W-8BEN-E for a Spanish 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.L. selling on Amazon.com uses Amazon’s tax interview as a foreign corporation. Spain’s entries are the company form, the company NIF and Article 7, with LOB from the 2013 protocol.
Spain in three lines
- Line 4: Corporation for an S.L. An S.A. is Corporation because it is per se.
- Line 9b: the company NIF (the old CIF). A person’s DNI or NIE does not go here.
- Line 15: Article 7(1), 0%, business profits, when Amazon asks for a treaty claim.
Amazon builds the certificate
The Tax Information Interview creates and e-signs the W-8. Upload or mail a signed PDF only if Amazon asks. A valid W-8 keeps the S.L. off 1099-K; without it Amazon suspends selling privileges until the interview is done. Product sales carry no US withholding either way. It remains 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 a sociedad registered in Spain
The escritura and the NIF card fix the name. The rows below are the Spanish decisions on the certificate.
| Line | Spanish entry |
|---|---|
| Line 1 | The razón social, Latin letters, including S.L. or S.A. |
| Line 4 | Corporation for an S.L. Partners are not personally liable. An S.A. is always Corporation: Spain, Sociedad Anónima, is per se under Treas. Reg. §301.7701-2(b)(8). |
| Line 5 | Active NFFE for a trading company whose passive income and assets stay under half. A holding that only receives dividends is Passive NFFE. |
| Line 9b | NIF (CIF) of the company, one letter and eight characters, often starting with A or B. Not the administrator’s DNI or NIE. |
| Line 14a | Spain, when the company is resident in Spain and claims the treaty. |
| Line 14b | Limitation on benefits under Article 17, as replaced by the 2013 protocol (in force 27 November 2019). The IRS PDF of the 1990 treaty still shows the older article. An operating S.L. usually meets the active-trade test. |
| Line 15 | Article 7(1), 0%, type of income business profits, if Amazon asks. No US permanent establishment means Spain taxes the profit. |
S.L., S.A. and what is not a corporation
The US form cares about liability and the per se list. Spanish “sociedad” covers several of those outcomes.
- S.L. and S.L.U.. Corporation. A sole-shareholder S.L.U. is still a limited company. Line 1 uses the full legal name.
- S.A.. Always Corporation. Sociedad Anónima is on the per se list for Spain.
- Comunidad de bienes or sociedad civil. Not this form when the vehicle is a partnership. The IRS instructions say a foreign partnership gives Form W-8IMY.
An autónomo is an individual and files W-8BEN. Selling as an autónomo? Use W-8BEN
NIF, DNI and the old CIF
CIF versus NIF
CIF is the old name. The current company tax ID is the NIF, same shape: a letter plus eight characters. Line 9b can be labelled NIF (CIF). Use the company’s, not a customer’s.
DNI and NIE
The administrator’s personal number starts a different life. It does not identify the S.L. and must not be copied onto line 9b.
IVA prefix
ES plus the NIF is the EU VAT number. Amazon’s VAT interview may want it. The W-8 foreign TIN is the NIF without relying on the prefix unless the field already includes the country.
Olive-wood boards in a US fulfilment centre
Article 5(4)(a) and (b) of the US–Spain treaty keep a permanent establishment from arising merely because goods are stored, displayed or delivered, or because a stock is maintained for delivery.
An S.L. in Seville can ship kitchenware to Amazon FBA on that basis. The article does not help if the company leases its own US warehouse, employs people there, or uses an agent who habitually concludes contracts. Those are the facts that can create a permanent establishment and let the United States tax the profits attributable to it under Article 7.
If Amazon asks for line 15, state business profits, Article 7(1), 0%, and point at Article 5(4)(a) and (b) for the stock. A Spanish company that also stores goods in a European Amazon centre is outside this US article; only the US buildings are the permanent-establishment question on the W-8.
Impuesto sobre Sociedades at home
Profit from Amazon.com belongs in the Spanish company’s resultado and is taxed under the Impuesto sobre Sociedades. A US withholding certificate does not close that return.
Fees billed by a US Amazon company for the .com store are inbound services. The S.L. applies inversión del sujeto pasivo under article 84 of the LIVA and self-charges Spanish VAT. The Impuesto sobre Sociedades return goes to the Agencia Tributaria and includes the Amazon.com margin in the accounting result. The W-8 does not change the Spanish tax base or the VAT return that records the reverse charge. The Agencia Tributaria is the office that receives both returns.
Olivar del Sur S.L., Sevilla
Olivar del Sur S.L. cuts olive-wood utensils. Sales began as merchant-fulfilled orders on Amazon.es. The company later sent stock to US fulfilment centres and listed the same utensils on Amazon.com. It has no staff in the United States and no agent who can close contracts there.
Marta Solís, administradora única, chose Corporation, entered NIF B41752833, claimed the active-trade test under Article 17 as amended by the 2013 protocol, and when the interview requested the rate typed Article 7(1), 0%, business profits. Amazon keeps the interview copy. Our PDF is the field-by-field sheet, and the file to sign if Amazon asks for one.
Article 5(4)(a) and (b) explain the US stock: Amazon stores and delivers it, which is not a permanent establishment. The margin is declared in Spain under the Impuesto sobre Sociedades. The workshop, the address and the NIF in the sample are fictional. Marta keeps the escritura de constitución next to the interview so the razón social matches line 1.
Sample: Olivar del Sur S.L.
Line 9b is a fictional company NIF. Line 15 shows Article 7(1) at 0% for business profits.
Example only. Olivar del Sur S.L., Sevilla, is fictional.
Copy these answers into the interview
Build the Spanish W-8BEN-EFor an organization
For companies, funds, partnerships registered outside the USA.
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Questions Spanish companies ask
S.L. or S.L.U. — what is line 4?
Corporation. A unipersonal company is still an S.L. for this box. The razón social on line 1 must match the escritura, including S.L.U. if that is the registered name.
Which LOB article — the 1990 text or the protocol?
Article 17 as amended by the 2013 protocol, in force since 27 November 2019. The IRS file spain.pdf is the treaty before that protocol, so it still prints the older limitation-on-benefits wording. Use the protocol for line 14b.
Does US FBA mean we need an EIN?
No. Leave line 8 empty when there is no US office, no employees and no dependent agent. Line 9b is the company NIF. Storage in Amazon’s building does not make the S.L. a US employer.
We already sell on Amazon.es. Is the US interview still required?
Yes. Amazon.es does not complete US income reporting. Amazon.com sales go through the Tax Information Interview, which builds the W-8 and signs it electronically. The EU VAT questionnaire is separate.
We moved from autónomo to an S.L. What happens to the form?
The old certificate was a W-8BEN for a person. The S.L. needs W-8BEN-E, line 4 Corporation, and the company NIF on line 9b. Run the Tax Information Interview again in the company’s name. The person’s DNI stays off the company form.
Sources
Last checked: 7 October 2026