Why is Upwork asking for my SIN number?

[a996a9d1]

SIN number is very confidential and I'm surprised that Upwork is asking for it. It is against law for you to ask for a freelancer's SIN number even for tax purposes. It is clearly said to Canadian residents that they should not provide others with their SIN number unless it is the employer who is asking for it and even in that case it should be given AFTER they're being hired! I'm not convinced and I have read that many others are not either. I'm asking Upwork to counteract this issue ASAP. Thanks

[JoanneP]

Hi Mohammadreza,

Thanks for reaching out! I understand your concern. The W-8BEN and W-8BEN-E are U.S. tax forms for non-U.S. Persons. We and the IRS use them to determine whether you live in the U.S. and what taxes, if any, we need to collect from your earnings on Upwork. You must have this form on file before you can withdraw earnings from Upwork.

Without these forms as proof that you are a non-U.S. Person, Upwork will be required to withhold up to 30% of your future earnings on Upwork and send that withholding tax to the IRS. As long as a valid W-8BEN/W-8BEN-E form is filled out completely, we are not required to withhold U.S. income tax.

We only use the form to confirm that you are not a U.S. Person and that we are not required to withhold taxes from your earnings for the IRS. This includes providing this information to the IRS if they request it.

We take all commercially reasonable steps to help protect your information, including encrypting access to our site and the transmission of information. To learn more about how we protect your personal information, please review Upwork’s Privacy Policy in our Terms of Service. You can find more information on this page. 

[a996a9d1]

Thanks for your response but there are other documents Upwork can ask for to take as a proof of not being a us resident such as bank statements which shows that I live in Canada. This SIN number requirement is new and freelancers are complaining about it. Upwork must come up with a solution. I know that our information will be protected but as people were mentioning in this forum, some hackers might attack the server and Upwork definitely wont take responsibility for any abuse of our information!