A foreign tax identifying number (FTIN) is the unique code a country outside the United States assigns to a person or business for tax purposes. It’s that country’s equivalent of a Social Security Number or Employer Identification Number, and U.S. withholding agents, foreign banks, and the IRS ask for it so they can match you to your tax records in your home country. If you’re a nonresident receiving U.S.-source income, your FTIN is usually what lets you claim a reduced tax rate under a treaty instead of paying the default 30%.
What the Number Actually Is
Every country that collects taxes needs a way to track who owes what, and the FTIN is the number a foreign tax authority uses to do that. It ties your identity to your filings, income records, and financial accounts inside that country’s system. The word “foreign” is relative to whoever is asking. A French citizen giving a tax number to a U.S. brokerage is providing a French FTIN. An American giving a Social Security Number to a bank in London is providing what that British bank treats as an FTIN.
You’ll see the number requested most often when opening a financial account abroad, receiving cross-border payments, or filling out a U.S. tax form as a nonresident.
Why Banks and the IRS Ask for It
Two frameworks drive most of the requests. The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) requires foreign financial institutions to identify their U.S. account holders and report those accounts to the IRS.1Internal Revenue Service. FATCA Information for Foreign Financial Institutions and Entities The Common Reporting Standard (CRS), developed by the OECD, does the same thing in the other direction and across more than 100 jurisdictions, focusing on tax residence rather than citizenship. Both regimes require the institution to collect an FTIN as part of account due diligence.
What FTINs Look Like in Different Countries
There’s no universal format. Each country names and structures its tax number differently, and some use a single number that doubles as a national ID while others issue a separate number purely for tax.
- United Kingdom: individuals use their National Insurance Number (NINO); businesses and the self-employed may also have a Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR).2GOV.UK. IEIM402040 – Reportable Information: Tax Identification Number CRS – HMRC Internal Manual
- India: the Permanent Account Number (PAN), a ten-character alphanumeric code from the Income Tax Department.
- Canada: individuals use a Social Insurance Number (SIN); businesses use a Business Number (BN).
- Germany: the Steuerliche Identifikationsnummer, an 11-digit number assigned at birth or on registration.
The name matters less than the function. When a bank or the IRS asks for your FTIN, they want whatever number your country of tax residence uses to identify you for tax purposes. The OECD publishes a country-by-country portal with the exact formats and issuing authorities if you’re unsure.
Where the FTIN Goes on U.S. Tax Forms
For most nonresident individuals and foreign entities, the FTIN shows up on the W-8 series.
Individuals: Form W-8BEN
If you’re a nonresident alien receiving U.S.-source income, Form W-8BEN establishes your foreign status for withholding. Your FTIN goes on line 6a. To claim a reduced rate under an income tax treaty, you generally need either your FTIN on line 6a or a U.S. taxpayer identification number, such as an ITIN, on line 5.3Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form W-8BEN
If your jurisdiction doesn’t legally require you to obtain a tax number, you can check the box on line 6b, and the IRS treats that as an adequate explanation.3Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form W-8BEN
Entities: Form W-8BEN-E
Foreign entities use Form W-8BEN-E. An entity documenting itself as an account holder at a U.S. financial institution must include its FTIN on line 9b if it receives U.S.-source income reportable on Form 1042-S. Exceptions apply for governments, residents of U.S. territories, and entities from jurisdictions on the IRS list of countries that don’t issue FTINs. An entity not legally required to obtain a number can check line 9c instead.4Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form W-8BEN-E
What Happens If You Don’t Provide One
The most immediate consequence is the withholding rate. Without a valid FTIN (or U.S. TIN) on your W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E, the withholding agent applies the statutory 30% rate on U.S.-source payments such as dividends, interest, and royalties. If a treaty would have brought that down to 15% or 0%, that difference is lost at the source.3Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form W-8BEN You can sometimes recover it by filing a U.S. return, but getting the form right the first time is far cleaner.
Foreign financial institutions collecting information under FATCA and CRS can also restrict account functionality or delay account opening if a required FTIN is missing. The IRS has said, however, that a missing U.S. TIN alone should not automatically cause a foreign bank to close an American’s account; institutions are given at least 18 months to correct the issue.
Separate from FTIN rules, U.S. persons with foreign financial assets have their own reporting duties under Form 8938, with their own penalty regime. That’s a different requirement from providing an FTIN on a W-8, and it applies to U.S. taxpayers rather than to the foreign account holders who use FTINs.
When You Don’t Need One
Not every jurisdiction issues tax identification numbers. The IRS maintains an official list of jurisdictions that do not issue foreign TINs, and residents of those jurisdictions are not required to provide one. The current list includes Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, and others; a withholding agent cannot require an FTIN from a resident of a listed jurisdiction.5Internal Revenue Service. List of Jurisdictions That Do Not Issue Foreign TINs
Even if your country isn’t on the list, you can still be exempt if it doesn’t legally require you to obtain a number. That’s what line 6b on the W-8BEN and line 9c on the W-8BEN-E are for.
How to Get One
The process varies by country, but the starting point is the same everywhere: contact the tax authority in the country where you’re a tax resident. Most national tax agencies have an online portal where you can apply for a number or look up one you’ve already been assigned. In several countries the number is issued automatically at birth or when you register as a resident, so you may already have one without realizing it.
If you live abroad and can’t easily reach the local tax office, your country’s embassy or consulate can often point you to the right form. For anything involving multiple tax residencies or a business structure, a local tax advisor is worth the cost, because financial institutions reject incomplete W-8 forms and resubmitting can hold up payments and account access.