AIA wants me to fill out a w9....Why?

[steelepulse]

Why should I fill out a w9 when I am paying for a service? From what I understand, a w9 is used for an independent contractror earning money, not for a citizen paying for insurance.

Anyone know?

[Crossy]

This form? http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw9.pdf

Some form of FATCA backside covering perhaps?

SCB had me fill out something similar when opening an account, and I'm a Brit.

[lopburi3]

As said the W9 is standard form for information required by financial organizations to meet US reporting requirements for American accounts overseas. Expect they have to account for future payments, if any, so need for that.

[steelepulse]

This form? http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw9.pdf

Some form of FATCA backside covering perhaps?

SCB had me fill out something similar when opening an account, and I'm a Brit.

That's the one. Not quite sure how paying an insurance premium relates to fatca reporting though, nor how opening an account for a Brit would require this.

[sandyf]

This form? http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw9.pdf

Some form of FATCA backside covering perhaps?

SCB had me fill out something similar when opening an account, and I'm a Brit.

Looks like it, This para on the form.

What is FATCA reporting?

The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) requires a participating foreign financial institution to report all United States account holders that are specified United States persons. Certain payees are exempt from FATCA reporting. See Exemption from FATCA reporting code on page 3 and the Instructions for the Requester of Form W-9 for more information.

I am from the UK and many years ago had to complete a 'W9-BEN' when dealing with a US broker.

[arjunadawn]

Recently the US gov decided they wanted to go after expats over seas for taxation or other monies they had not yet raped them of. They came up with this plan to "ask" other countries to have account applications make declarations. Of course there is money involved with the form, processing, data entry, etc. Through strong arm and or incentive other countries are now working for Uncle Sam to spy on American Citizens and every other person who gets caught up in the mess. Unquestionably, the cost of processing all of this and staying current and sending timely reports will be passed to the Thai people through the banking fees.

Uncle Sam also has arrangements with Visa MasterCard, etc. Say, for example, you do not file taxes yet you appear to be using visa MasterCard in excess of declared funds, etc., you would be ripe for investigation. I am an American and I think this is outrageous and contemptible. When they passed this form over the counter to me I nearly puked. Its disgusting, plain and simple. No, the ID of the occasional tax dodger a world away is not worth the cost of spying into the lives of countless people.

[lopburi3]

Actually it is designed to find large money hidden overseas by US based illegal activities and folks rather than targeting expats (the tax laws are often the tool used to bring down such activities) - but expats often have foreign accounts so will be subject to the reporting. As for costs it will not be much and for this reason even the smallest private banks have opted to join - a few lines of code to report accounts and the W9 is a one time form for the basic reporting data of account holder.

[arjunadawn]

Yea, dont buy it. Nothing personal but this is a complacent rationale, and one that enables such acts to take place in the first place. America is the only country on earth doing this. Besides, US laws were never supposed to be predicated upon the innocent making concessions and trading liberties in pursuit of the few, the bad, the illegal. Nonsense, its a total inversion of freedom. As an American abroad I am swept up in reporting of income, for example, if I make 50,000 a year? One must report income abroad if greater than some few thousand but not pay taxes on the first 100,000 or so. The point is if a person lives here or will never go back why the hell? And the US has some treaty, amity treaty, which already presupposes much of this. A person would otherwise be taxed, etc, in the country and therefore not taxed back home. But now if I have 50,000 legally earned, lets say, in Dubai, and in my bank in BKK, IRS wants to know why. Maybe I should be filing taxes in this example, Ok,. But the point is they are not just going after illegals or big fish. they are going after all fish.

My wife was in the US finished another masters and during that time became an American citizen. When we finished school we both returned to Thailand. She will never be going back to the US. When opening an account recently she told me she had to fill out a doc and she identified herself as an American. How cool she thought. No! We immediately closed the account. Not cool. She would then be taxed on money she never made in the US because she got her citizenship 2 months before returning to BKK. Why should she have to file taxes or pay taxes to this country? No country on earth does this crap. It is not just illegals. This is an example of the people surrendering their US citizenship in massive numbers- they are swept up in this net too.

Opted to join in? Don't buy it. Banks dont opt to do a damn thing unless they have to or it affects their bottom line. In all good spirits, I just differ from you in my concerns. I have none directly for myself, only the wife example. That one was true, not the former.

[maphraw]

The brokerage company that I have my US mutual funds with sent me an alarming email last year demanding that I change my Thai mailing address to an American mailing address. This order, they said, came from the US Government. If I didn't change it within the stipulated time my company would have to liquidate all of my assets and transfer them to my American bank. Fortunately, I had an American address I could use. Suppose I didn't have an American address. What could I do? And what business is it to the US government what mailing address I use. No business whatsoever (terrorism?). I find this requirement to be so intrusive as to border on the diabolical. Before you know it, the good old USA will start taxing your US dollars before you transfer them to Thailand. And don't forget FBAR.

[kbelyeu]

We're from the government and we are here to help you. Run very fast.

Kurt