How to Terminate enrollment in DirectStock

A crucial part of completing your Computershare profile is confirming your tax status as a non-US Citizen, in order to do this you need to complete a W-8 BEN form. Computershare will send you a physical one you can fill out and post back. You can also complete it online quickly and for free.

​

You must fill in the W-8 BEN form before you buy any shares through Computershare, or add your banking information (especially if it's a US dollar account). Otherwise you will be assumed to be a US citizen.

​

Please note, completing it online will often result in a timeout error.

​

Time out error solutions:

You could persist and it will eventually work.

 

On desktop, you can go to "User Preferences" and change the "Regional Settings" from the United States, to your local region. Then go to your browser settings and change your language to English (US).

​

Mobile users may also need to change thier language and region in their device settings. For iPhones you can:

• Go to iOS Settings and select "General Settings"

• Select "Language and Region" and set it to English (USA)

• Restart the device and return to Computershare US to fill in the form

​

If those don't work, you can use the enhanced version of the site instead. To access it you must:

• Go to your portfolio​.

• Under your share holdings click "View Details".

• Next to your name, number of shares and value click "Actions".

• From the pop up menu click "Account Details".

• At the bottom of the list there is a section called "Check Transfer Status", click on it.

• This section says "View the status of your recent transfer requests."

• Click on the "View" button below that text.

• A warning will pop up explaining you will need to be redirected to the standard (old) version of the Investor Center site.

• Click on "Continue"

• You'll now be on an older version of the site.

• Under the "Check Transfer Status" header click on "Back to Account Details". Clicking on anything else will return you to the modern site.

• In the Tax Certification section, click "Edit" and follow the instructions to complete the form.

​

How to fill in the W-8 BEN form:

• Login to Computershare.

• Under "What would you like to do?" select "View and update your profile"​​.

• Select "Tax Details" from the menu on the left.

• Click on the "Certify Tax Status" button next to your portfolio info.

  1. Certification Type:

     • What's your status?

     • Select "I am NOT a US person or resident Alien and I will complete the electronic IRS Form W-8 BEN to add/change and certify this account"

     • Click "Next"

  2. Certification Details:

     • Tax Identification Numbers:

       • Leave "U.S. Taxpayer Identification Number" blank.

       • Date of Birth: Select your date of birth from the calendar pop-up.

       • Select "Foreign Tax Identifying Number (FTIN)". In the field "Foreign Tax Identifying Number (FTIN)" use your country's tax ID. (examples would be: Unique Tax Identifier or National Insurance Number).

     • Type of Beneficial Owner: Should be "Individual" and already filled in.

     • Permanent Residency Address:

       • Country of Citizenship: Select your country of citizenship.

       • Confirm whether or not the address on your account is your permanent residency. If not then you will need to provide this address.

     • Claim of Tax Treaty Benefits: select your country of permanent residency. Some countries have a tax treaty with the US. (this will apply if you are resident of a country with which the United States has an income tax treaty with a reduced rate of withholding for dividends). If your country is eligible, the: “The beneficial owner is a permanent resident of XXXXXX within the meaning of the income tax treaty between the United States and that country.” will be automatically selected.

     • Click "Next".

  3. Review & Submit:

     • Check all of the details. If everything is correct, proceed to:

     • Verify Registered Name: Enter your registered name in that field.

     • Click "Submit".

  4. Confirmation:

     • You should see this confirmation on the screen: “Thank you. Your transaction has been processed.”

​

At this point you will either get the time out error, or you will have completed the form! If it was successful, Computershare will send you an email shortly afterwards confirming it.

​

Adding currency information:

After submitting the W-8 BEN tax form, you can enter your Foreign Currency Account information into your Computershare account (this is for sales only):

• Click on "My Profile". 

• Click on "Banking Details".

• Under "Payment Method", select: "International Wire".

• Under "Country", enter the country where you bank from.

• Under "Currency", select your local currency.

• Then enter your SWIFT code and account number according to your bank account.

 

Please note: If you wish to use a Wise USD account here, it may void your W-8 BEN form. Wise also has daily and yearly limits for deposits, so it's probably best to use an actual bank instead of a currency conversion platform for withdrawals.