Instructions for Form 8802 (4/2007)

General Instructions

This is archived information that pertains only to the 2006 Tax Year. If you
are looking for information for the current tax year, go to the Tax Prep Help Area.

Table of Contents

Purpose of Form

Form 8802 is used to request Form 6166, a letter of U.S. residency certification for purposes of claiming benefits under an income tax treaty or VAT exemption. You cannot use Form 6166 to substantiate that U.S. taxes were paid for purposes of claiming a foreign tax credit.

You cannot claim a foreign tax credit to reduce your U.S. tax liability with respect to foreign taxes that have been reduced or eliminated by reason of a treaty. If you receive a refund of foreign taxes paid with the benefit of Form 6166, you may need to file an amended return with the IRS adjusting any foreign tax credits previously claimed for those taxes.

When To Apply

You should mail your application, including full payment of the user fee, at least 45 days before the date you need Form 6166. We will contact you within 30 days if there will be a delay in processing your application. You can call 215-516-2000 (not a toll free number) and select the U.S. residency option if you have questions regarding your application.

Early submission for a current year certification. The IRS cannot accept an early submission for a current year Form 6166 that has a postmark date before December 1. Requests received with a postmark date earlier than December 1 will be returned to the sender. For example, a Form 6166 request for 2007:

Received with a postmark date before December 1, 2006, cannot be processed.
Received with a postmark date on or after December 1, 2006, can be processed with the appropriate documentation.

User Fee

Payment Schedule

Form 8802 application(s) will not be processed until the user fee is paid. A single user fee of $35 per Form 8802 submitted will cover a request for up to 20 original Forms 6166 issued under a single taxpayer identification number (TIN), regardless of the country for which certification is requested or the tax period to which the certification applies. An additional $5 will cover a request on the same Form 8802 for up to 20 additional Forms 6166 issued under the same TIN. For example, if you request on Form 8802:

Number of Forms 6166	User Fee
1 - 20	$ 35.00
21 - 40	$ 40.00
41 - 60	$ 45.00
61 - 80	$ 50.00
81 - 100	$ 55.00
101 - 120	$ 60.00
121 - 140	$ 65.00
141 - 160	$ 70.00
161 - 180	$ 75.00
181 - 200	$ 80.00

Additional request. Additional requests for Form 6166 submitted on a separate Form 8802, following the procedures established on page 3, will require the payment of a $35 user fee for the first 20 certifications issued.

Applicants are advised to request all Forms 6166 on a single Form 8802 to avoid paying the $35 user fee charged for processing a second Form 8802.

Method of Payment

Payment of the user fee can be by check, money order, or electronic payment.

Check or Money Order

Form 8802 must be accompanied by a check or money order in U.S. dollars, payable to the United States Treasury, in the appropriate amount. Do not send cash.

Multiple Forms 8802. If you are submitting multiple Forms 8802, you may submit a single check or money order payment to cover the aggregate amount of the user fee for all Forms 8802.

If you pay by check, it will be converted into an electronic funds transfer (EFT). This means we will copy your check and use the account information on it to electronically debit your account for the amount of the check. The debit from your account will usually occur within 24 hours, and will be shown on your regular account statement. You will not receive your original check back. We will destroy your original check, but we will keep a copy of it. If the EFT cannot be processed for technical reasons, you authorize us to process the copy in place of your original check.

Electronic Payment (e-payment)

Visit the IRS website at www.irs.gov and enter e-pay in the search box. Highlight and click on the first search result, e-pay. Choose User Fees at the bottom of Electronic Payments Options and then click on U.S. Residency Certification (Form 8802) user fee. Complete and submit online the information requested on the website.

Once your payment has been processed, you will receive an electronic confirmation number for the transaction. Enter the electronic confirmation number on page 1 of Form 8802 before you submit the application. If you make a payment covering multiple Forms 8802, the same electronic confirmation number must be written on each Form 8802. Form 8802 will not be processed if the electronic confirmation number has not been entered on the application.

The user fee website requires the entry of the following information.

Applicant's name.
Applicant's TIN or EIN.
Submitter's name (name of person or entity submitting the payment).
Contact email address.
Number of Form(s) 6166 requested.
Payment amount.
Selection of Automatic Clearing House (ACH) debit or credit card will open a window for account information.

The user fee amount due will be automatically calculated when the number of Form(s) 6166 requested is entered.

Supplemental User Fee Payment

If you have been contacted by the U.S. Residency Certification Unit to make a supplemental payment, you may also use the e-payment system by checking the supplemental user fee checkbox.

Where To Apply

The method by which you can submit Form 8802 to the IRS depends upon how you choose to pay the user fee.

Payment by Check or Money Order

If you are paying the user fee by check or money order, send the payment, Form 8802, and all required attachments to:

Internal Revenue Service
P.O. Box 42530
Philadelphia, PA 19101-2530

Or, by private delivery service to:

Citibank
Attn: IRS Lockbox Operations
1617 Brett Road
New Castle, DE 19720-2425

Electronic Payment

After the electronic confirmation number has been entered on page 1 of Form 8802, you can submit Form 8802 and all required attachments to the following address or by fax (see below for limitations on the use of faxed transmissions).

Mail or private delivery service. Send Form 8802 and all required attachments to this address only if you paid the user fee by e-payment.

Internal Revenue Service
11601 Roosevelt Blvd.
Drop Point N322 - US Certs Dept.
Philadelphia, PA 19154

Fax. You can fax up to 10 Forms 8802 (including all required attachments) for a maximum of 50 pages to the fax numbers below. A fax cover sheet stating the number of pages included in the transmission must be used.

The following fax numbers are not toll-free:

(215) 516-1035
(215) 516-2485

Who Is Eligible for Form 6166

In general, under an income tax treaty, an individual or entity is a resident of the United States if the individual or entity is subject to U.S. tax by reason of residence, citizenship, place of incorporation, or other similar criteria. U.S. residents are subject to tax in the United States on their worldwide income. An entity may be considered subject to tax on its worldwide income even if it is statutorily exempt from tax, such as a pension fund or charity. Similarly, individuals are considered subject to tax even if their income is less than the amount that would require that they file an income tax return.

In general, Form 6166 is issued only when the IRS can verify that for the year for which certification is requested one of the following applies:

You filed an appropriate income tax return (for example, Form 1120 for a domestic corporation),
In the case of a certification year for which a return is not yet due, you filed a return for the most recent year for which a return was due, or
You are not required to file an income tax return for the tax period on which certification will be based and other documentation is provided.

Who Is Not Eligible for Form 6166

In general, you are not eligible for Form 6166 if, for the tax period for which your Form 6166 is based, any of the following applies:

You did not file a required U.S. return.
You filed a return as a nonresident (including Form 1040NR, U.S. Nonresident Alien Income Tax Return; Form 1040NR-EZ, U.S. Income Tax Return for Certain Nonresident Aliens With No Dependents; Form 1120-F, U.S. Income Tax Return of a Foreign Corporation; Form 1120-FSC, U.S. Income Tax Return of a Foreign Sales Corporation; or any of the U.S. possession tax forms).
You are a dual resident individual who has made (or intends to make), pursuant to the tie breaker provision within an applicable treaty, a determination that you are not a resident of the United States and are a resident of the other treaty country. For more information and examples, see Reg. section 301.7701(b)-7.
You are a fiscally transparent entity organized in the United States (that is, a domestic partnership, domestic grantor trust, or domestic LLC disregarded as an entity separate from its owner) and you do not have any U.S. partners, beneficiaries, or owners.
The entity requesting certification is an exempt organization that is not organized in the United States.

Special Rules

Form 8802 Filed Before Return Posted by the IRS

If your return has not been posted by the IRS by the time you file Form 8802, you will receive a request to provide a signed copy of your most recent return. If you recently filed your return, it may take less time to process your application if you include a copy of the income tax return with your Form 8802. Write “COPY — do not process” on the tax return.

Individuals With Residency Outside the United States

If you are in any of the following categories for the year for which certification is requested, you must submit a statement and documentation, as described below, with Form 8802.

You are a resident under the internal law of both the United States and the treaty country for which you are requesting certification (you are a dual resident).
You are a green card holder or U.S. citizen who filed Form 2555, Foreign Earned Income.
You are a bona fide resident of a U.S. possession.

If you are a dual resident described in category 1, above, your request may be denied unless you submit evidence to establish that you are a resident of the United States under the tie breaker provision in the residence article of the treaty with the country for which you are requesting certification.

If you are described in category 2 or 3, attach a statement and documentation to establish why you believe you should be entitled to certification as a resident of the U.S. for purposes of the relevant treaty. Under many U.S. treaties, U.S. citizens or green card holders who do not have a substantial presence, permanent home, or habitual abode in the United States during the tax year are not entitled to treaty benefits. U.S. citizens or green card holders who reside outside the United States must examine the specific treaty to determine if they are eligible for treaty benefits and U.S. residency certification. See Exceptions, below.

Exceptions

You do not need to attach the additional statement or documentation requested if you:

Are a U.S. citizen or green card holder; and
Are requesting certification only for Cyprus, Hungary, India, Kazakhstan, Russia, South Africa, or Ukraine; and
The country for which you are requesting certification and your country of residence are not the same.

Form 1116, Foreign Tax Credit

If you have filed or intend to file a Form 1116, Foreign Tax Credit, claiming either a foreign tax credit amount in excess of $5,000 U.S. or a foreign tax credit for any amount of foreign earned income for the tax period for which certification is requested, you must submit evidence that you were (or will be if the request relates to a current year) a resident of the United States and that the foreign taxes paid were not imposed because you were a resident of the foreign country.

In addition, individuals who have already filed their federal income tax return must submit a copy of it, including any information return(s) relating to income, such as a Form W-2 or Form 1099, along with the Form 1116. Your request for U.S. residency certification may be denied if you do not submit the additional materials.

United Kingdom

If you are applying for relief at source from United Kingdom (U.K.) income tax or filing a claim for repayment of U.K. income tax, you may need to complete a U.K. certification form (US/Individual 2002 or US/Company 2002) in addition to Form 8802. For copies of these forms, contact HM Revenue and Customs:

On the Internet at www.hmrc.gov.uk/cnr/usdownload_2002.htm, or
Telephone at: 44-151-210-2222 if calling from outside the U.K., or 0845-070-0040 if calling from the U.K.

Send the completed U.K. form to the IRS with your completed Form 8802.