Stuck in Tax Form Approval Loop - Seeking Guidance (W-9/W-8BEN Issues)

Lisa118Heckel

Hi everyone,

I'm facing a persistent and very frustrating issue with submitting my tax form on Udemy. I signed up about 8 months ago, and since then, every attempt to get my tax form approved has failed. It consistently gets unapproved, and I'm not receiving clear reasons why, leaving me stuck in a continuous loop of resubmission requests.

I've made multiple attempts to contact Udemy support, but unfortunately, I haven't been able to get the specific guidance needed to resolve this.

I'm looking for help from anyone in the community who might have experienced a similar problem or has expertise in filling out these forms (whether a W-9 or W-8BEN, depending on their tax residency).

Could anyone offer advice on:

What are the most common, subtle mistakes people make when filling out the tax forms that lead to rejection?
Are there specific details (e.g., name formatting, TIN entry, address matching, or treaty benefit claims on W-8BEN) that are critically sensitive?
If you've had your form unapproved repeatedly, how did you finally get it approved?
Any tips, step-by-step guidance, or insights into what the approval system is looking for would be immensely helpful. I just want to get this resolved so I can finally move forward with my account.

Thanks in advance for your support!

ElianaC

Hi @Lisa118Heckel, I'm sorry to hear you're having trouble with the tax form. Unfortunately, we’re not able to provide account-level support here in the community. You can reach out to the Instructor support team to get more information about the tax form status. Our tax form tool provides instructors with the ability to select from a variety of different tax forms, including:

• W-9 (used by U.S. individuals and entities to certify their Tax ID number)
• W-8BEN (used by non-U.S. individuals to certify that they are a beneficial owner or a financial account-holder, and claim treaty benefits)
• W-8BEN-E (used by non-U.S. entities to certify they’re a beneficial owner or a financial account-holder, and claim treaty benefits)

We also support the ability to submit certain less-common types of forms through our Support Help Center:

• W-8ECI (used by non-U.S. individuals or entities to certify they’re a beneficial owner receiving U.S.-sourced income that is effectively connected with US trade or business)
• W-8EXP (used by non-U.S. governments or other tax-exempt entities to certify they’re a beneficial owner or a financial account-holder)
• W-8IMY (used by non-U.S. entities to certify they’re an intermediary or flow-through entity receiving payments on behalf of another person)

Choosing the right form will depend on where you live, whether you’re an individual or entity, and other specifics. Since Udemy is unable to provide tax advice, we recommend that you send a request to check your tax form status here.

I hope this helps!