Beneficiary not in US/US citizen

has anyone had a situation where the named beneficiary is not a US citizen or resident?  I'm not sure what to use for a taxpayer ID number or whether I should be advising this person that they will have to file a US income tax return, as the funds being paid out are coming from a qualified retirement plan (not individual) where the participant lived/worked in the US and had an SSN.  unfortunately he passed away unexpectedly following retirement and we didn't have a chance to pay him out directly.  now dealing with a family member outside the US who is non-english-speaking and I have no direct contact information other than thru the prior employer.

that person will need to file for an individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN) which the plan will need prior to payout

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/taxpayer-identification-numbers-tin#:~:text=An ITIN%2C or Individual Taxpayer,NNN-NN-NNNN).

thanks, I wondered about that.

And should complete a W-8BEN. You will need an original and based upon the country, they may have rights to invoke the treaty between their country and the USA for withholding. Also, if I remember right, the withholdings are done differently than the normal fed withholdings you would do.

There is a completely different tax-reporting and tax-withholding regime about non-U.S. payees.

The bank, trust company, or insurance company that serves as a directed trustee, custodian, or other payer might help with more information.

Also, some recordkeepers have software with coding for these points.

Good luck in countries where the US check cannot be cashed.