If a US platform (Upwork) or direct client is holding back 24–30% of your pay, the fix is usually a missing or incorrectly filled Form W-8BEN — not a tax treaty, since Nigeria has none with the US. Filing a correct W-8BEN certifies you're a nonresident alien performing services outside the US, which tells the payer your income is foreign-source and not subject to US withholding at all. Get the form right and the withholding should stop on your next payment cycle.
US payers (Upwork, direct employers, agencies) are required to withhold on payments to foreign persons unless a valid W-8BEN is on file. Without one, Upwork applies 24% backup withholding, and a direct US client can apply the default 30% NRA withholding on US-source payments (Upwork Help; IRS W-8BEN instructions). Most Nigerian freelancers who see deductions either never submitted the form, left required fields blank, or let an old one expire.
Unlike freelancers from treaty countries (India, UK, etc.), Nigerians can't use the W-8BEN to claim a *reduced treaty rate* — there is no US-Nigeria income tax treaty, so Part II (lines 9–10, treaty claims) doesn't apply to you (Omnivoo, "Pay Independent Contractors in Nigeria from the US," 2026). Your protection comes from a different rule: services you perform physically in Nigeria for a US client are foreign-source income, which is outside US withholding jurisdiction regardless of treaty status. The W-8BEN's job is simply to document that fact for the payer's records — it's not a treaty-benefit form for you.
Using the current IRS Form W-8BEN (Rev. October 2021):
- Line 1–2: Your legal name; country of citizenship — Nigeria.
- Line 3: Permanent residence address in Nigeria (a real street address, not a P.O. box).
- Line 4: Mailing address, only if different from Line 3.
- Line 5 (US TIN): Leave blank unless you actually have a US SSN or ITIN — most Nigerian freelancers don't.
- Line 6 (Foreign TIN): Enter your Nigerian Tax Identification Number (TIN), obtainable free from FIRS/JTB. If you genuinely have none, check box 6b rather than leaving it blank.
- Line 7: Optional reference number (Upwork sometimes auto-fills this).
- Line 8: Date of birth.
- Part II (lines 9–10): Skip — no US-Nigeria treaty to claim.
- Part III: Sign, date, and check the capacity box (usually "self").
On Upwork, the W-8BEN is completed inside your tax settings under Settings > Tax Information, and Upwork tells you directly whether it's on file and valid (Upwork Support, "How to complete Form W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E"). For a direct US employer or agency, they'll ask you to fill the PDF and send it straight to them — never to the IRS; it's a certification the withholding agent keeps on file.
A W-8BEN is valid through the end of the third calendar year after signing — e.g., a form signed in 2026 expires December 31, 2029. Platforms don't always chase you for a renewal; they just resume default withholding once it lapses. Calendar the expiry date, and file a fresh form within 30 days of any change to your address or citizenship.
- Leaving Line 6 blank instead of entering a Nigerian TIN or checking 6b.
- Using a US mailing address or a P.O. box on Line 3.
- Trying to claim a treaty rate on lines 9–10 that doesn't exist for Nigeria.
- Signing an expired form and not noticing the withholding restart.
- Confusing W-8BEN (individuals) with W-8BEN-E (needed only if you invoice through a registered company/LLC).
Kampe doesn't file tax forms or hold your payouts — it's a read-only dashboard that pulls in what your US clients actually pay after withholding, alongside your naira and other balances, so you can see the real, post-withholding number in one place.