Note: None of the following constitutes tax advice. We strongly encourage you to seek professional tax counsel when completing your tax documents for Bootstrap Themes.
US tax law requires Bootstrap Themes to collect tax information from our sellers. Which form you have to complete and upload depends on where you are a tax resident.
- US tax residents should fill out a W9
- Non-US tax residents should complete a W-8BEN
- Non-US organizations should complete a W-8BEN-E
There are also other less common versions of W-8's as well for other specific situations.
You will be required to complete the appropriate form and upload it your account (the upload is in the Payout tab of your Seller Dashboard).
We cannot provide you with any tax advice, but we'd love to provide you with some general guidance with the caveat you should seek advice from a tax professional.
W9: The W9 is pretty straightforward, especially since as a US tax resident...you're probably used to the challenges of US tax forms.
W-8BEN/W-8BEN-E: These two W-8's aren't too complicated, but there are a few bits that are tough. Here's are the important parts to know:
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By submitting your tax info (especially your foreign tax id), your earnings from non-US buyers typically won't be subject to US taxes.
- Your earnings from US buyers are subject to 30% withholding rate, but many countries have treaties with the US, potentially making you are eligible to reduce this rate. Here is the IRS's list of treaties, though you may find it easier to browse through Envato's simpler table of rates. When filling out your W-8BEN, if your country has a treaty with the US, you should complete line 10. For example if I were an Armenian tax resident, I'd complete line 10 as follows:
- The beneficial owner is claiming the provisions of Article and paragraph III(1)(a) of the treaty identified on line 9 above to claim a 0% rate of withholding.
If any of this is overwhelming, we'd strongly suggest contacting a tax professional.