Sure, I can address tax issues here. First, all these forms are the end product of a highly complex US tax law.The US Treasury holds the company (u201cagentu201d) making the payments responsible for withholding tax under Sections 1441 (non US persons) and Section 1442 (foreign corporations. Treasury requires a 30% withholding unless the payee provides appropriate documentation (called a certificate) for not withholding as noted in Treasury Regulation Section 1.1441-1(b)(1). So, the company represents the responsible party, here. If the company does not withhold, and they do not have the appropriate documentation or support for not withholding (called a withholding certificate) and the the payee owes tax, Treasury holds the company responsible for paying the tax (Treasury Regulation Section 1.1441-7(b)(1)).However, a non US person working physically from a non US location has foreign source income (Section 862(a)(3)). And, the US does not tax the non US person on such income. So, Treasury does not consider foreign source payments as withholdable payments (Treasury Regulation Section 1.1473-1(a)(1)).So, Treasury does not require the company making the payment to have the payee complete a withholding certificate. However, the company may use the documentation as means for making sure they are dealing with a non US person actually working physically from a non US location. In todayu2019s digital world, the company may be uncertain where the person resides. So some companies may have a policy for obtaining documentation for all payees.So, the W-8 BEN provides the payor with the certification for not withholding as attested by the payeeu2019s signature u2023 the payee has foreign source income not subject to withholding as noted in Treasury Regulation Section 1.1441-(b)(4)(v).A foreign company uses the W8-BEN-E and a non US individual uses the W8-BEN. Each form has its own peculiarities.I have completed the above analysis based on the fact situation. If the facts change, the tax results may change. www.rst.tax