I entered it with the 06222- prefix and they accepted that but it was causing payments to fail. I switched to trying US branch information (like PayPal) and that wasn't working. Ended up just needing to use Canadian branch (even for USD) and entering number the way they expect.
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They don't validate that you enter it in the right format because it's a US-centric company and they don't seem to understand how Canada works. It does work properly and painlessly if you enter the information the way they want, at least with RBC. Can't speak to other banks.
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Yeah, not with RBC. All of that and the IRS forms they want to be filled out honestly just makes anxious. Perhaps someday, but for now I'll stick with PayPal.
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W8-BEN is easy to deal with as a Canadian because we have a tax treaty with the US allowing you to simply put 0% withholding tax with a standard reference to a tax treaty article. It's ridiculous you actually need to cite right part of the tax treaty but you can find it online.
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I've had to fill out several of them at this point because companies treat bug bounties as contract income. Google let me sign a standard statement of no US activities form instead but later I figured out it was pretty easy to deal with the W8-BEN nonsense as a Canadian anyway.
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It could be super painful in other countries because you can end up needing to let IRS take up to 30% withholding tax and then you actually have to file a US tax return to get the money back. As a Canadian, it's just a hassle to know secret password of tax treaty article to cite.
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This is up-to-date information:
michellecornish.com/blog/how-to-fi
You just need to put "business income" as the type of income instead of "royalties" with the same Article VII cited for 0% income and the same explanation that you carried out no US activities as part of getting it.
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Did you have to print it, fill it out and scan it back in, or just fill it out electronically? I never know how to handle signatures on such forms..
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I usually fill these things out in a PDF program, print it out, sign it and scan it. I don't really think it's necessary though. I sometimes just draw a terrible signature with a brush in Krita. I don't really think any of them care and they wouldn't really know the difference.
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I avoid filling out signatures as printed text just in case a company or government gets unhappy about it.
The worst I've had to do is related to the legal stuff I've been dealing with where I had to be on a video call with my lawyer where he could see me sign as a witness.
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Had to point the phone camera at me and then at the paper that I was signing so he could be considered a witness to it being signed. I don't know if that would normally even be allowed or if it was a special thing due to COVID-19.