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I have been offered a remote job for a serious but small U.S.-based company. I am Mexican and I won't move to the U.S. The company tells me that hiring me as an employee would be a big problem for them (financially and legally), so they would prefer to hire me as an independent contractor. We are still figuring out how they are going to pay me.

I started looking into some of the freelance sites that manage payments (e.g. oDesk, freelancer). I thought the company might be able to pay me through such a site. The problem is most of the sites I found take big percentages of the money I get.

I am looking for some advice on this. What would be the best option for getting my payments?

Thanks!

Chris W. Rea
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Lau
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1 Answers1

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I believe that the form you will need to fill out for the company is the IRS' W-8ECI form.

My US-based Fortune 50 company pays my rent in Germany, and had my landlord fill one out so that they would not need to do any withholding for the payments.

From this IRS site on withholding income for payments to Foreign Individuals:

Withholding exemption. In most cases, you do not need to withhold tax on income if you receive a Form W-8ECI on which a foreign payee represents that: The foreign payee is the beneficial owner of the income,

The income is effectively connected with the conduct of a trade or business in the United States, and

The income is includible in the payee's gross income.

Good luck!

THEAO
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