You may change your election at any time.
Different withholding rules may apply if your mailing address is outside the United States or its territories.
If you decide not to have PBGC withhold taxes or the withholding amount is too low, you may have to pay an estimated tax directly to the Internal Revenue Service. If your estimated tax or withholding amount is too low, you may also have to pay penalties to the IRS.
Do you want to change your tax withholding?
You have three options to update your federal income tax withholding:
- Complete IRS Form W-4P, available in fillable form on the IRS website. You will need to complete, sign, print, and mail the form to PBGC.
- Call PBGC’s Customer Contact Center and ask to have IRS Form W-4P mailed to your home address. Once you receive the form, complete and sign it, and send it to PBGC.
- Set up a MyPBA account via our Login.gov website. Once your account is set up, you’ll have the option to update your federal tax withholding.
Here’s how to submit your completed form:
State income taxes
While PBGC is required to withhold federal income tax, we do not withhold for state taxes. If your state has an income tax, you may owe tax on your PBGC benefit. To find out more, contact your state tax office (Excel file, 14.4 KB).
IRS withholding for persons with non-US addresses
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requires all persons with non-U.S. addresses, including residents of U.S. territories (i.e. Puerto Rico, Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, and American Samoa), to provide additional tax-withholding information.
If your address is outside the U.S., you must submit to PBGC the IRS forms that correspond to your citizenship status:
- U.S. citizens with a valid Social Security number or Taxpayer Identification Number must submit IRS Form W-9 and IRS Form W-4P. U.S. citizens may request 0% withholding.
- Non-U.S. citizens who do not reside in the U.S. must submit IRS Form W-8BEN. This form is valid for three years and must be resubmitted every three years. Non-U.S. citizens with an address in a country with a tax treaty with the U.S. may request 15% or 0% withholding, depending on the rate specified in the treaty. Non-U.S. citizens with an address in a country with no tax treaty with the U.S. will be subject to 30% withholding. For more information, see the instructions on the IRS website.
If PBGC does not have the proper IRS form on file, we will withhold 30% from your payments.
Once you submit the correct forms, we will withhold taxes according to your request, in accordance with the applicable treaty for your country of residence and citizenship status.
Note: PBGC cannot refund withheld taxes, which are levied by the IRS.
More information can be found on the IRS website, Withholding of Tax on Nonresident Aliens and Foreign Entities.
