Jump to content

Does everyone need to fill in the W-9 or W-8BEN when cash out Linden now?


Qoo Oh
 Share

You are about to reply to a thread that has been inactive for 3498 days.

Please take a moment to consider if this thread is worth bumping.

Recommended Posts

First, sorry about my poor English, I had read many about this tax thing but still confusing, please help.

I have some Linden in my account for many years and want to cash out today for some reasons, this is my first time to sell L, lucky that I check here before sell it, some say if get letter from Linden Labs and don't reply in 30 days they will close your account. This is horrible! So I want to make sure before I do the cash out.

I am a non-U.S. residents, all $L in my account is below US$100.

My questions are:
1) Does everyone get ask to fill in the W-9 or W-8BEN when cash out Linden (no matter how much you want to cash out)?
2) All I need to submit are my country's ID information and W-8BEN ?
3) How many tax I need to pay for US gov? (let's say I cash out US$100)
4) Is it safe to sent all this personal information through email?
5) Is there any way that I can ask Linden Lab about that? I can't find where the online support from Linden Lab at the website.
6) If Linden Lab sent email to me, it will be sent after I sell L to US$, or sent when I cash the US$ to paypal?

So confusing, hope someone can help.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You only need to fill in these forms if you cash out 200 or more times in a year, or if the total you cash out in a year is more than US$20,000.  LL will write to you if this is the case and they want you to fill out any forms, but it sounds as if it is not the case, so I do not think you need to worry.

See this post in the Official Commerce Blog for links to more details.

You may, of course, need to report the income to your own tax authorities, but you must seek professional advice in your own country (or ask your tax authorities) about what your obligations are.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


Innula Zenovka wrote:

You only need to fill in these forms if you cash out 200 or more times in a year, or if the total you cash out in a year is more than US$20,000.  LL will write to you if this is the case and they want you to fill out any forms, but it sounds as if it is not the case, so I do not think you need to worry.

See
for links to more details.

You may, of course, need to report the income to your own tax authorities, but you must seek professional advice in your own country (or ask your tax authorities) about what your obligations are.

The 200 times/$20,000 statement only applies to U.S. residents and a form LINDEN LAB is required to file.

"Additionally, for U.S. residents with 200 or more transactions with a total amount in excess of $20,000 in a calendar year, we are required to file a Form 1099-K with the IRS reporting those transactions for that year."

LL does not state a specific number for the information they need from users, W-9 or W-8EBN, only that "at a certain transaction level" they will contact you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"at a certain transaction level"? So it is just base on LL?

Can anyone answer me the other questions?

I just want to make sure what to do when it happen to me, I worry I reply them late and get my SL account on hold or closed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

if you start to sell L$, put it on your calendar to check out the SL support site every week or so. if they need your paperwork you will find a notice in there. you could also volunteer the information if the possibility of an account hold worries you.

if you miss this and your account does end up on hold, it will only be temporary. they will unlock it after they get the forms recorded.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I thought I should be ok when I read that link but when read some more at forum I feel confusing, because some at forum here get email from LL for cash out very little money. I worry I get the money on hold and SL account closed but I don't know where to ask for help if bad happened

Link to comment
Share on other sites


Qoo Oh wrote:

I thought I should be ok when I read that link but when read some more at forum I feel confusing, because some at forum here get email from LL for cash out very little money. I worry I get the money on hold and SL account closed but I don't know where to ask for help if bad happened

I hate Tax Laws.  Really I do.  I don't know how bad they really get in other countries but we may have some of the most insanely complex in the world.

I tried reading and deciphering some of the instructions for this form:

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/iw8ben.pdf

Truth is I could not find a minimum stated.  It could be that it is required before LL sends any money to any one outside the U.S.  Or that the minimum varies by country depending on the tax treaty involved.  These treaties vary by country.

http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/International-Businesses/United-States-Income-Tax-Treaties---A-to-Z

If there are minumums I'd suspect that they are very low.  Because if you have a hundred different sources of income the grand total can add up to a lot of money.

 

Disclaimer:  I am not a Tax Professional or a Lawyer. 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We don't know, of course, the circumstances of the people who have posted here.   Certainly, of the people I know who have been asked for these documents, everyone earns over the limit mentioned by LL.   Remember that the amount is cumulative, so people have been asked to fill out the forms when the their latest process credit request takes them over the limit.   

My advice is that  there is no need to worry about this unless LL send you an email telling you they need the forms completing.   If you don't hear from them, don't worry.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am a non-US resident and had to do this a couple of weeks ago. Its definitely not 20K/200 transactions a year for us - I think more likely an averaging of your cash-outs and guesstimating what you'll earn in a year.


The good news is it was pretty straightforward. I had to provide them scans of other forms of ID (because we don't have SSN's), but once I submitted everything my account was unlocked within 24 hours.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are two discussions of this at SLU, one here, and the other one here, both of which are quite helpful.    It seems that the requirement to confirm your identity (photo id and confirmation of address) may well be triggered at a far lower level than the requirement for forms W-9/W8-BEN (it's suggested that US$2000 a year probably triggers the request for documentation of  ID).

My latest cash-out request (made on Sunday) triggered a request for documentation at some point during LL's business hours on Monday (the middle of Monday/Tuesday night my time).   I responded first thing Tuesday morning my time (middle of the night in SF) with scans of my ID and some utility bills, and received confirmation from LL by 10:30 their time Tuesday morning (late afternoon for me) that all was in order and that my process credit request would be processed as normal.

So they do seem to be handling this stuff quite promptly.   

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 months later...

I just got this email asking for the W8BEN and ID, and I was shocked cause i just process credit 3 or 4 times a year right now, and of course not close to 20.000$.  Not even close to 2.000 I guess...
The thing is since 2 years ago I'm not much into SL, so my sales decrease a lot, so not sure why got this email when this year I earn less than ever.
I can't find any info about this W8BEN thing in my country. Always transfer with paypal, and they asked for my ID to prevent fraud some years ago, so not sure why SL need this.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You are about to reply to a thread that has been inactive for 3498 days.

Please take a moment to consider if this thread is worth bumping.

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...