Inheritance from USA and tax

[purplescarf]

Does anyone know anything about paying tax to the USA for an inheritance left to me? I have to fill out a w-8ben form and apply for a IRS ITIN and return to the trustee's solicitor but it is so complex. I have no idea if I will have to pay 30% to USA tax or not. UK has a treaty but I can't find out what that actually means.
any help much appreciated.

Was the deceased domiciled in the US, and living there at the time of his or her death? If so I presume that the tax will be payable to the IRS, and the fact that you live in another country won't alter that.

I'm surprised you have to deal with the tax form though, the executors should be gathering in assets, paying the tax and then giving you your gift net of tax.

W-8BEN relates to US withholding tax. Certain payments to non-US residents are subject to withholding tax at 30%. This is chargeable, for example, on dividends paid by US companies. The person making the payment has to reduce the payment by the relevant amount and pay the tax. As the UK has a tax treaty with the USA the withholding tax is reduced (to 15% I believe) if you get a TIN from the IRS and complete form W-8BEN. If you are a higher rate taxpayer you can then use foreign tax credit relief to offset the withholding tax against any UK tax due on the payment.

I am a little surprised this is necessary for an inheritance but it may depend on the form of the bequest. I am not an expert on US tax, I just happen to have gone through this myself when I held some shares in a US company.

Which tax are they expecting you to handle?
When I dealt with my grandmothers will to my mother, all of the US taxes on the estate were handled by the executor
there were taxes on the change in value on investments between date of death and date of sale but that's a different matter