Cross-border tax terms — W

What each entry gives you is the mechanism: the condition that triggers the term, and the consequence that follows. Amounts and rates belong on the filing pages, where they carry a tax year and a source.

Terminology is where cross-border risk hides. The rate is visible and gets checked; the classification is invisible and does not, which is why the classification is what usually goes wrong. Each term page therefore says what the word means, why it bites, and which of our pages it actually changes.

If a term like this is in a notice you have received, bring the notice. The definition matters far less than what the sender is actually asking for. Every page here carries the name of the person who reviewed it and the date they did.

• Worldwide income — All income wherever it arises.
• Withholding tax — Tax collected by the payer at the moment of payment, on the strength of the documentation the payer holds.
• Withholding agent — The person required to withhold and remit.
• Withholding certificate — An advance determination reducing withholding on a transaction to the tax actually expected — worth many times more applied for before closing than after.
• Wrapped asset — A token representing another asset.
• Wash sale — A sale and repurchase intended to realise a loss, restricted by rules in several systems including superficial-loss provisions.
• W-8BEN — The individual certificate of foreign status given to a US payer to claim a treaty rate.

What the W entries have in common

7 terms begin with W. The term below is defined in full on its own page, alongside the filings it governs and the fee for dealing with them. Three to start with: Worldwide income, Withholding tax and Withholding agent.

Nearby letters

V — 2 terms · Z — 1 term. The full A–Z lists all 297 terms in one place.

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