W-8 for Canada (sales from canada to US)

Help. Anyone understand this

[rbacal]

I'm in Canada, and I have an order for our product that sums to about $300. I've been asked to submit a W-8 form (there's several versions), and I cannot really understand the legalize of the forms or instructions, or which form to use.

In ten+ years this is the first time we've been asked.

Has anyone in CAnada been in a similar situation, and which W-8 form did you use?

PS. I believe the form actually isn't required for this transaction by Federal law, but the client is a state agency and I think it's their internal policy.

PPS. I don't like signing official documents without understanding the implications, so I'm simply considering declining the order.

[Swanny007]

I was in a similar situation. I was asked to fill out a W-8. Well if you read the fine print, you'll see you don't have to fill it out unless you file a US tax return. So I just told them I'm not going to fill it out and they were fine with that.