Incomplete Tax Information on Amazon

This is just a heads-up. When I woke up this morning there was a message on my KDP account saying to complete my tax information or they would remove my books. Obviously the wording gave me a bit of a shock!

Anyway, I think Amazon need W8-BENs by law and they are doing a bit of mopping up, especially for oversees sellers.

All you need to do is follow the 'tax interview' and electronically sign the W8-BEN form at the end. If you have an EIN or ITIN you can include that and you will then not be charged the withholding tax (if your country has a tax treaty with America).

Wish I'd known about this before posting my forms!

heza said:

They sure give you trouble about taxes, don't they! I'm glad you got it sorted out.

(Btw, reading The Blemished, and I love it so far!)

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I know. The bloody bar stewards.

Actually, it was quite nice to get it all sorted straight away. I think the wording was a bit extreme though. Thought it might worry someone who has only just published.

(YAY!)

Katallina said:

Probably going to sound a little silly here, but I'd rather know about this now and look after it, rather than waiting 'til February when Sealer's Promise is scheduled to release.

Is this about those forms you need to get set up so Amazon doesn't hold onto a percent of earnings? Or is it something else? Or is this something that is going to make having those forums / that holding being removed something that is mandatory for authors outside of the US? (Far as I know, those in the states need to give Amazon their social security or whatever it is they use to keep track of work stuff?)

Also, even if this isn't about that stuff, should getting that all looked after be priority #1 for me right now so it's done and over?

My apologies for derailing this thread, but it's something that's been bothering me for a while and when I saw your topic I was like, "Oh, No!".

Thanks.

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No probs on the derail! Tax is so confusing and I constantly rely on information given by other authors. I think it is pretty much Polenth said. I would get it sorted now. I waited until I started earning money and have ended up with a few hundred quid withheld.

Okay, so I'll let you know what I did. Bear in mind that it might be different because I'm in the UK.

I found this blog post: http://catherineryanhoward.com/2012/02/24/non-us-self-publisher-tax-issues-dont-need-to-be-taxing/

Which explains how to get an EIN. Then I followed the guidelines and rang the number, waited on hold for a loooong time. The lady asked me questions based on the SS4 form: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fss4.pdf It took about 5 minutes and then I got my EIN.

Then you can go here: https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/help?topicId=A1VDYJ32T5D3U4 and do the tax interview and fill out the W8-BEN. Might be easier than posting it.

You might even be able to register for an account now and get it sorted in one afternoon. At least then it would put your mind at ease.

You'll also have to send forms to anywhere else you want to publish -- smashwords, Barnes and Noble etc.