# IRS has an issue with my W9



## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

About a week ago I received a snail mail from our Mexican bank that I needed to report to the branch and submit another w9. They say the IRS told them of a discrepancy of the information they provided based on the W9 and the information they had on file. The person at the bank merely printed off three fresh copies of the existing w9 I already had on file and had me sign them. I also signed three extra blank forms in case they were needed later. But it bothers me that all we have done is resubmit the same info again.

This morning I tried asking the IRS what is was they didn't like about my info - they said they have no idea - everything looks correct from what they can see. Apparently I can't have a conversation with them of what they didn't like about the bank's submitted data.

I called the bank's main offices in Mexico City - no one there can tell me why the IRS wasn't happy.

The only thing I can think of is that on my US tax returns I only use my middle initial and on the W9 the bank has my complete middle name spelled out. 

Any ideas appreciated.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

Actually, as I understand it the IRS never sees your W9 form(s). The W9 is a form for the bank (or other financial institution) to use to document your status as a "US person" (or not). But the form itself is never submitted to the IRS unless the IRS has some reason to request information on a particular taxpayer.

You might want to take a look at the IRS instructions to those who would have reason to request a W9 form from a customer: https://www.irs.gov/instructions/iw9/ar02.html#d0e128
Cheers,
Bev


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## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

Bevdeforges said:


> Actually, as I understand it the IRS never sees your W9 form(s). The W9 is a form for the bank (or other financial institution) to use to document your status as a "US person" (or not). But the form itself is never submitted to the IRS unless the IRS has some reason to request information on a particular taxpayer.
> 
> You might want to take a look at the IRS instructions to those who would have reason to request a W9 form from a customer: https://www.irs.gov/instructions/iw9/ar02.html#d0e128
> Cheers,
> Bev


Yes - one very nice IRS employee pretty much said the same thing today. The IRS never sees the W9 - someone at the bank moves the data to some sort of other form and then submits it to the IRS. But how can I possibly correct whatever problem was made in that process if the IRS will not tell me what it is they have a problem with ? Couldn't they have the decency to communicate with me directly ?


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

It may be a ploy on the part of your bank to get more information from you - or your signature or something. And actually, given that reporting that information to the IRS is the responsibility of your bank, it may be a matter of the bank having screwed something up and trying to "cover" themselves.

When and if the IRS has a problem with your information, they'll be in touch.
Cheers,
Bev


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## ForeignBody (Oct 20, 2011)

You are somewhat misunderstanding the situation. The issue is between the IRS and your bank, so the IRS would not communicate direct with you. The bank submits collated data and there is probably some error on the bank's input. It could be as simple as a typo in your SSN. It is for the bank to resolve the matter and it is understandable that they would want to check that they have the correct information from you.

You seem to say that you also signed some blank W-9s. You should never do this. The potential for mis-use is high.


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## LC3622 (Jan 8, 2014)

what can I say - Obama started a war against his own citizens. Unprecedented!


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## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

Here's a question for you - in the letter dated Nov 30th CitiBanamex threatened us with withholding 28% if we didn't visit the branch and provide a new W9. Of course we did - but let's say we didn't OR they still had an issue with the IRS. Do you think that would require them to issue us a 1099 ? I really wish they were required to anyway. All of this duplicate filing - us and the Mexican banks can only lead to more discrepancies.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

I assume CitiBanamex is affiliated somehow with CitiBank in the US, in which case they might actually issue a 1099. But for most of the banks that are now having to confirm information for their US clients, they won't issue a 1099 because they are not subject to THAT part of US tax law. Just to FATCA. However, I'm curious about just what sort of interest or investment income they were threatening to withhold 28% on. (I thought it was supposed to be 30% - but I haven't kept up with the FATCA stuff lately.) 

The threat they are holding over the bank is to have all remittances of income from the US withheld at 30% (or whatever) for the bank if they haven't made a good faith effort to identify all their "US person" customers for reporting purposes. 
Cheers,
Bev


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## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

Yes Citibank owns Banamex - perhaps since 2001 or so - but it feels like Citi is only recently 'interfering' in the Banamex procedures. I can't find the letter we received at the moment but it was definitely referring to taxing interest and not remittances. I most likely will never move money ever again from the US into Banamex. It is simply a backup sort of thing. I keep a very small amount in the checking (0% interest) and just enough money to provide free checking and a debit card (perhaps 3% interest). They could withhold the entire annual interest and I don't think I would much care.

Found the letter which was in English - "Failure to comply with this requirement will result in backup withholding at the current rate of 28%. In addition to backup withholding, you may be subject to a $50 penalty by the IRS for failing to give us your correct Name/TIN combination".

I believe it was someone here that pointed out that each country has its own separate FATCA agreements. I went and tracked down the agreement for Mexico and the institution we have the bulk of our monies in in Mexico is exempt from reporting. I realize they still may report anyways. Actually - I don't know how I happened upon the possibility of having an account with them - I would bet that there are only a handful of foreigners who have such an account. 

We stopped by the bank this morning and the rep assured us that he had resubmitted the new W9 and there were no new issues. We'll see. He thought the bank was simply requiring new W9's from all their US clients to cover their butts.


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