W-8BEN form for US shares
If you want to buy or hold US shares the US government will charge you a tax on any income you earn from those shares as you are not a US resident or citizen.
Chances are you'd prefer to pay less of this tax (known as withholding tax) on your shares, which is where a W-8BEN form comes in.
The W-8BEN form lets you benefit from the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) treaty rate with the UK. This lowers the withholding tax for qualifying dividends and interest from US shares from 30% to 15%.
Fidelity, in common with other investment platforms, requires customers dealing in US shares to provide a W-8BEN form.
But don't worry, it's quick and easy to complete your W-8BEN form online and in most cases it is validated immediately.
You can buy US shares through Fidelity in a Stocks and Shares ISA, Junior ISA or Investment Account. Dealing in US shares is not currently possible in a Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP).
Important W-8BEN renewal: Please note if your W-8BEN is due to expire on 31 December 2025, we'll send you some information about how to renew this before the deadline. If your W-8BEN expires, your US shares will be sold in January 2026. Find out more.
Complete your new W-8BEN form
1. Log in
2. Check your form status
3. Buy US shares
As you complete your W-8BEN form you'll see some fields pre-populated with the details you provided when you created your account with Fidelity. If you notice any incorrect fields please first check your account settings.
You might come across a couple of questions containing terms you're not familiar with. Here's what the terms mean.
- Under the heading U.S. Taxpayer Identification Number (U.S. TIN) the form asks if you have a U.S. TIN, which is not applicable to UK residents. Please select 'The account holder does not have a U.S. TIN'.
- Under the heading Tax Residence, TIN refers to a country's Taxpayer Identification Number, which in the UK is your National Insurance number. If it is not automatically complete then please select your Country of Tax Residence (where you pay tax) and under TIN enter your UK National Insurance number.
Treaty benefits
- To be entitled to receive a tax reduction from 30% to 15% on the income from your US shares under the US-UK tax treaty, select Yes to: 'Is the account holder claiming a reduced rate of withholding under a tax treaty between the U.S. and another country?'
To submit your form you'll need to click the X in the top right corner on the Thank You page.
If you have a joint account, Power of Attorney, you're transferring an account to Fidelity or manage a Junior ISA on behalf of a child, learn more about completing a W-8BEN form.
How long is my W-8BEN form valid for?
Your W-8BEN form expires at the end of the third calendar year. For example if you signed your W-8BEN form in May 2022, this will expire in December 2025 and must be renewed before this date. We'll always let you know in plenty of time when it's due for renewal.
There are other reasons why your W-8BEN form can become invalid such as:
- If you change your name before the three years are up you'll need to complete a new W-8BEN form within 30 days.
- If you move overseas
- If when completing the W-8BEN form you add a US phone number, US tax identifier (U.S. TIN) or select No to 'Is the account holder claiming a reduced rate of withholding under a tax treaty between the U.S. and another country?'
- If you do not submit a new form before the expiry date of the existing form. Don't worry, we'll always give you plenty of notice to complete a new form.
- When a Junior ISA matures, a new W-8BEN needs to be submitted by the matured ISA account holder.
- If your W-8BEN is due to expire at the end of this year, please click here to see how to renew this, along with other important information about the renewal process.
If your W-8BEN form becomes invalid we will have to sell any US shares you hold and deposit the proceeds as cash in your account.
How to complete a W-8BEN form if...
If you have a Junior ISA, joint account, you're transferring an account to Fidelity or have Power of Attorney, here are a few more details about completing your W-8BEN form.
If you're completing a W-8BEN form for a Junior ISA, you will need to sign the form as the registered contact. We'll need to make a few additional checks for a Junior ISA but we'll get in touch if we require any further details.
If you'd like to invest in US shares using a joint account, each account holder will need to complete a W-8BEN form.
Transferring from another provider to Fidelity
If you're transferring your ISA, Junior ISA or Investment Account to Fidelity and have US shares in any of these accounts, you’ll need to complete a new W-8BEN form within two weeks of the date you submitted the transfer instruction.
Fidelity is required by the US to have a new W-8BEN form even if you submitted a form with your previous provider.
If you're completing a W-8BEN form as a Power of Attorney, we'll need to make a few additional checks. We'll get in touch if we require any further details.
W-8BEN Form Expiry and Renewal Process
If you submitted your W-8BEN form during 2022, then it will expire on 31 December 2025.
What this means
You need to renew your W-8BEN form before this date. To ensure that your renewal is completed successfully, we recommend you submit by 28 December for all types of accounts.
|
Account |
Deadline to submit |
|---|---|
|
Junior ISAs |
28 December 2025 |
|
Accounts with Power of Attorney |
|
|
Stocks and Shares ISAs |
|
|
Investment Accounts |
Important: If you don't renew it in time, we'll have to sell your US shares on the first available date in January 2026 and put the money into cash within your account(s). The cash will remain within the product account or tax wrapper.
How to renew
Log in and follow these steps:
- Go to Profile
- Go to Preference Centre
- Select Investing in US shares (W-8BEN)
- Click the ‘Submit a new W-8BEN’ button
- Complete and submit the form.
Your new W-8BEN will last for another three years. We’ll confirm the expiry date once you’ve completed the renewal.
What happens if I don’t renew my W-8BEN in time?
-
If you don’t renew your W-8BEN and your US shares are sold, a £1.50 dealing fee will be charged, along with a foreign exchange charge of up to 0.75%.
- Regular Savings Plans - If you invest in US shares through a regular savings plan (RSP) and your W-8BEN isn’t renewed, we’ll have to update any RSP instructions from that asset to invest into cash within the account. You can give us a new investment instruction for your RSP if you don’t want this amount to go into cash. When you log in, go to ‘Manage Investments’ then ‘Regular savings plan’.
- Joint accounts - If you hold US shares in a joint investment account, all joint holders need to renew their W-8BEN, or the shares will be sold. We'll notify all holders whose W-8BEN form is expiring at the end of December this year.
- Capital Gains Tax - If you hold US shares in an investment account, selling shares to cash may mean you’re liable for capital gains tax (CGT). If you’re unsure about your tax position, you should consult HMRC guidance or a tax adviser.
- Junior ISAs or accounts with Power of Attorney - If you’ve completed a W-8BEN which expires at the end of December this year on behalf of a child who has a Junior ISA or as a Power of Attorney, please follow the steps above to renew it. In these cases, you’ll need to submit the renewal before 28 December as we need to make a few additional checks before confirming the new expiry date.
- Transferring your shares to another investment provider - If you’ve requested a transfer out of your US shares to another provider and the transfer hasn’t completed by 31 December, you’ll still need to renew your W-8BEN. Otherwise, we’ll sell these holdings to cash on the first available date in January.
- Already sold your US shares - If you no longer hold US shares in your Fidelity account(s), but you want to invest in this type of asset in the future, please renew your W-8BEN when it’s convenient for you.
FAQs
We use the details you provided to create your account to pre-populate some of the W-8BEN form. If you notice any incorrect fields on the form please log in and check the details we hold for you in your profile.
You can buy US shares through Fidelity in a Stocks and Shares ISA, Junior ISA or Investment Account.
Open a Fidelity account or transfer your investments to us and search, compare and buy your US shares with our award-winning service.
Before you buy your first US shares you'll need to complete a W-8BEN form for US regulatory reasons.
Learn more about investing in US shares from the UK with Fidelity.
Dealing in US shares is not currently available for the Fidelity SIPP. But we are looking into supporting this.
If your completed W-8BEN form is not appearing on your account’s Preference Centre, please check if you submitted it.
To submit your online W-8BEN form you need to click the X in the top right corner on the Thank You page of your form.
If you haven’t done this, don’t worry, you can go back to your W-8BEN form and select the ‘Update’ link. Once you’re through to the Thank You page of your form, click the X in the top right corner to register your W-8BEN form and exit the process.
If you’re a UK citizen who was born in the US, you can submit a W-8BEN form with those details, but at the end of the form you’ll be shown an additional screen asking you to state why you’re not a US citizen. We'll get in touch if we require any further details.
You can’t submit a W-8BEN form with a PO Box or “care of” address.
If you do not hold a valid W-8BEN form your US shares will be sold and fees and charges will apply. Any dividends received after the sale of your US shares, will be paid as cash to your account (instead of being reinvested), and these will be subject to a higher rate of US withholding tax. If you wish to trade or hold US shares again, you will need to complete a new W-8BEN form.
Log in and follow these steps:
- Go to Profile
- Go to Preference Centre
- Select Investing in US shares (W-8BEN)
- View the expiry date for the current W-BEN form
