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International expenses

3 min read

Submitting on Open Collective

Non-US bank accounts

When you enter a new bank account payment method within Open Collective, feel free to enter an international account, no problem! Hereā€™s the step-by-step process:

  1. In the expense flow, where prompted, set up a new payout method
  2. Select bank transfer
  3. Select the currency you wish to receive - your home currency!
  4. Transaction method: In most cases, select ā€œInside Europeā€ or ā€œLocal bank accountā€ or ā€œInteracā€ - this changes by country, but choose the option that works best for you
  5. Fill in the information, save, and submit the expense

The transfer fee may be slightly higher than the cost ($1.13) for domestic transfers, but beyond that the process should be quite smooth.

In some rare cases, Wise gives us trouble. But donā€™t worry, if Wise canā€™t carry out the transfer for us, we have other methods available to us.

Non-USD documentation

Although Raft uses USD, since payments are made via Wise, you can easily submit documentation in any currency - on a per-document basis - and still receive payment in the currency appropriate to your bank account (per the above). Just change the currency for each document within the expense flow.

The system calculates the exchange rate using the date entered, which must match the date on the receipt/invoice/other document.

Tax forms

Whenever a transaction will result in an expense recipient receiving $2,000 (USD) or more in non-reimbursement funds in a calendar year, we are required by US law to request the appropriate IRS Form W-8/9 from the recipient entity.

The required information for the form is collected automatically through the Open Collective platform. When an expense crossing this threshold is submitted, Open Collective will send the submitter an email asking them to fill out the required information. You can also navigate to the expense page anytime to fill out the required information.

What to say on the form

We are not lawyers, even in the US - let alone all the other countries of the world! In the end, thereā€™s no replacement for legal counsel - we simply must recommend that you speak with a lawyer/counselor/solicitor about your particular situation. But we do offer this basis guidance: generally, international entities tend to claim tax treaty benefits for chapter 3 purposes.

Ineligible countries

See the below expandable list for places to which we do not send funds, due to governmental, operational limitations, and other concerns.

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