International account in India with company stocks from 2020 and 2021. Since moving to the U.S. in 2021 on an F1 visa, I also have a company stock account with Morgan Stanley and a personal Robinhood account, both with W-9 forms filed. I haven't sold any stocks from my Indian Fidelity account. Now, when accessing it, I'm prompted to complete a tax form but am unsure whether to fill out a W-8 or W-9. Could someone advise on which form is appropriate for my situation?

P

pk12_2

Employee

@mahideeptumati , Namaste ji.

(a) From your post it appears that you are still on "Exempt" status i.e. exempt from counting days present in the USA. If that is the case then you are generally NRA ( Non-Resident Alien ). Of course this is based on assuming that your entry on F-1 visa was your first entry in to the USA for any reason and specifically you had no presence in the US during the years 2019, and 2020. If neither of these assumptions are not true then the premise of this para is false.

(b) If you are NRA , then you need to use W-8 BEN for all your US Sourced passive income accounts, even with SSN.

(c) If on the other hand you did not meet the eligibility requirements for the "Exempt status " , then at the writing of this you would have met the SPT ( Substantial Presence Test ) and therefor are a Resident for Tax Purposes. In such a case you use W-9 for all your US sourced Passive incomes.

Does this help ? Is there more I can do for you ?

Namaste ji

pk