The Expiring Treaty Statement Report identifies clients whose treaty statements are about to expire or have already expired. Keeping treaty statements up to date is critical to ensuring clients benefit from favorable tax withholding rates on income earned from U.S. investments. Proactively addressing expiring treaty statements helps prevent unnecessary withholding and protects client returns.
What is a Treaty Statement?
A treaty statement is a declaration submitted alongside forms such as the W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E to claim a reduced rate of withholding tax on U.S.-source income under an applicable tax treaty, such as the Canada-U.S. Tax Treaty. For some client types or account structures (e.g., joint accounts, corporate accounts), an additional treaty statement may be required to fully claim treaty benefits.
Why Clients Appear on this Report
Clients will appear on the Expiring Treaty Statement Report when their current treaty statement is nearing its expiration date or has already expired. Typically, treaty statements follow the same validity period as the related W-8 forms remaining effective for the year signed and the next three full calendar years.
How this Impacts Clients
When a treaty statement expires, clients may lose their eligibility for reduced withholding rates on U.S.-sourced investment income. Without a valid treaty statement, U.S. payors apply the default 30% withholding rate instead of the reduced rate, which may be as low as 15% under the Canada-U.S. Tax Treaty. Renewing these statements on time ensures that clients continue receiving reduced rates on U.S. income.
How to Access the Expiring Treaty Statement Report
To access the Expiring W-8BEN-E Report:
- Log in to the CRM portal.
- From the left navigation menu, click CRM > Accounts.
- On the Account’s index page, you can access the report as a saved view by clicking +Add view to the right of the tabs on the index page, and selecting Expiring Treaty Statement Report from the dropdown.
You will now see a filtered view of clients whose treaty statements are approaching expiration or have expired.
Resolving Expiring or Expired Treaty Statements
To address expiring or Expired Treaty Statement reports, submit an update request through the CRM:
- Navigate to the client's CRM Contact Record.
- Submit an Update Account Documentation> NBIN-261 service requests
For detailed instructions, see the related article: Learn how to update an Expired Treaty Statement report.
Best Practices
- Review the Expiring Treaty Statement Report regularly (monthly or quarterly).
- Contact clients in advance of the expiration date to allow time for renewal and submission.