In 2010, the US government enacted the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, which is intended to increase transparency and reduce the effects of tax evasion in the United States.
How does this affect non-resident account holders? All the details are here
Following the law, many countries have signed interstate agreements with the US, including Israel, which signed an agreement on June 30, 2014. The agreement imposes on financial institutions in Israel, including the Bank of Jerusalem, obligations to report accounts held by US citizens to the Israeli Tax Authority, which then passes this report to the IRS.
As part of the FATCA law, the IRS requires a signature on designated documents in accordance with client status. Following are three main forms:
W9
a form in which a client (individual / corporation) declares being an American. This form contains the personal details of the client, including social security number. To download the file click here.
W8-BEN
a form in which an individual client declares that he is the single beneficiary in the account and not an American. This form must be signed by a client with a connection to the United States that claims that he has no US tax liability. In addition to this form, the client will be required to present supporting documents that he is not American. For example, a passport which is not American, an authorization of waiver of American citizenship, a valid certificate issued by the State of Israel that includes the name of the account holder and generally used for identification, and so on. To download the file click here.
W8-BEN-E
self-declaration form for a corporation for FATCA purposes – required to be signed by any non-American company (not incorporated in the USA). In this form the client is required to classify the nature of the corporation's activities and declare that it is not American. To download the file click here.