You may need to confirm your tax residency if:
Read the relevant sections below to learn more about what information you need to provide and why.
For dual-listed securities that derive income in the United States of America (US), the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requires certain documentation from the ultimate beneficial owner to ensure the appropriate level of tax is withheld in the US.
The W-8BEN form can be completed to establish that the investor is not a US person and that they are the beneficial owner of the income received. Where an investor is a resident for tax purposes of a country with which the US has negotiated a double tax agreement (DTA) with, in completing this form, the investor may be able to claim a reduced rate of, or exemption from, US withholding tax (US WHT).
For the lower withholding rate to apply, a W-8BEN form for individual investors or a W-8BEN-E form for entity investors must be completed in full and submitted before any income is paid or credited.
Individual investors who are not US citizens or are non-residents for US tax purposes, are required to complete a W-8BEN form – Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding.
This guide explains what you need to do:
Guide to completing W-8BEN – Individual
Note: Only one W-8BEN form is required per individual, regardless of how many dual-listed securities are held. Where there are multiple beneficiaries, such as a joint account, a form must be completed for each beneficiary.
Entity investors that are non-residents for US tax purposes are required to complete a W-8BEN-E form – Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding.
W-8BEN-E
W-8BEN-E (non-custodial)
This guide explains what you need to do:
Guide to completing W-8BEN – Entity
Note: ‘Entity’ includes companies, trusts, self-managed superannuation funds (SMSF) and deceased estates. Only one W-8BEN-E form is required per entity, regardless of how many dual-listed securities are held.
Only investment account holders are required to complete a W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E form. The trustee completes the required documentation for superannuation clients.
If you want to return the form via email, please note that we can only accept forms that have been electronically signed by client using an electronic signature provider from the approved list of electronic signature providers.
Once completed, you will need to provide the following and send to wrapsolutions@macquarie.com.
1. Electronically signed form
2. Certificate of Completion issued by the electronic signature provider
If you want to return the form by post, please submit the original signed W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E form to the below address, with any other required documentation, by registered mail to:
Attn: Corporate Actions W-8BEN Forms
Macquarie Wrap
GPO Box 4045
Sydney NSW 2001
Or you can scan and email your completed form to wrapsolutions@macquarie.com
Don’t send the form directly to the share registry as further information is required from us prior to submission.
We don't offer the W-8BEN or W-BEN-E form for any other security at this stage. Please note this process is not offered for clients who may hold the above securities through an SMA, as it is held with a different Responsible Entity. We don't offer the W-8BEN or W-BEN-E form for any other security at this stage. Please note this process is not offered for clients who may hold the above securities through an SMA, as it is held with a different Responsible Entity.
Additionally, Superannuation and Pension clients fall under the trustee of Macquarie Investment Management Limited, and therefore clients do not need to submit a form as the forms are completed under trustee sign-off.
1. If you hold either or both NWS and NWSLV, only 1 W-8BEN form is required.
2. Share registry certifies for clients’ holding in both 2 securities upon Wrap’s lodgement for one of the two, thus NWSLV is automatically included in our W-8BEN lodgement service.
Individual and entity investors are subject to a maximum withholding tax rate of 30 per cent on certain income they derive from US sources. Where the requisite form is completed in full by an investor, a withholding tax of 15 per cent may apply for Australian tax residents who derive certain income sourced in the US, in accordance with the Australia/US Double Taxation Agreement (DTA).
Alternatively, where the relevant form is not completed in full or in part, DTA benefits will not apply, resulting in a higher rate of withholding tax for Australian resident investors.
Generally, a current W-8BEN form will remain in effect until 31 December, three years after the date of signing. For example, a form signed on 15 March 2022 will remain in effect until 31 December 2025. However, if a change in circumstances makes any information on the form incorrect, a new W-8BEN form (or other appropriate form) must be filed to continue to claim a reduced rate of withholding tax under the DTA.
If you're invested in JAMES HARDIE INDUSTRIES PLC (JHX) – Irish DWT securities, please use this special form.
If you hold JAMES HARDIE INDUSTRIES PLC (JHX) – Irish DWT securities in a non-custodial account, please use this special form.
Periodically, we may ask you to confirm your tax residency if you’ve indicated you are a tax resident of a foreign jurisdiction (e.g. through information provided during the account opening process or personal contact information updated throughout the year).
We’re required to confirm your tax residency under the:
Effective 1 January 2021, new regulatory requirements come into effect requiring a United States of America (US) Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) to be collected for US Specified Persons when opening a new account with Macquarie. A TIN exemption reason will no longer be accepted.
If you hold an account without a US TIN, you’ll continue to be contacted as part of our annual FATCA and CRS due diligence procedures.
A US Specified Person includes, but is not limited to:
To confirm your tax residency, we’ll need you to return the documents outlined below.
The email or letter you received from us will tell you which of the below scenarios is applicable to you.
You can find these forms here.
| Foreign Information | What we need |
| No foreign or US TIN recorded | Foreign tax status declaration form – Individuals. |
| Foreign Information | What we need |
Evidence of foreign tax residency |
|
| Over $250,000 balance held on 31 December 2019 | Foreign tax Status Declaration form – Entities. |
| No foreign or US TIN recorded | Foreign tax Status Declaration form – Entities, making sure you provide your TIN. |
It’s important to note that we may contact you for additional information, like a copy of your Australian identification, if required.
As part of our ongoing Common Reporting Standard (CRS) and Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) reporting obligations, we contact individuals or the primary contact of an entity because:
1. we have found foreign indicia (evidence of foreign tax residency) on file and require confirmation of tax residency from them. Foreign indicia could be a foreign address, contact details or foreign ID on file. We may also know that you have a foreign taxpayer identification number (TIN) but we don’t have this TIN recorded.
OR
2. you are the primary contact for an entity that needs to self-certify for the first time, regardless of whether evidence of foreign tax residency has been found on file. We contact these entity accounts because they were opened prior to the implementation of CRS (1 July 2017) and no CRS FATCA assessment had been made on the entity due to not meeting due diligence threshold. As of 31 December 2019, this threshold was $250,000 held with us. For these entities, we’re required to conduct this due diligence and contact the entity to determine their CRS FATCA status.
We ask you to provide tax residency details for the trust settlor on Trust account applications.
A trust settlor is the party responsible for establishing a trust. It could be an individual or an entity. You can look at the trust deed to determine who the trust settlor is.
The ATO has published updated Common Reporting Standard (CRS)/Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) guidelines requiring mandatory collection of tax information from settlors of Trust accounts as an additional requirement.
So we can comply with these guidelines and continue to meet our regulatory obligations, providing tax residency details for a trust settlor is now mandatory on all Macquarie applications.
For an individual trust settlor, you’ll need to provide details such as:
For a trust settlor that’s an entity, you’ll need to provide details such as:
It’s important to note that we won’t be able to open your account with Macquarie without this information, where applicable.
Where a non-resident has changed residency during the year, we have withheld tax at the correct rates, taking into account any change in residency.
A residency change may include any of the following examples:
Where a non-resident has changed residency, we’ll continue to withhold tax in accordance with their original country of residence until we’ve received all completed and correct paperwork.
You can find the Change Residency Form here.
Once we receive this paperwork, we’ll update our systems to apply the correct withholding tax (WHT) rates (as per the relevant Double Tax Agreement (DTA) or Exchange of Information Agreement (EOI) rates, as applicable) for unlisted managed funds.
In relation to listed securities, we’ll notify the relevant share registry of any residency change once we receive all completed and correct paperwork and they’ll update their systems accordingly.
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