W-8BEN for YouTube and AdSense: where to submit it, and what happens if you don't

This page is for non-US individuals in the YouTube Partner Program or using AdSense on a website. It covers only three things: where Google asks for the form, what Google says it withholds if you don't submit it, and which forms its tool uses. Each of those comes from Google's help pages, read on the date shown in the sources block; Google can change its pages, so follow the links before you act. How to answer the questions inside the form is in the W-8BEN guide.

Where to submit: the tax tool in AdSense

Google's YouTube page says all monetizing creators on YouTube, regardless of their location in the world, are required to provide tax info YouTube Help · checked Oct 27, 2026. For AdSense on websites, Google's page says not all publishers are required to provide tax information AdSense Help · checked Oct 27, 2026; if you do have to, you do it from your AdSense account.

Both help pages give the same steps:

1. Sign in to your AdSense account, or for YouTube, your AdSense for YouTube account.
2. Open Payments, then Payments info, then Manage settings.
3. Find the tax section. Scroll to "Payments profile" and click edit next to "United States tax info" YouTube Help · checked Oct 27, 2026 (YouTube page; the AdSense page says the same: click edit next to "United States tax info" AdSense Help · checked Oct 27, 2026).
4. Click Manage tax info and answer the questions. The form is built from your answers.

This is how you give the form to the payer, which is what the IRS instructions ask: Do not send Form W-8BEN to the IRS IRS · checked Oct 27, 2026.

Deadlines Google gives

• YouTube: Google's page says to submit a tax form, and if eligible claim a tax treaty benefit, by Dec. 10th each year YouTube Help · checked Oct 27, 2026.
• AdSense: if your payments are on hold because you have to enter tax information, Google's page says that if you provide it after the 20th of the month, you won't be eligible to receive a payment in that month's payment cycle AdSense Help · checked Oct 27, 2026.

What Google withholds if you don't submit

Google's YouTube page says that if no US tax information is provided, Google may be required to withhold at the maximum rate, and that the rate depends on your AdSense for YouTube account type:

Note the difference for individuals: without tax information, the deduction is on total earnings worldwide, not only on earnings from US viewers. Once you have submitted, Google's page says only the portion of your earnings from viewers in the United States will be subject to tax withholding and reporting YouTube Help · checked Oct 27, 2026 (if the information is valid), and that for creators outside the US, rates are between 0-30% on earnings you get from U.S. viewers YouTube Help · checked Oct 27, 2026, depending on whether your country has a tax treaty with the US.

For AdSense earnings outside YouTube, the AdSense pages we read do not give a default rate. They say that after you submit, you can find the tax withholding rates that may apply to your payments AdSense Help · checked Oct 27, 2026 by checking the "United States tax info" section of your Payments profile.

Which form the tool gives you

You don't pick a PDF; the tool picks the form from your answers. Under "Selecting tax forms", Google's FAQ starts with the account type: an individual account is owned and operated by an individual person and not a legal organization YouTube Help · checked Oct 27, 2026, while a non-individual account or entity account is a business account that's separate from its owner for tax purposes YouTube Help · checked Oct 27, 2026.

Google's YouTube and AdSense FAQs then list the forms:

• W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E: generally, a Form W-8BEN or Form W-8BEN-E is required from individuals and entities (respectively) outside of the US AdSense Help · checked Oct 27, 2026, when they are the beneficial owner of the income.
• W-9: A Form W-9 will be required from US persons, companies, partnerships, and so on AdSense Help · checked Oct 27, 2026.
• W-8ECI: A Form W-8ECI is used by persons claiming income received and is effectively connected with a US trade or business AdSense Help · checked Oct 27, 2026. Also, a US TIN will be required for all payees that provide a Form W-8ECI AdSense Help · checked Oct 27, 2026.

If you are a non-US individual who owns a US single-member LLC, the answer to "individual or entity" may not be obvious. The IRS rules for that case are on W-8BEN, W-8BEN-E or W-9.

Claiming a treaty rate in the tool

• Tax number: Google's FAQ says that if you are claiming a tax treaty benefit, you are required to provide either a Foreign TIN or a U.S. TIN YouTube Help · checked Oct 27, 2026. This lines up with the IRS instructions; see which tax number to give.
• Income types: Google's FAQ says partners select all income types for which they’re eligible to claim treaty benefits AdSense Help · checked Oct 27, 2026. Google's YouTube page names two of the types: Other Copyright Royalties (such as YouTube Partner Program and Google Play) YouTube Help · checked Oct 27, 2026 and Services (such as Google AdSense) YouTube Help · checked Oct 27, 2026.

We do not list treaty rates by country. Whether your country has a treaty, and which article fits, is a question for the treaty text or a tax professional (a CPA, an enrolled agent, or a tax attorney).

When to submit again

Google's YouTube page says that even if nothing has changed, your tax forms expire at the end of the third full calendar year, after the year of signing YouTube Help · checked Oct 27, 2026. That matches the IRS rule; changes that make a form invalid sooner are on when a W-8BEN expires.

If something went wrong

1. You never submitted and Google withheld at the default rate. Submit through the tool now. Google's page says the default rates will be adjusted in the next payment cycle once valid U.S. tax info is provided YouTube Help · checked Oct 27, 2026. For tax already withheld, Google's YouTube tax page has a question on refunds of earlier withholding; read it, and ask a tax professional before you file anything with the IRS.
2. Your treaty rate is not showing. Check that you gave a foreign or US tax number and selected every income type for which you are eligible to claim treaty benefits, then update your answers in the tool.
3. Something on your form changed (address, country of residence, account type): update it in the same tool. The IRS rule on how quickly you must do so is on when a W-8BEN expires.
4. Your form is "in review" or was declined. Google's FAQs (YouTube, AdSense) list the usual reasons and what to send.

Related pages

• Form W-8BEN for individuals: a task-by-task guide
• W-8BEN, W-8BEN-E or W-9: which form, including if you own a single-member LLC
• When a W-8BEN expires, and when you need a new one sooner
• W-8BEN in the Amazon KDP tax profile