Form 8233--Exemption From Withholding on Compensation for Independent (and Certain Dependent) Personal Services of a Nonresident Alien Individual

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Instructions for Form 8233

Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service

(Rev. September 2018)

Exemption From Withholding on Compensation for Independent (and Certain
Dependent) Personal Services of a Nonresident Alien Individual
Section references are to the Internal
Revenue Code unless otherwise noted.

General Instructions
Future Developments

For the latest information about
developments related to Form 8233 and
its instructions, such as legislation
enacted after they were published, go to
IRS.gov/form8233.
If you are a “resident of a treaty
country,” you must know the
CAUTION terms of the tax treaty between
the United States and the treaty country
to properly complete Form 8233.

!

What’s New
Deduction for personal exemptions
suspended. Nonresident aliens can’t
claim an exemption from withholding on
compensation for independent and
certain dependent personal services
based on the daily personal exemption
amount.

Reminders
Individual taxpayer identification
number (ITIN). You may need to
renew your ITIN . See Expired ITIN,
later.

Purpose of Form

In general, section 1441 requires 30%
income tax withholding on
compensation for independent personal
services (defined later). Sections 1441,
3401, and 3402 require withholding,
sometimes at 30% and sometimes at
graduated rates, on compensation for
dependent personal services (defined
later). However, some payments may
be exempt from withholding because of
a tax treaty. Complete and give Form
8233 to your withholding agent if some
or all of your compensation is exempt
from withholding.
You can use Form 8233 to claim a
tax treaty withholding exemption for
noncompensatory scholarship or
fellowship income only if you also are
claiming a tax treaty withholding
exemption for compensation for
personal services (including

May 08, 2018

compensatory scholarship or fellowship
income) received from the same
withholding agent.
Do not use Form 8233 if you
have an office in the United
CAUTION States regularly available to you
for performing personal services.

!

Additional information. You can
download the complete text of most
U.S. tax treaties at IRS.gov. Enter “Tax
treaties” in the search box. Click “United
States Income Tax Treaties--A to Z.”
Technical explanations for many of
those treaties are also available on that
site.
General information about tax
treaties is available at www.irs.gov/
individuals/international-taxpayers/taxtreaties. Also, see Pub. 901 for a quick
reference guide to the provisions of U.S.
tax treaties.
You can get any of the forms or
publications referred to in these
instructions by downloading them from
IRS.gov/Forms or ordering them from
IRS.gov/OrderForms..

Giving Form 8233 to the
Withholding Agent

You must complete Form 8233:
For each tax year (be sure to specify
the tax year in the space provided
above Part I of the form),
For each withholding agent, and
For each type of income. However,
you can use one Form 8233 to claim a
tax treaty withholding exemption for
both compensation for personal
services (including compensatory
scholarship or fellowship income) and
noncompensatory scholarship or
fellowship income received from the
same withholding agent.
Give the form to the withholding
agent. The withholding agent's
responsibilities are discussed in the Part
IV instructions.
Example. A nonresident alien is
primarily present in the United States as
a professor, but also is occasionally
invited to lecture at other educational
institutions. These lectures are not
connected with his teaching obligations
but are in the nature of self-employment.
For each tax year, the professor must
Cat. No. 22663B

complete and give a separate Form
8233 to the withholding agent at each
institution in order to claim tax treaty
benefits on the separate items of
income, if the treaty so permits.

Definitions
Nonresident Alien

If you are an alien individual (that is, an
individual who is not a U.S. citizen),
specific rules apply to determine if you
are a resident alien or a nonresident
alien for tax purposes. Generally, you
are a resident alien if you meet either
the “green card test” or the “substantial
presence test” for the calendar year.
Any person not meeting either test is
generally a nonresident alien.
Additionally, an alien individual who
qualifies as a “resident of a treaty
country” (defined later) or a bona fide
resident of Puerto Rico, Guam, the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana
Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, or
American Samoa is a nonresident alien
individual.
For more information on the tests
used to determine resident alien or
nonresident alien status, see Pub. 519.
Even though a nonresident alien
individual married to a U.S.
CAUTION citizen or resident alien can
choose to be treated as a resident alien
for certain purposes (for example, filing
a joint income tax return), such
individual is still treated as a
nonresident alien for withholding tax
purposes.

!

U.S. Person

For purposes of this form, a U.S. person
is a U.S. citizen or resident alien.

Tax Treaty Withholding
Exemption

This term refers to an exemption from
withholding permitted by IRS
regulations under section 1441 that is
based on a tax treaty benefit. See
Resident of a Treaty Country next for
requirements for claiming a tax treaty
benefit on this form.
See the instructions for line 4 for
additional information for determining
residence for purposes of claiming a tax

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treaty withholding exemption on this
form.

Resident of a Treaty Country

An alien individual can claim to be a
resident of a treaty country if he or she
qualifies as a resident of that country
under the terms of the residency article
of the tax treaty between the United
States and that country. See
Nonresident Alien, earlier.
A nonresident alien can claim a tax
treaty benefit on this form only if that
individual is the beneficial owner of the
income and meets the residency
requirement and all other requirements
for benefits under the terms of the
tax treaty.

Compensation for Independent
Personal Services

Independent personal services are
services performed as an independent
contractor in the United States by a
nonresident alien who is self-employed
rather than an employee. Compensation
for such services includes payments for
contract labor; payments for
professional services, such as fees to
an attorney, physician, or accountant, if
the payments are made directly to the
person performing the services;
consulting fees; honoraria paid to
visiting professors, teachers,
researchers, scientists, and prominent
speakers; and generally, payments for
performances by public entertainers.
Business profits. Certain treaties do
not have an independent personal
services article. Payments for
independent personal services may be
covered under the business profits
article of an applicable income tax
treaty. If you are eligible to claim
exemption from withholding on this type
of income, complete and give Form
8233 to the withholding agent.
Under certain treaties,
independent services may be
CAUTION attributable to a deemed
permanent establishment, and thus
taxable. For example, see Article 5(9) of
the U.S.-Canada income tax treaty.

!

Public entertainers. Special
restrictions on exemption from or
reduction of withholding apply to
nonresident alien public entertainers
(such as actors, musicians, artists, and
athletes). Generally, Form 8233 cannot
be accepted because the exemption
may be based on factors that cannot be
determined until after the end of the
year. These individuals are subject to
30% withholding from gross income

paid for personal services performed
unless a reduced rate of withholding is
applied for using Form 13930. In
addition, many tax treaties contain
separate articles that apply to public
entertainers. If present, these articles
take precedence over the “independent
personal services” and “dependent
personal services” articles of the
treaties.

Required Withholding Form
For compensation you receive for
independent personal services,
complete Form 8233 to claim a tax
treaty withholding exemption for part or
all of that income.

Compensation for Dependent
Personal Services

Dependent personal services are
services performed as an employee in
the United States by a nonresident
alien. Dependent personal services
include compensatory scholarship or
fellowship income (defined later).
Compensation for such services
includes wages, salaries, fees,
bonuses, commissions, and similar
designations for amounts paid to an
employee.

Required Withholding Form(s)
Complete Form 8233 for compensation
you receive for dependent personal
services only if you are claiming a tax
treaty withholding exemption for part or
all of that income. For compensation for
which you are not claiming a tax treaty
withholding exemption, use Form W-4.
Completing Form W-4. You should
complete Form W-4 as follows:
Line 2. You are required to enter a
social security number (SSN) on line 2
of Form W-4. If you do not have an SSN
but are eligible to get one, you should
apply for it. Get Form SS-5, Application
for a Social Security Card, online at
www.socialsecurity.gov, from your local
Social Security Administration (SSA)
office, or by calling the SSA at
1-800-772-1213.

!

CAUTION

You cannot enter an individual
taxpayer identification number
(ITIN) on line 2 of Form W-4.

Line 3. Check the single box
regardless of your actual marital status.
Line 5. Use the Additions and
Subtractions Worksheet in the
Instructions for Form W-4 to determine if
you can reduce the tax withheld from
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your compensation. See Pub. 519 for
more information.
If you are completing Form W-4 for
more than one withholding agent (for
example, you have more than one
employer), figure the total amount of
additions and subtractions you should
enter (see the previous paragraph) and
claim no more than that amount on all
Forms W-4 combined. Your withholding
usually will be most accurate when all
adjustments are claimed on the Form
W-4 for the highest-paying job and zero
adjustments are claimed on the others.
Line 6. Enter any amount from the
Credit Worksheet in the instructions for
Form W-4.
Line 8. Write “nonresident alien” or
“NRA” above the dotted line on line 8. If
you would like to have an additional
amount withheld, enter the amount on
line 8.
Line 9. Do not claim that you are
exempt from withholding on line 9 of
Form W-4 (even if you meet both of the
conditions listed on that line).

Compensatory Scholarship or
Fellowship Income

In general, scholarship or fellowship
income is compensatory to the extent it
represents payment for past, present, or
future services (for example, teaching or
research) performed by a nonresident
alien as an employee and the
performance of those services is a
condition for receiving the scholarship
or fellowship (or tuition reduction).
Example. XYZ University awards a
scholarship to N, a nonresident alien
student. The only condition of the
scholarship is that N attends classes
and maintains a minimum level of
academic performance. The scholarship
income is not compensatory because N
is not required to perform services as an
employee as a condition for receiving
the scholarship.

Required Withholding Form(s)
Compensatory scholarship or fellowship
income is considered to be dependent
personal services income. Therefore,
complete Form 8233 for this income
only if you are claiming a tax treaty
withholding exemption for part or all of
that income.
For any part of this compensatory
income for which you are not claiming a
tax treaty withholding exemption, use
Form W-4. See Completing Form W-4,
earlier.
Instructions for Form 8233 (Rev. 10-2016)

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Noncompensatory Scholarship
or Fellowship Income

also should see Rev. Proc. 93-20,
1993-1 C.B. 528.

Complete the required certification in
Part III.

Withholding Agent

Specific Instructions

In most cases, the taxable portion of
noncompensatory scholarship or
fellowship income (defined later) paid to
a nonresident alien is subject to
withholding at:
30%, or
14% if the nonresident alien is
temporarily present in the United States
under an "F", "J", "M", or "Q" visa.

Any person, U.S. or foreign, that has
control, receipt, or custody of an amount
subject to withholding or that can
disburse or make payments of an
amount subject to withholding is a
withholding agent. The withholding
agent can be an individual, corporation,
partnership, trust, association, or any
other entity, including (but not limited to)
any foreign intermediary, foreign
partnership, and U.S. branch of certain
foreign banks and insurance
companies. In most cases, the person
who pays (or causes to be paid) the
amount subject to withholding to the
nonresident alien individual (or to his or
her agent) must withhold.

Noncompensatory scholarship or
fellowship income is scholarship or
fellowship income that is not
compensatory scholarship or fellowship
income (defined earlier).

Taxable portion of noncompensatory scholarship or fellowship income.
If you were a degree candidate, the
amount of this type of income that you
used for expenses other than tuition and
course-related expenses (fees, books,
supplies, and equipment) is taxable in
most cases. For example, in most cases
amounts used for room, board, and
travel are taxable. If you were not a
degree candidate, the full amount of the
scholarship or fellowship income is
taxable in most cases.

Required Withholding Form
In most cases, you should complete
Form W-8BEN to claim a tax treaty
withholding exemption for this type of
income. No Form W-8BEN is required
unless a treaty benefit is being claimed.
Exception. If you are receiving both
compensation for personal services
(including compensatory scholarship or
fellowship income) and
noncompensatory scholarship or
fellowship income from the same
withholding agent, you can use one
Form 8233 for both types of income.
However, this exception applies only if
you are claiming a tax treaty withholding
exemption for both types of income.
Alternate withholding election. A
withholding agent can elect to withhold
on the taxable portion of
noncompensatory scholarship or
fellowship income of a nonresident alien
temporarily present in the United States
under an “F,” “J,” “M,” or “Q” visa as if it
were compensatory scholarship or
fellowship income (provided the
nonresident alien is not claiming treaty
benefits with respect to that income).
The withholding agent makes this
election by requesting that the
nonresident alien complete Form W-4
using the instructions in Rev. Proc.
88-24, 1988-1 C.B. 800. Indian students
Instructions for Form 8233 (Rev. 10-2016)

Beneficial Owner

For payments other than those for which
a reduced rate of withholding is claimed
under an income tax treaty, the
beneficial owner of income is in most
cases the person who is required under
U.S. tax principles to include the income
in gross income on a tax return. A
person is not a beneficial owner of
income, however, to the extent that
person is receiving the income as a
nominee, agent, or custodian, or to the
extent the person is a conduit whose
participation in a transaction is
disregarded. In the case of amounts
paid that do not constitute income,
beneficial ownership is determined as if
the payment were income.

Avoid Common Errors

To ensure that your Form 8233 is
promptly accepted, be sure that you:
Answer all applicable questions
completely,
Specify the tax year for which this
form will be effective in the space
provided above Part I of the form,
Enter your complete name,
addresses, and identifying number(s) in
Part I,
Have attached the required statement
described in the line 10 instructions if
you are a foreign student, trainee,
professor/teacher, or researcher,
Are not trying to claim tax treaty
benefits for a country with which the
United States does not have a ratified
tax treaty,
Are not trying to claim tax treaty
benefits that do not exist in your treaty,
Complete lines 11 through 14 in
sufficient detail to allow the IRS to
determine the tax treaty benefit you are
claiming, and
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Part I
Line 2

You are required to furnish a U.S.
taxpayer identification number on this
form. In most cases, you are required to
enter your SSN on line 2. See Line 2 in
Completing Form W-4 for instructions
on how to get an SSN.
If you do not have an SSN and are
not eligible to get one, you must get an
ITIN. To apply for an ITIN, file Form W-7
with the IRS. In most cases, you apply
for an ITIN when you file your tax return
for which the ITIN is needed. However,
if the reason for your ITIN request is
because you need to provide Form
8233 to the withholding agent, you must
file Form W-7 and provide proof that you
are not eligible for an SSN (your Form
SS-5 was rejected by the SSA) and
include a Form 8233. It usually takes
about 6 to 10 weeks to get an ITIN.
For details on how to apply for an
ITIN, see Form W-7 and its instructions.
Get Form W-7 online at IRS.gov/Forms.
For more information on obtaining an
ITIN, go to IRS.gov/ITIN.
If you have applied for an SSN or
ITIN but have not yet received it, you
can attach a copy of a completed Form
W-7 or SS-5 showing that a number has
been applied for.
An ITIN is for tax use only. It
does not entitle you to social
CAUTION security benefits or change your
employment or immigration status under
U.S. law.

!

Expired ITIN. Generally, ITINs issued
after December 31, 2012, will remain in
effect as long as the individual to whom
the ITIN was issued filed a tax return (or
is included as a dependent on the tax
return of another taxpayer) at least once
in the last three tax years. Otherwise,
the ITIN will expire at the end of the third
consecutive tax year. All expired ITINs
must be renewed before being used on
a U.S. tax return.
ITINs issued before January 1, 2013
will begin to expire if the individual to
whom the ITIN was issued does not file
a tax return (or is not included as a
dependent on the tax return of another
taxpayer) at least once in three
consecutive tax years. ITINs issued
before 2009 expired on or before
January 1, 2018; ITINs issued in 2009

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and 2010 will expire on January 1,
2019, and ITINs issued in 2011 and
2012 will expire on January 1, 2020.
For more information, go to
www.irs.gov/individuals/itin-expirationfaqs.

Spouses and dependents
admitted on secondary visas
CAUTION (for example, “F-2,” “J-2,” “H-4,”
and “O-3” visas) usually are not eligible
to claim the same treaty benefits as the
primary visa holder.

Line 3

Line 8

If your country of residence for tax
purposes has issued you a tax
identifying number, enter it here. For
example, if you are a resident of
Canada, enter your Social Insurance
Number.

Line 4

Your permanent residence address is
the address in the country where you
claim to be a resident for purposes of
that country's income tax. If you are
completing Form 8233 to claim a tax
treaty withholding exemption, you must
determine your residency in the manner
required by the treaty. Do not show the
address of a financial institution, a post
office box, or an address used solely for
mailing purposes. If you are an
individual who does not have a tax
residence in any country, your
permanent residence is where you
normally reside.
Most tax treaties that provide for a
tax treaty withholding exemption require
that the recipient be a resident of the
treaty country at the time of, or
immediately prior to, entry into the
United States. Thus, in most cases, a
student or researcher can claim the
withholding exemption even if he or she
no longer has a permanent address in
the treaty country after entry into the
United States. If this is the case, you
can provide a U.S. address on line 4
and still be eligible for the withholding
exemption if all other conditions
required by the tax treaty are met. You
also must identify on line 12a and/or
line 13b the tax treaty country of which
you were a resident at the time of, or
immediately prior to, your entry into the
United States.

Line 6

Enter your U.S. visa type. For example,
foreign students are usually granted an
“F-1” visa. Foreign professors, teachers,
or researchers are usually granted a
“J-1” visa. Business/vocational trainees
are usually granted an “M-1” visa;
however, some persons granted a “J-1”
visa also may be considered business/
vocational trainees (for example, a
person admitted to complete a
postgraduate residency in medicine).
If you do not have, or do not require,
a visa, write “None.”

!

In most cases, you are required to enter
your date of entry into the United States
that pertains to your current
nonimmigrant status. For example,
enter the date of arrival shown on your
current Immigration Form I-94,
Arrival-Departure Record.

Exception. If you are claiming a tax
treaty benefit that is determined by
reference to more than one date of
arrival, enter the earlier date of arrival.
For example, you are currently claiming
treaty benefits (as a teacher or a
researcher) under article 15 of the tax
treaty between the United States and
Norway. You previously claimed treaty
benefits (as a student) under article
16(1) of that treaty. Under article 16(4)
of that treaty, the combination of
exemptions under articles 15 and 16(1)
cannot extend beyond 5 tax years from
the date you entered the United States.
If article 16(4) of that treaty applies,
enter on line 8 the date you entered the
United States as a student.

Line 9a

Enter your current nonimmigrant status.
For example, enter your current
nonimmigrant status shown on your
current Immigration Form I-94.

line include: “Consulting contract to
design software” or “give three lectures
at XYZ University.”
For compensation for dependent
personal services, examples of
acceptable descriptions to enter on this
line include:
A nonresident alien student can enter
“part-time library assistant,” “part-time
restaurant worker,” or “teaching one
chemistry course per semester to
undergraduate students.”
A nonresident alien professor or
teacher can enter “teaching at ABC
University.”
A nonresident alien researcher can
enter “research at ABC University's
school for liquid crystal research.”
A nonresident alien business/
vocational trainee can enter
“neurosurgical residency at ABC
Hospital” or “one-year internship in
hydraulic engineering at XYZ
Corporation.”

Line 11b

Enter the total amount of compensation
for personal services you will receive
from this withholding agent during the
tax year. Enter an estimated amount if
you do not know the exact amount.

Line 12a

Enter the specific treaty and article on
which you are basing your claim for
exemption from withholding (for
example, “U.S.-Germany tax treaty,
Article 20(4)” or “U.S.-Belgium tax
treaty, Article 7 (business profits)”).

Line 9b

If you are a resident of a country that
has a provision in its permanent
establishment article, such as the
provision in Article 5(9) of the
U.S.-Canada treaty, and you perform
personal services in the U.S., enter the
treaty and article if you claim that you
are not covered by that provision.

Line 10

Line 12b

Enter the date your current
nonimmigrant status expires. For
example, you can enter the date of
expiration shown on your current
Immigration Form I-94. Enter “DS” on
line 9b if the date of expiration is based
on “duration of status.”

Nonresident alien students, trainees,
professors/teachers, and researchers
using Form 8233 to claim a tax treaty
withholding exemption for
compensation for personal services
must attach to Form 8233 a statement.
The format and contents of the required
statements are shown in Appendix A
and Appendix B in Pub. 519.

Part II
Line 11a

For compensation for independent
personal services, examples of
acceptable descriptions to enter on this
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If all income received for the services
performed to which this Form 8233
applies is exempt, write “All.” If only part
is exempt, enter the exact dollar amount
that is exempt from withholding.

Line 12c

Generally, you can claim a withholding
exemption based on a U.S. tax treaty
with the country in which you claim
permanent (or indefinite) residence.
This is the foreign country in which you
live most of the time. It is not necessarily
the country of your citizenship. For
example, you are a citizen of Pakistan
but maintain your home in England. You
cannot claim a withholding exemption

Instructions for Form 8233 (Rev. 10-2016)

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based on the U.S.-Pakistan tax treaty.
Any withholding exemption you claim
must be based on the U.S.-United
Kingdom tax treaty.

Line 13b

Enter the specific treaty and article on
which you are basing your claim for
exemption from withholding (for
example, “U.S.-Germany tax treaty,
Article 20(3)”).

Line 14

Provide sufficient facts to justify the
exemption from withholding claimed on
line 12 and/or line 13. Be sure you
provide enough details to allow the IRS
to determine the tax treaty benefit you
are claiming.

Part IV
Withholding Agent's
Responsibilities

When the nonresident alien individual
gives you Form 8233, review it to see if
you are satisfied that the exemption
from withholding is warranted. If you are
satisfied, based on the facts presented,
complete and sign the certification in
Part IV.
You will need three copies of the
completed Form 8233. Each copy of
Form 8233 must include any
attachments submitted by the
nonresident alien individual. Give one
copy of the completed Form 8233 to the
nonresident alien individual. Keep a
copy for your records. Within 5 days of
your acceptance, forward one copy to:
Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service
Philadelphia, PA 19255-0725
You also can fax Form 8233 to
877–824–9781. You are limited
to 100 pages at one time.
The exemption from withholding is
effective for payments made retroactive
to the date of the first payment covered
by Form 8233, even though you must
wait at least 10 days after you have
properly mailed Form 8233 to the IRS to
see whether the IRS has any objections
to the Form 8233.
You must not accept Form 8233, and
you must withhold, if either of the
following applies:
You know, or have reason to know,
that any of the facts or statements on
Form 8233 may be false, or

Instructions for Form 8233 (Rev. 10-2016)

You know, or have reason to know,
that the nonresident alien's eligibility for
the exemption from withholding cannot
be readily determined (for example, you
know the nonresident alien has a fixed
base or permanent establishment in the
United States).
If you accept Form 8233 and later
find that either of the situations
described above applies, you must
promptly notify the IRS (by writing to the
address provided earlier) and you must
begin withholding on any amounts not
yet paid. Also, if you are notified by the
IRS that the nonresident alien's eligibility
for the exemption from withholding is in
doubt or that the nonresident alien is not
eligible for exemption from withholding,
you must begin withholding
immediately. See Regulations section
1.1441-4(b)(2)(iii) for examples
illustrating these rules.
If you submit an incorrect Form 8233,
you will be notified by the IRS that the
form submitted is not acceptable and
that you must begin withholding
immediately. Examples of incorrect
Forms 8233 include:
Any Form 8233 that claims a tax
treaty benefit that does not exist or is
obviously false.
Any Form 8233 that has not been
completed in sufficient detail to allow
determination of the correctness of the
tax treaty benefit or exemption claimed.

Signature

You or your authorized agent must sign
and date Form 8233. See Regulations
section 1.1441-7(c) for information
about authorized agents.
Privacy Act and Paperwork Reduction Act Notice. We ask for the
information on this form to carry out the
Internal Revenue laws of the United
States. You are not required to request
a tax treaty withholding exemption.
However, if you want to receive
exemption from withholding on
compensation for independent (and
certain dependent) personal services,
you are required to give us this
information so that we can verify
eligibility under the relevant tax treaty
and confirm proper tax treatment. Our
legal right to ask for this information is
Internal Revenue Code sections 1441,
3401, and 3402. We need this
information to ensure that you are
complying with these laws and to allow
us to figure and collect the right amount
of tax. Code section 6109 requires

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taxpayers and withholding agents to
provide their identification number.
Routine uses of this information include
giving it to the Department of Justice for
civil and criminal litigation, and cities,
states, the District of Columbia, and
U.S. commonwealths and possessions
for use in administering their tax laws.
We may also disclose this information to
other countries under a tax treaty, to
federal and state agencies to enforce
federal nontax criminal laws, or to
federal law enforcement and
intelligence agencies to combat
terrorism. If a nonresident alien fails to
provide a properly completed form, the
withholding agent cannot accept it and
is required to withhold. If a withholding
agent accepts a Form 8233 as
completed and later finds that any of the
facts or statements made on the form
are false, or that a nonresident alien's
eligibility for the exemption is in doubt,
the withholding agent is required to
notify the IRS and begin withholding;
failure to do so may result in penalties.
You are not required to provide the
information requested on a form that is
subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act
unless the form displays a valid OMB
control number. Books or records
relating to a form or its instructions must
be retained as long as their contents
may become material in the
administration of any Internal Revenue
law. Generally, tax returns and return
information are confidential, as required
by section 6103.
The time needed to complete and file
this form will vary depending on
individual circumstances. The estimated
average time is: Recordkeeping, 1 hr.
5 min.; Learning about the law or the
form, 31 min.; Preparing and sending
the form to IRS, 57 min.
If you have comments concerning the
accuracy of these time estimates or
suggestions for making this form
simpler, we would be happy to hear
from you. You can send us comments
from IRS.gov/FormComments. Click on
“More Information” and then on “Give us
feedback.” You can write to the Internal
Revenue Service, Tax Forms and
Publications, SE:W:CAR:MP:TFP, 1111
Constitution Ave. NW, IR-6526,
Washington, DC 20224. Do not send
the tax form to this address. Instead,
give it to your withholding agent.