Many U.S. treaty partners require the IRS to certify that the person claiming treaty benefits is a resident of the United States for federal tax purposes. The IRS provides this residency certification on Form 6166, a letter of U.S. residency certification.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) procedure for requesting a certificate of residency (Form 6166) from the Philadelphia Accounts Management Center is the submission of Form 8802, Application for United States Residency Certification. Use of the Form 8802 is mandatory.
Form 6166 is a letter printed on U.S. Department of Treasury stationery certifying that the individuals or entities listed are residents of the United States for purposes of the income tax laws of the United States. You may use this form to claim income tax treaty benefits and certain other tax benefits in foreign countries. Please refer to the instructions for Form 8802.
Some additional information will also be required in order to obtain certification under the new procedures. This information is generally set forth in the Instructions to Form 8802.
A user fee is charged to process all Forms 8802. Revenue Procedure 2018-50 announced a user fee increase for non-individual applicants effective December 1, 2018. Please review the Form 8802 Instructions for further details.
Form 8802 applications requesting certification for the current year require a signature under penalties of perjury. By signing, applicants are attesting to their current residency status.
On occasion, applicants have submitted additional information pursuant to Line 11 of the Form 8802 on a “standalone” basis, instead of attaching this information to a signed Form 8802. In this situation, the applicant must sign the standalone submission under penalties of perjury, applying the rules in the Form 8802 instructions with respect to who must sign.
When the prior year return has not been filed and isn’t yet required, the penalty of perjury statement must address the applicant’s residency status in the prior year, i.e. Taxpayer Name, (TIN) was a U.S. resident for 2008 and will continue to be throughout the current tax year.”
NOTE: This statement is required of all taxpayers in this situation. In some instances, the taxpayer will not have been a resident for the prior year and therefore will only attest to residency status in the current year.
Various statements are required under penalty of perjury when a Form 8802 is for the current year. Refer to the Instructions for Form 8802.
A taxpayer may appoint a third party to submit Form 8802 on his behalf. In this situation the taxpayer may have to provide additional forms to the IRS which authorizes the IRS to deal with the third party appointee. Refer to the Instructions for Form 8802.
Please refer to the Instructions for Form 8802 on the documentation requirements pertaining to the following types of entities: