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Is a Foreign VAT Number Acceptable on a W-8 in Place of a TIN?
August 14, 2026
Q. I'm onboarding a new vendor from Italy. They left the Foreign TIN left and the explanation was ''Thank you for touching base. We don't have a TIN but just an Italian VAT number, that's why that number is left blank''.
Is this acceptable to process from a compliance standpoint? or should the vendor from Italy still add some type of tax id number in the form?
A.
Answered by IOFM's third-party tax expert.
The W-8 instructions say: A U.S. or foreign TIN (as applicable) must generally be on a…
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