Verify US IRS Form W-8BEN / W-8BEN-E foreign tax status inputs
Verify US IRS Form W-8BEN / W-8BEN-E foreign tax status inputs, validate 19-character FATCA GIIN Modulo 31 checksums, and evaluate US Bilateral Income Tax Treaty withholding rates
Request
- x-api-key: <your-api-key>
- Content-Type: application/json
Response
{
"formAudit": {
"formType": "standard",
"isFormValid": true,
"issues": [
"<issue>"
],
"warnings": []
},
"giinDetails": {
"categoryCode": "ABC-123",
"categoryName": "Ada Lovelace",
"countryName": "Poland",
"countryNumericCode": "ABC-123",
"fatcaId": "fat_684777",
"fiType": "standard",
"isValid": true,
"normalized": "PL61109010140000071219812874",
"reason": "checksum ok"
},
"isValid": true,
"status": "success",
"tokensDeducted": 2,
"treatyEligibility": {
"countryOfTaxResidence": "PL",
"isTreatyEligible": true,
"treatyCountryName": "Poland",
"withholdingRates": {
"standardStatutoryRate": 4,
"treatyDividendRate": 4,
"treatyInterestRate": 4,
"treatyRoyaltyRate": 4
}
}
}What it does
Verify US IRS Form W-8BEN / W-8BEN-E foreign tax status inputs, validate 19-character FATCA GIIN Modulo 31 checksums, and evaluate US Bilateral Income Tax Treaty withholding rates
Request
Body
| Field | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
chapter3Status | string | no | Entity classification (e.g., "Corporation", "Partnership", "Disregarded Entity") |
chapter4Status | string | no | FATCA classification (e.g., "REPORTING_MODEL_1_FFI", "ACTIVE_NFFE", "PASSIVE_NFFE") |
countryOfCitizenship | string | no | ISO 2-letter or 3-letter country code of tax residence |
dateOfBirth | string | no | Date of birth YYYY-MM-DD (W-8BEN individual) |
formType | enum | yes | Target tax form or standalone GIIN verification One of: W-8BEN, W-8BEN-E, GIIN_ONLY. |
fullName | string | no | Beneficial owner name (W-8BEN individual) |
giin | string | no | 19-character FATCA GIIN identifier (e.g., "980000.00000.ME.250") |
organizationName | string | no | Organization name (W-8BEN-E entity) |
Example request
{
"chapter3Status": "success",
"chapter4Status": "success",
"countryOfCitizenship": "PL",
"dateOfBirth": "2026-09-08",
"formType": "W-8BEN",
"fullName": "Ada Lovelace",
"giin": "<giin>",
"organizationName": "Ada Lovelace"
}Response
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
formAudit | object | |
↳ formType | string | |
↳ isFormValid | boolean | |
↳ issues | array<string> | |
↳ warnings | array<string> | |
giinDetails | object | |
↳ categoryCode | string | |
↳ categoryName | string | |
↳ countryName | string | |
↳ countryNumericCode | string | |
↳ fatcaId | string | |
↳ fiType | string | |
↳ isValid | boolean | |
↳ normalized | string | |
↳ reason | string | |
isValid | boolean | |
status | string | |
tokensDeducted | integer | |
treatyEligibility | object | |
↳ countryOfTaxResidence | string | |
↳ isTreatyEligible | boolean | |
↳ treatyCountryName | string | |
↳ withholdingRates | object |
Example response
{
"formAudit": {
"formType": "standard",
"isFormValid": true,
"issues": [
"<issue>"
],
"warnings": []
},
"giinDetails": {
"categoryCode": "ABC-123",
"categoryName": "Ada Lovelace",
"countryName": "Poland",
"countryNumericCode": "ABC-123",
"fatcaId": "fat_684777",
"fiType": "standard",
"isValid": true,
"normalized": "PL61109010140000071219812874",
"reason": "checksum ok"
},
"isValid": true,
"status": "success",
"tokensDeducted": 2,
"treatyEligibility": {
"countryOfTaxResidence": "PL",
"isTreatyEligible": true,
"treatyCountryName": "Poland",
"withholdingRates": {
"standardStatutoryRate": 4,
"treatyDividendRate": 4,
"treatyInterestRate": 4,
"treatyRoyaltyRate": 4
}
}
}Errors
Every error answers with the same envelope: an HTTP status, a machine code and a sentence.
400 | The body or a parameter failed validation. The details array names the field. |
401 | No key, a revoked key or a wrong header. Send x-api-key. |
402 | The wallet cannot cover this call. Top up or wait for the monthly grant. |
404 | The resource does not exist, or it is not yours. Both answer identically and cost nothing. |
429 | Over the per-minute quota of your tier. Back off and retry. |
5xx | Upstream refused or timed out. The call is not billed. |
Code
curl -X POST 'https://app.castomapi.com/v1/verify/w8ben-giin' \
-H 'x-api-key: <your-api-key>' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{"chapter3Status": "success", "chapter4Status": "success", "countryOfCitizenship": "PL", "dateOfBirth": "2026-09-08", "formType": "W-8BEN", "fullName": "Ada Lovelace", "giin": "<giin>", "organizationName": "Ada Lovelace"}'const res = await fetch('https://app.castomapi.com/v1/verify/w8ben-giin', {
method: 'POST',
headers: { 'x-api-key': '<your-api-key>', 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
body: JSON.stringify({"chapter3Status": "success", "chapter4Status": "success", "countryOfCitizenship": "PL", "dateOfBirth": "2026-09-08", "formType": "W-8BEN", "fullName": "Ada Lovelace", "giin": "<giin>", "organizationName": "Ada Lovelace"})
});
const data = await res.json();
console.log(data);import { request } from 'node:https';
// Node 18+ has fetch built in
const res = await fetch('https://app.castomapi.com/v1/verify/w8ben-giin', {
method: 'POST',
headers: { 'x-api-key': '<your-api-key>', 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
body: JSON.stringify({"chapter3Status": "success", "chapter4Status": "success", "countryOfCitizenship": "PL", "dateOfBirth": "2026-09-08", "formType": "W-8BEN", "fullName": "Ada Lovelace", "giin": "<giin>", "organizationName": "Ada Lovelace"})
});
const data = await res.json();
console.log(data);import requests
res = requests.post(
'https://app.castomapi.com/v1/verify/w8ben-giin',
headers={'x-api-key': '<your-api-key>'},
json={"chapter3Status": "success", "chapter4Status": "success", "countryOfCitizenship": "PL", "dateOfBirth": "2026-09-08", "formType": "W-8BEN", "fullName": "Ada Lovelace", "giin": "<giin>", "organizationName": "Ada Lovelace"},
timeout=30,
)
print(res.json())<?php
$ch = curl_init('https://app.castomapi.com/v1/verify/w8ben-giin');
curl_setopt_array($ch, [
CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => 'POST',
CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => ['x-api-key: <your-api-key>', 'Content-Type: application/json'],
CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS => json_encode(['chapter3Status' => 'success', 'chapter4Status' => 'success', 'countryOfCitizenship' => 'PL', 'dateOfBirth' => '2026-09-08', 'formType' => 'W-8BEN', 'fullName' => 'Ada Lovelace', 'giin' => '<giin>', 'organizationName' => 'Ada Lovelace']),
]);
$data = json_decode(curl_exec($ch), true);
print_r($data);Cost and limits
This operation needs no API key and costs nothing: called without a key it answers 200 and deducts zero tokens, up to 10 requests a minute per IP address.
Rate limits per minute
| No key | 10 |
| Free | 60 |
| Pro | 300 |
| Enterprise | 1200 |
Questions
What does Verify US IRS Form W-8BEN / W-8BEN-E foreign tax status inputs cost?
This operation needs no API key and costs nothing: called without a key it answers 200 and deducts zero tokens, up to 10 requests a minute per IP address.
How do I authenticate?
Send your key in the x-api-key header. One key covers every metered endpoint; there is nothing to enable per endpoint.
Can I send an Authorization: Bearer token instead?
Not for a metered endpoint — those take the x-api-key header and nothing else. Bearer tokens belong to the account side: the dashboard and account APIs accept a JWT session, and castomapi-auth issues those through a standard OAuth2 handshake, with authorization code, client credentials and refresh grants. The auth service page covers it.
What are the limits?
10 requests a minute per IP with no key at all, 60 a minute on the free tier, 300 on Pro, 1200 on Enterprise. Above the no-key tier the quota is per account, across every endpoint.
OpenAPI: https://app.castomapi.com/docs/json