Yikes! Ok, full disclosure I am a photographer in the US so all of this new tax & Shutterstock doesn’t apply to me. I would bet it applies to many of my friends and readers though so I want to cover this to the best of my ability so you guys get some clear, exact answers in one place.
If you post your questions here, I will do my best to get an answer and post it here as well. I’ve read all 75 pages of the long thread as well as many of the other threads and have seen a lot of answers already.
Edit to add: Shutterstock just emailed me to let me know that whatever questions you post, we can try and get answers to.
What is the issue?
First, read the original post.
If you are not a US citizen or resident, and you do not obtain an ITIN and provide Shutterstock with a Form W-8BEN, US law requires them to withhold 30% from your earnings. If you are a member of one of our tax treaty countries you will have less withheld, sometimes 0% extra. If your country is not on the list, you will have 30% withheld for income on Royalties.
Why?
US tax law imposes a 30% withholding tax on US source passive income, such as royalties, that are paid to persons who are not citizens or residents of the United States. US tax law requires the person paying the royalties to withhold the tax and pay it to the US Internal Revenue Service. If the person receiving the royalties is a resident of a country that has an income tax treaty with the United States, the withholding tax may be reduced or eliminated. However, to take advantage of the lower withholding tax US tax law requires that the person receiving the royalty payments provide a properly completed Form W-8BEN. US tax law also requires that the person who provides a Form W-8BEN for this purpose have an ITIN.
A lot of people are wondering “why do we pay this – what benefit do we get in the US?” The answer, although you won’t like it, is that you get the benefit of selling your work in the US and under IRS tax law, you ARE doing business in the United States if you sell to US companies.
More Details
If you are in a country with no tax treaty with the US, you seem to be stuck paying 30% no matter what.
The payouts going out for May will not be affected but June’s may be affected.
If you wish for your account to be removed, the SS CEO is offering to remove it for you.
Yes, US residents pay their tax – we pay it in April as income tax. We know you pay yours in your home country too.
At the end of the year, you will get a Form 1042 from Shutterstock. This can be found here: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1042.pdf You will know your tax liabilities in the US.
ITIN Info
So what can we do?
Step By Step Tutorial
Armenia
Australia
Canada
Czechs
Croatia
France
Germany post
Greece
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Malta
Malaysia
Mexico
Netherlands
Poland
Russia
Romania
Serbia
Sweden
UK
How to Notarize a passport (copy) info (multiple countries)
A bit of info in Spanish
All questions for Shutterstock about taxes can be directed to their new forum on tax questions.
Again, if you post your questions here, I will do my best to get an answer and post it here as well. I’ve read all 50 pages of the long thread as well as many of the other threads and have seen a lot of answers already.