Skip to content
BOL Conferences
Thread Options Tools
#204159 - 06/24/04 08:02 PM aliens and social security numbers
HubbaBubba Offline
Gold Star
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 311
What is the correct "law" out there? If a non-resident alien comes in to open an interest bearing account, but does not have a social security number, can we open the account for him? He is also working, but his employer stated that they do not require a social security number.

This is what we did - we opened a non-interest bearing account for him and had him fill out the w-8ben form.

Are we correct. Please help - we need guidance since we do not deal with this situation often enough!

Return to Top
General Discussion
#204160 - 06/24/04 08:46 PM Re: aliens and social security numbers
OkieOps Offline
Platinum Poster
OkieOps
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 752
OK
That is what we do. You can actually open an interest bearing account also, just make sure to always fill out and have the customer sign the W8-Ben.

Return to Top
#204161 - 06/24/04 09:09 PM Re: aliens and social security numbers
HubbaBubba Offline
Gold Star
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 311
How do you report the interest earned at the end of the year?

Return to Top
#204162 - 06/24/04 10:07 PM Re: aliens and social security numbers
OkieOps Offline
Platinum Poster
OkieOps
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 752
OK
To be honest with you, I'm not in that area. I believe it has to do with the coding on the account stating exempt.

Return to Top
#204163 - 06/26/04 12:46 AM Re: aliens and social security numbers
Fraudman CFCI Offline
Power Poster
Fraudman CFCI
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 3,189
Land of Steady Habits
First of all, for a non-res alien to be employed, they must have status that allows them to work here. Go to the DHS wewb site and look at the types of visas issued and compare this to the visa in the passport of your customer. Sounds like your customer's employer may have some problems as well as your customer, and maybe even your bank.

Return to Top
#204164 - 07/19/04 06:17 PM Re: aliens and social security numbers
Awesome Gardener Offline
New Poster
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 4
I am not sure how to answer the question, but I have one of my own. Recently, we had a U.S. resident (so they say) open an account at our bank but they have no SSN or ITIN. If they are a U.S. resident with permanent residence listed as the U.S. on the W-8BEN then shouldn't they have some sort of TIN? Also, shouldn't they have a Resident Alien or Non-Resident Alien card? Please help!

Return to Top
#204165 - 07/19/04 07:27 PM Re: aliens and social security numbers
HappyGilmore Offline
10K Club
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 19,844
Pulling people out of the ditc...
All foriegn born citizens who become US citizens are issued a social security number when they take the oath. Prior to that, if a green card holder and employed, they wuld need to have either a TIN or SS#. How did your bank open an account with either of these?
_________________________
Providing alternative truths since the invention of time

Return to Top
#204166 - 07/19/04 09:04 PM Re: aliens and social security numbers
Snowqueen Offline
Diamond Poster
Snowqueen
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 2,289
dreaming of a warm beach......
We have some Amish people living in our area and they are not required to have a social security number. They have been born in the U.S. but because of their religion they are exempt from having a ss# or filing taxes. Go figure!!!

Return to Top
#204167 - 07/19/04 09:11 PM Re: aliens and social security numbers
Princess Romeo Offline

Power Poster
Princess Romeo
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 8,272
Where the heart is
However, if the Amish person wants to open a bank account or loan, he/she will need to get a Social Security Number. CIP did not exempt the Amish.
_________________________
CRCM,CAMS
Regulations are a poor substitute for ethics.
Just sayin'

Return to Top
#204168 - 07/19/04 09:59 PM Re: aliens and social security numbers
Tisa Offline
Platinum Poster
Tisa
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 938
Do you know the way to ...
Quote:

permanent residence listed as the U.S. on the W-8BEN




If you check the instructions for the W-8BEN, the "Permanent Address" is supposed to be the country they claim as a permanent residence for the purposes of paying taxes. (Don't remember the exact wording, but it's somewhere around there.) If they're listing the US as the country where they pay taxes, guess what -- they need a SSN or TIN. And they're not a "non-resident" alien.
_________________________
Just a lowly 1st Year Law Student ("1L"), so don't take anything I say seriously!

Return to Top
#204169 - 07/19/04 10:01 PM Re: aliens and social security numbers
Tisa Offline
Platinum Poster
Tisa
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 938
Do you know the way to ...
Quote:

How do you report the interest earned at the end of the year?




If the customer (and all other owners of the account) qualifiy as Non-Resident Aliens and file valid Forms W-8BEN, they are exempt from information return reporting. That means you don't file 1099's on them. Unless their permanent residence is in Canada, then you file 1042-S every year.
_________________________
Just a lowly 1st Year Law Student ("1L"), so don't take anything I say seriously!

Return to Top
#204170 - 07/20/04 01:04 PM Re: aliens and social security numbers
Awesome Gardener Offline
New Poster
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 4
We opened a savings account for this customer and had them sign a W-8BEN form with no TIN supplied since they are a foreign person. However, when this form came back to our main office for review it stated their permanent address as the United States. We have questioned our branch office that opened this account as to why we accepted the form filled out this way. I really was just curious if anyone else had run into this problem? It makes no sense to me and I agree that we need to get a TIN from this customer.
What exactly is the difference between a non-resident alien and a resident alien? Do you necessarily need a W-8BEN for both instances?

Return to Top
#204171 - 07/20/04 01:22 PM Re: aliens and social security numbers
BeachGirl Offline
100 Club
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 206
Myrtle Beach, SC
Here is what I have in our P&P guidance for our Personal Banking Officers:

Resident Alien: Not a U.S. citizen, must hold a valid resident alien (green card) OR meet the substantial presence test (see below for explanation of the substantial presence test). May have a U.S. tax identification number (ITIN) or a Social Security Number (SSN). If they present you with an ITIN, use as you would a SSN.
· A W-9 is required for all resident aliens. (Our signature card is a substitute W-9).
· Document the type of document, country issued and expiration date in VIP Sales.

Substantial presence test: You are considered a U.S. resident for tax purposes if you meet the substantial presence test for the calendar year. To meet this test, you must be physically present in the U.S. on at least:
1) 31 days during the current year, and
2) 183 days during the 3-year period that includes the current year and the 2 years immediately before that, counting:
a) All the days you were present in the current year, and
b) 1/3 of the days you were present last year, and
c) 1/6 of the days you were present in the year before last.

Non-Resident Alien: not a U.S. Citizen; does not have a permanent residence in the U.S.; does not hold a green card or pass the substantial presence test. Should have one of the other immigration documents listed below:
Ø An unexpired foreign passport with I-551 Stamp,
Ø I-94 Departure Record issued by US Immigration,
Ø Alien Registration Receipt Card I-151 - also known as a green card,
Ø Temporary Resident Card I-688
Ø Employment Authorization Card I-688A & I-688B
Ø Unexpired Re-Entry Permit I-327
Ø Unexpired Refugee Travel Document I-571
Ø Unexpired visas “F”, “J”, “M”, or “Q”

A non-resident alien could have either an SSN or an ITIN. An ITIN may be issued by the IRS for tax purposes only. The presence of an ITIN has no bearing on immigrant status. If the customer has an ITIN, use in place of the SSN.
· Must complete a form W8-BEN.
· Document the type of document, country of issue and expiration date.
· Send W8-BEN and attachments to Deposit Servicing, signature card and attachments to Imaging.
· Verify the expiration date on the documentation provided. If the expiration date has passed, do not open the account. If they cannot provide you with this documentation, do not open the account.

Hopes this helps you. If you want the entire document that this came from, PM me and I'll send it to you.
_________________________
Thanks for all of your help!

Return to Top
#204172 - 07/20/04 01:22 PM Re: aliens and social security numbers
CloudShape Offline
Platinum Poster
CloudShape
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 525
Edge of Sanity
It is possible that the person filing out the W-8BEN misread the instructions and listed their current address instead of their permanent address. We also ran into this recently - we contacted the branch and told them they needed to get the customer to complete the W-8BEN with his permanent address (he had the country correctly identified in Part II).

On the subject of resident aliens, if you read the instructions at the top of the W-8BEN, it states that if the individual is a US person, including a resident alien, they must sign the W-9. The reasoning behind a resident alien signing a W-9 (as near as I can figure) is that a resident alien should have a SSN or an ITIN. If they are living in the US, then they are either a) working and their employer needs the SSN or ITIN as well, or b) a dependent and the person claiming them as a dependent on their 1040 also needs a SSN or ITIN. So either way, if they are a resident alien, they should have a SSN or ITIN.

Also on the subject of non-resident aliens - the documentation gets a little trickier on joint accounts. If all owners on an account claim to be non-resident aliens, you need W-8BENs on all the owners. If even one owner is a US person (citizen, resident alien, etc.), that person's SSN or ITIN is used on the account and that person signs the W-9. Then you are no longer required to get W-8BENs on any other non-resident alien joint owners (unless you want to for your records).
_________________________
'Never' is karma's doorbell.

Ding ding!

It's for you. . . .

Return to Top
#204173 - 07/20/04 05:44 PM Re: aliens and social security numbers
Tisa Offline
Platinum Poster
Tisa
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 938
Do you know the way to ...
Quote:

Substantial presence test: You are considered a U.S. resident for tax purposes if you meet the substantial presence test for the calendar year. To meet this test, you must be physically present in the U.S. on at least:
1) 31 days during the current year, and
2) 183 days during the 3-year period that includes the current year and the 2 years immediately before that, counting:
a) All the days you were present in the current year, and
b) 1/3 of the days you were present last year, and
c) 1/6 of the days you were present in the year before last.




As always, there's an exception to this... (keeps the lawyers in business!)

If the individual claims a closer tie to the foreign country, they may still claim non-resident alien status even though they've been in the US for more than the prescribed number of days.

The wording from IRS Publ 519 (Aliens Guide) is: Can you show for ____ (tax year) you have a tax home in a foreign country and have a closer connection to that country than to the United States? The "closer connection" is what's not defined and up for debate...

Page 5 of the Aliens Guide has a good flow-chart to help determine if one is a Non-Resident Alien or not. We usually let the customer decide, and then make them provide the documentation to back it up.

Incidentally, with the CIP requirements now, even if the primary signer has a ss# (that we'll use for IRS reporting), we make NRA joint signers complete a W-8BEN to prove why they don't have a SS# or ITIN. Makes things a bit tricky, as the forms expire after 3+ years, and we'll have to stay on top of them to make sure they get renewed. We'll figure that out when we get there...
_________________________
Just a lowly 1st Year Law Student ("1L"), so don't take anything I say seriously!

Return to Top
#204174 - 07/23/04 06:40 PM Re: aliens and social security numbers
Anonymous
Unregistered

With all these forms, etc., is it any wonder we can't figure out who should/should not be here, who can legally work here and who the *&**%*^*^ terrorists are?

Return to Top
#204175 - 07/25/04 02:00 PM Re: aliens and social security numbers
Truffle Royale Offline

10K Club
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 17,395
Is it just me or does anyone else find it absolutely amazing that the U.S. government can track a cow born in Canada almost three years ago, right to the stall where she sleeps in the State of Washington, and determine exactly what that cow ate. They can also track her calves right to their stalls, and tell you what kind of feed they ate.

But they are unable to locate 11 million illegal aliens wandering around in their country, including people that are trying to blow up important structures in the U.S.

My solution is to give every illegal alien a cow as soon as they enter the country.

Author unknown

Return to Top
#204176 - 07/25/04 09:19 PM Re: aliens and social security numbers
Bear Collector, CRCM Offline
Diamond Poster
Bear Collector, CRCM
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,830
District of Columbia

Very funny, bjp!
Actually, one of our Systems people went to a tax seminar in Florida about a month ago. She brought back information from the IRS that states that if anyone completes a W-8 indicating that the address of permanent residence is different from the address of current residence, that we must obtain a written statement from the individual explaining why. We are currently trying to find out from the IRS if the statement has to be "written" or if we can create a form letter that can be completed by the individual. The problem we see is that a written statement in Chinese or Arabic or German is not going to do us much good, anyway!
BC
_________________________
Being kind is more important than being important.

Return to Top
#204177 - 07/26/04 04:58 AM Re: aliens and social security numbers
TrueBlueBanker Offline
Platinum Poster
TrueBlueBanker
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 737
Midlands SC
THis is very simple...if you do not recognize the planet the alien is from do not open an account.

Return to Top
#204178 - 07/27/04 05:30 PM Re: aliens and social security numbers
Tisa Offline
Platinum Poster
Tisa
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 938
Do you know the way to ...
Quote:

if anyone completes a W-8 indicating that the address of permanent residence is different from the address of current residence, that we must obtain a written statement from the individual explaining why.




It's been in place since Jan 1, 2002, so you may want to go back through all your W-8's received since then... It's listed in IRS Publ 515 on page 12, middle column, starting last 2 paragraphs at the bottom.

We have a number of people who use a friend or relative's address in the US because the mail system "stinks" in their country. The friend or relative boxes up their mail periodically and sends it FedEx - which apparently is much more reliable. So we just need to get that in writing.

We've got a form letter of sorts, but it's really just "I'm a Non-Resident Alien using a US mailing address because:________" with lines for them to write their reasons, then sign and date.
_________________________
Just a lowly 1st Year Law Student ("1L"), so don't take anything I say seriously!

Return to Top
#204179 - 07/28/04 11:11 PM Re: aliens and social security numbers
Banker Boy Offline
Member
Banker Boy
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 69
Florida
Quote:


Very funny, bjp!
Actually, one of our Systems people went to a tax seminar in Florida about a month ago. She brought back information from the IRS that states that if anyone completes a W-8 indicating that the address of permanent residence is different from the address of current residence, that we must obtain a written statement from the individual explaining why. We are currently trying to find out from the IRS if the statement has to be "written" or if we can create a form letter that can be completed by the individual. The problem we see is that a written statement in Chinese or Arabic or German is not going to do us much good, anyway!
BC




We have an "Attachment A" to our W-8's that asks this question and lists a number of possible choices such as the US address is a secondary home, they do not want to rely on a non-US postal service, etc. The client signs and dates the form and we keep it attached to the W-8.

Return to Top
#204180 - 07/29/04 02:55 PM Re: aliens and social security numbers
Anonymous
Unregistered

We are in big trouble if we were supposed to be getting a written statement every time a person opened an account with a W-8BEN and filled out the form with a current address different from their permanent address. We have opened hundreds (a thousand?) of accounts with just the matricula and a signed W-8BEN. Yikes!
Since we all know 99% are illegal aliens, I'm not sure what they would be writing for their reason for why the two addresses are different. I'm concerned our employees (30% speak Spanish) will start prompting them write reasons like "the mail system stinks in my country, I'm here for better mail service....oh please).

They would really like to write the truth "I'm here to make some halfway decent dough that I can send back home to my poor family, and by the way I like it here better than at home!"

Signed,

Between a rock and a hard place.....not sure what to do........

Return to Top
#204181 - 08/06/04 04:19 PM Re: aliens and social security numbers
Anonymous
Unregistered

Very scary. This is just one compliance issue our front line staff must wrestle with on a daily basis. Our procedures include much of the info listed in the P&P guidance, but even if the staff has a clear understanding, the language barrier often frustrates the situation. (I will never understand why the IRS had to step in with ITINs, which apply to both nonresident & resident aliens.) Knowing what to do is only half the battle. And, although you can refuse to open accounts if you don't feel comfortable with the information or documentation provided - be careful not to target anyone.

Return to Top