Which form do I fill out W9 or W8BEN?

Hello all,

I have received a letter from my bank asking me to fill in either a W9 or W8BEN.

I am not sure what to do.  I am a British citizen and lived in the US as a Resident Alien for 18 years.  I moved back home to the UK in August 2015 and will be staying here permanently not returning to the US.

I am under the understanding that once I have been out of the US for 6 months I have to return my Green card.  I have been here just over 6 months.

So, do I fill out the W9 - Am I still a US resident?
Or
do I fill out the W8BEN - Am I no longer a US resident?

If anyone could advise me as I have spoken to the bank and also HM Customs and neither of them knew what I should do.

Thank you for your help.....   

Hello all,

I have received a letter from my bank asking me to fill in either a W9 or W8BEN.

I am not sure what to do.  I am a British citizen and lived in the US as a Resident Alien for 18 years.  I moved back home to the UK in August 2015 and will be staying here permanently not returning to the US.

I am under the understanding that once I have been out of the US for 6 months I have to return my Green card.  I have been here just over 6 months.

So, do I fill out the W9 - Am I still a US resident?
Or
do I fill out the W8BEN - Am I no longer a US resident?

If anyone could advise me as I have spoken to the bank and also HM Customs and neither of them knew what I should do.

Thank you for your help.....   

If you have not taken the required steps to relinquish your Green Card and file the required IRS forms the IRS might well still consider you to be US resident for tax purposes. Take a look at form 8854. I would get things organized asap so you can file the W8BEN.

As you are a US person for US tax purposes the only form you could file is a W-9.

You will separately want to learn about possible expatriation tax issues.

Thank you for your help.  I will fill out the W9 as I have to file my W2 as I worked last year until May.
Do I have to send my green card back as soon as the 6 mths date occurs? I have been here for 6 months on Feb 25th.

Will you be abandoning the green card subject you to tax under Internal Revenue Code Section 877A?

You will - in the fullness of time - have to file a US income tax return and FBAR for 2015 and 2016.

Thank you for your help.  I will fill out the W9 as I have to file my W2 as I worked last year until May.
Do I have to send my green card back as soon as the 6 mths date occurs? I have been here for 6 months on Feb 25th.

If you have kept the Green card and file the W9 the IRS will class you as US resident for tax purposes and you'll have to file a US tax return. I strongly encourage you to look at the IRS expatriation form 8854 and the state department's procedure for relinquishing a Green Card I-407. These are things you should have looked into before you left the US.