W-8BEN-E for an Italian company selling on Amazon.com
This article was created with AI assistance and has not been reviewed by a human editor. It is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute tax, legal, or financial advice.
An S.r.l. that sells on Amazon.com completes Amazon’s US tax interview as a foreign corporation. Italy’s lines are the company type, the 11-digit Partita IVA and Article 7.
The three Italian choices
- Line 4: Corporation for an S.r.l. An S.p.A. is Corporation because it is on the per se list.
- Line 9b: the 11-digit Partita IVA, which for a company is also the codice fiscale.
- Line 15: Article 7(1), 0%, business profits, when Amazon asks you to claim the treaty.
Interview first, PDF only if Amazon asks
The Tax Information Interview builds and e-signs the W-8. Mail or upload a signed PDF only if Amazon asks. A valid W-8 keeps the S.r.l. off 1099-K; without it Amazon suspends selling privileges until the interview is done. Product sales carry no US withholding either way. It holds through 31 December of the third year, then Amazon asks again. Status: Provided and Pending Validation. Our PDF lists fields. See the Amazon W-8BEN-E page.
Lines for an Italian società
The visura camerale supplies the legal name and the registered office. These rows are the ones that are specific to Italy.
| Line | Italian entry |
|---|---|
| Line 1 | The denominazione from the visura, Latin letters, ending in S.r.l. or S.p.A. |
| Line 4 | Corporation for an S.r.l.: quotaholders have limited liability. An S.p.A. is always Corporation — Italy, Società per Azioni, is per se under Treas. Reg. §301.7701-2(b)(8). |
| Line 5 | Active NFFE when the company sells goods and passive assets stay under half. A holding that only owns shares is Passive NFFE. |
| Line 9b | Partita IVA, 11 digits. For a company that number is also the codice fiscale. A person’s codice fiscale is 16 characters and does not belong here. |
| Line 14a | Italy, if the company is resident in Italy and claims the treaty. |
| Line 14b | Limitation on benefits under Article 2 of the 1999 Protocol. An operating company usually meets the active-trade-or-business test. |
| Line 15 | Article 7(1) at 0% for business profits, when Amazon asks. No US permanent establishment means the profit is taxed in Italy. |
S.r.l., S.p.A. and the vehicles that use another form
Pick the US box from liability and the per se list, not from the Italian word “società”.
- S.r.l. and S.r.l.s.. Corporation. Limited liability is enough. The simplified S.r.l.s. is the same US box, with the full legal name on line 1.
- S.p.A.. Always Corporation. Società per Azioni is listed as a per se corporation for Italy.
- S.n.c. or S.a.s.. Partnerships. A foreign partnership files Form W-8IMY; each partner documents on W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E. Form W-8BEN-E remains available when the partnership uses it to document chapter 4 status because it holds an account with an FFI, or to claim treaty benefits because it is a hybrid entity liable to tax as a resident.
A ditta individuale is a person. Use W-8BEN, not this company form. Selling as a ditta individuale? Use W-8BEN
Partita IVA and the two codici fiscali
Person’s codice fiscale
Sixteen characters, letters and digits, issued to a human. The administrator’s code must not be typed as the company’s foreign TIN.
Company codice fiscale
For an S.r.l. it is the same 11 digits as the Partita IVA. Either label is the right number; do not invent a second one.
REA and VAT prefix
The REA number is a register file, not a tax ID. The IT prefix belongs on VAT invoices, not in front of the digits on line 9b unless the payer’s form already adds it.
Why Italian FBA stock is Article 5(3), not 5(4)
Italy’s treaty numbers this rule differently from Germany and France. Article 5(3)(a) and (b) say a fixed place used only to store, display or deliver goods, and a stock maintained only for storage, display or delivery, is not a permanent establishment.
A ceramics workshop in Tuscany can therefore send plates to Amazon’s US centres without creating a US office, as long as those centres only hold and ship the plates. The picture changes if the company rents its own warehouse, posts employees, or appoints an agent who regularly concludes contracts in the United States. Those facts can be a permanent establishment, and Article 7 lets the United States tax the slice of profit that belongs to it.
When the interview asks for line 15, the claim is business profits under Article 7(1) at 0%, with the Article 5(3) explanation.
IRES and IRAP at home
An Italian resident company reports Amazon.com profit in its reddito and pays IRES on it, plus IRAP on the regional base. The W-8 does not replace the dichiarazione dei redditi.
Selling commissions charged by a US Amazon entity are services from outside Italy. The S.r.l. applies inversione contabile under article 17 of DPR 633/72 and accounts for Italian VAT itself. IRES is the national tax on company income; IRAP is the regional tax on productive activity, and the region of the registered office affects that base. Both still include the Amazon.com margin. The dichiarazione is filed with the Agenzia delle Entrate.
Ceramiche Valdarno S.r.l., Firenze
Ceramiche Valdarno S.r.l. makes kitchenware. It opened on Amazon.it with merchant-fulfilled parcels, then switched the US catalogue to FBA and shipped pallets to fulfilment centres. The workshop stays in Florence. No employee and no agent can sign for the company in the United States.
Giulia Berti, amministratrice, marked Corporation, entered 06123450485 as the Partita IVA, selected the active-trade test under Article 2 of the 1999 Protocol, and on the treaty lines wrote Article 7(1), 0%, business profits. Amazon’s interview is what Amazon stores. This sample is the paper version of those answers if Amazon later asks for a signed PDF.
Article 5(3)(a) and (b) — not the 5(4) numbering used in some other treaties — are why the US pallets are not a permanent establishment. Profit is taxed in Italy through IRES and IRAP. The workshop, the street and the Partita IVA in the file are fictional. Giulia copies the denominazione from the visura onto line 1, including “S.r.l.”
Sample: Ceramiche Valdarno S.r.l.
Line 9b is a fictional 11-digit Partita IVA. Line 15 is Article 7(1) at 0% for business profits.
Example only. Ceramiche Valdarno S.r.l., Firenze, is fictional.
The same lines, ready for the interview
Build the Italian W-8BEN-EFor an organization
For companies, funds, partnerships registered outside the USA.
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Questions from Italian sellers
S.r.l. or S.r.l.s. — which box on line 4?
Corporation for both. The simplified company still limits liability. Put the exact denominazione, including S.r.l.s., on line 1 so it matches the visura.
We trade as an S.n.c. Which form does Amazon expect?
Form W-8IMY. A foreign partnership files Form W-8IMY. Form W-8BEN-E remains available when the partnership uses it to document chapter 4 status because it holds an account with an FFI, or to claim treaty benefits because it is a hybrid entity liable to tax as a resident. An S.n.c. is a partnership. Each partner provides a separate certificate.
FBA in the US — do we apply for an EIN?
No. Line 8 stays blank without a US office, staff or dependent agent. The foreign TIN is the 11-digit Partita IVA. Amazon holding your boxes is not a US trade or business by itself.
We already sell on Amazon.it. Is there a second interview for Amazon.com?
Yes. The Italian store profile is not the US income-reporting interview. When the account sells on Amazon.com, Amazon still builds the W-8 inside the Tax Information Interview and signs it electronically.
The administrator changed. Do we file again?
Line 4 and the Partita IVA usually stay. If the legal name is unchanged, Amazon does not need a new certificate only because a director was replaced. If the company was transformed into an S.p.A., rerun the interview under the new name. Line 4 remains Corporation, and the S.p.A. is per se.
Sources
Last checked: 7 October 2026