Author Topic: Depositphoto witholding tax rip off! (Read 4036 times)

wut · « **on:** January 15, 2012, 05:21 »

This is freaking incredible! I just checked my sales and discovered they are taking a third of my sales, instead of 5% for sales by American buyers.

Earned Before Tax TAX Withheld (5%) Net Earned
$0.22 $0.07 $0.15

I'd say that's the definition of being robbed in broad daylight. They really have some balls, I'll give 'em that.

Microstock Posts · « **Reply #1 on:** January 15, 2012, 05:44 »

Apparently it's a bug which was supposed have been fixed, however it still persists.

http://www.microstockgroup.com/depositphotos/difference-between-%27rank%27-and-%27level%27/

wut · « **Reply #2 on:** January 15, 2012, 05:55 »

Tnx Micro. I was just waiting for a reason to pull the trigger, I'm really getting fed up with this BS agencies serve us constantly. IS is constantly messing things up, FT on occasions, DT is down today, CS is buggy and sells nothing and now DP, that also sells almost nothing. I'm just glad there's SS, working normally and delivering big time. I'm so fed up with other agencies I'd go exclusive with them in a heartbeat (although I don't think exclusivity is such a good idea)

Anita Potter · « **Reply #3 on:** January 15, 2012, 14:15 »

I sent a ticket to support about that this past Thursday and have yet to hear back from them.

wut · « **Reply #4 on:** January 15, 2012, 15:30 »

I don't even do that any more, as some said to me via PM, micro agencies are a joke in many ways compared to macros and support is the one that is really standing out (in a bad way). So I just open up a thread here, since there will always be someone with similar or exactly the same problem and hopefully some info about it, even a solution.

CD123 · « **Reply #5 on:** January 16, 2012, 07:09 »

I had my first deduction a few days ago (South Africa is a treaty country - no tax payable). I send them a ticket, next image no tax. Today sold three images, all 3 with tax deducted. 30% tax deducted at that!

Next support ticket (indecently, the tax on the first one was not returned as well). How long does it take to fix a "bug" and how do you switch a "bug" on and of?

Microbius · « **Reply #6 on:** January 16, 2012, 07:10 »

I assumed it was because only US sales are having the tax taken off (?)

CD123 · « **Reply #7 on:** January 16, 2012, 07:31 »

Made 75 sales so far, can not think that these are the first US sales.

cclapper · « **Reply #8 on:** January 16, 2012, 07:37 »

Quote from: wut on January 15, 2012, 15:30

I don't even do that any more, as some said to me via PM, micro agencies are a joke in many ways compared to macros and support is the one that is really standing out (in a bad way). So I just open up a thread here, since there will always be someone with similar or exactly the same problem and hopefully some info about it, even a solution.

Just because contributors are making pennies on sales instead of dollars doesn't give the company the right to mess around with your money. That's not support, that's fraud. And if ANY company wants to do business online, they need to make sure their site is bug-free, especially when it comes to collecting and paying out money. Funny how agencies have been around for years, yet all of a sudden, in the last year or so, some seem to have "a bug" with that. Bug, yeah, right.

wut · « **Reply #9 on:** January 16, 2012, 07:57 »

Quote from: cclapper on January 16, 2012, 07:37

Quote from: wut on January 15, 2012, 15:30
I don't even do that any more, as some said to me via PM, micro agencies are a joke in many ways compared to macros and support is the one that is really standing out (in a bad way). So I just open up a thread here, since there will always be someone with similar or exactly the same problem and hopefully some info about it, even a solution.

Just because contributors are making pennies on sales instead of dollars doesn't give the company the right to mess around with your money. That's not support, that's fraud. And if ANY company wants to do business online, they need to make sure their site is bug-free, especially when it comes to collecting and paying out money. Funny how agencies have been around for years, yet all of a sudden, in the last year or so, some seem to have "a bug" with that. Bug, yeah, right.

Indeed and those bugs are always in their favour. They count on some ppl not willing to go through all that hassle (writing to support, just so you get a generic response after a week and then after a 10 email correspondence get back those 5$). But 5$ multiplied by 10k is a lot of money, back in the 80s hackers used to make a tone of money by taking off the 3rd decimal from banks (for instance taking 0,007 from each bank transfer)

ToniFlap · « **Reply #10 on:** January 16, 2012, 09:32 »

Quote from: wut on January 15, 2012, 05:21

This is freaking incredible! I just checked my sales and discovered they are taking a third of my sales, instead of 5% for sales by American buyers.

Earned Before Tax TAX Withheld (5%) Net Earned
$0.22 $0.07 $0.15

I'd say that's the definition of being robbed in broad daylight. They really have some balls, I'll give 'em that.

Same here (Spain). I send them a ticket...

Depositphotos Marius · « **Reply #11 on:** January 16, 2012, 09:57 »

I have been told, that all wrongly deducted tax up to today has been or will be refunded today.
I know this is a terrible bug and i can understand your anger about it, but please believe me that it is a bug and we are certainly not trying to rip anybody off. The correct sums will be paid out.

About the speed of fixing a bug: Well, if you look for a bug, find it and fix it, it´ll take a very short time. If you don´t find it, it can take longer - you don´t know before how long something like this will take to get fixed. Trust me, we are just as unhappy about the situation as you are.

corepics · « **Reply #12 on:** January 16, 2012, 10:30 »

There has been a change - When I look at http://submit.depositphotos.com/seller_sales.php, the column with Witholding taxes has, indeed, been cleared. No more withheld taxes are shown.

However: The withheld taxes have now been deducted from the "Before taxes" column, so they have not been added to the "Net Earned" column.

corepics · « **Reply #13 on:** January 16, 2012, 14:15 »

And again a sale on deposit photos where tax is being withheld, just now.

wut · « **Reply #14 on:** January 16, 2012, 14:55 »

Quote from: corepics on January 16, 2012, 10:30

There has been a change - When I look at http://submit.depositphotos.com/seller_sales.php, the column with Witholding taxes has, indeed, been cleared. No more withheld taxes are shown.

However: The withheld taxes have now been deducted from the "Before taxes" column, so they have not been added to the "Net Earned" column.

+1

DP Marius: when can we expect this to be solved and when are we going to get retro payments. Besides an apology you could make it up with some kind of a bonus, buyers usually get -20% discount for their troubles, we could get +20 bonus in equal duration the bug was taking our money (if we got deducted 30% instead of 5% for 10 days, than we would get the bonus for the same time period). That would be fair, unless of course you don't care for the contributors and choose to not show a gesture of good business practice

krilcis · « **Reply #15 on:** January 16, 2012, 21:51 »

Quote from: corepics on January 16, 2012, 10:30

There has been a change - the column with Witholding taxes has, indeed, been cleared. No more withheld taxes are shown. .. However: The withheld taxes have now been deducted from the "Before taxes" column, so they have not been added to the "Net Earned" column.

It's still counting... Just to illustrate what Corepics was saying earlier (you should be logged in to see the image; click to enlarge):

Microbius · « **Reply #16 on:** January 17, 2012, 04:18 »

My tax withheld column says "0%" but I am still getting it withheld at 30%. The amount withheld in dollars is still showing for each sale in my case (as far as I can work out).

chrisroll · « **Reply #17 on:** January 17, 2012, 04:46 »

Same situation here and 0.21 sales since 2012/01/12 still not corrected although ticket was sent to support

wut · « **Reply #18 on:** January 17, 2012, 05:47 »

I don't even bother sending tickets at most sites anymore, especially at low earners. If they don't fix it soon, I'm pulling my port

corepics · « **Reply #19 on:** January 17, 2012, 13:25 »

It seems they pushed through another "fix". Still not correct, but this time, the error is in our favour. Previous subscriptions which were affected by the withholding tax error now net me $0,43 after taxes (should be $0,30)

CD123 · « **Reply #20 on:** January 17, 2012, 13:44 »

Mine seems to be in order now.

Just by the way, is it correct that one get $0.30 for both L and XL for subscription purchases?

krilcis · « **Reply #21 on:** January 17, 2012, 17:24 »

Quote from: Depositphotos Marius on January 16, 2012, 09:57

I have been told, that all wrongly deducted tax up to today has been or will be refunded today. ..

Again, really?! Marius, would you then be so kind to comment here the snapshot as of Jan 17 (pls. login to view the image; click to enlarge). FYI, L Standards shall appear as 1.32 before tax. Also, please note that my copyright agent is always keen to get involved when it comes to cases like this one. Thanks!

disorderly · « **Reply #22 on:** January 17, 2012, 17:26 »

Quote from: krilcis on January 17, 2012, 17:24

Quote from: Depositphotos Marius on January 16, 2012, 09:57
I have been told, that all wrongly deducted tax up to today has been or will be refunded today. ..

Again, really?! Would you then be so kind to comment here the snapshot as of Jan 17 (login to view the image; click to enlarge):

It's possible the update will take time to reach all the suppliers. Mine were corrected earlier today.

wut · « **Reply #23 on:** January 17, 2012, 17:34 »

Quote from: disorderly on January 17, 2012, 17:26

Quote from: krilcis on January 17, 2012, 17:24
Quote from: Depositphotos Marius on January 16, 2012, 09:57
I have been told, that all wrongly deducted tax up to today has been or will be refunded today. ..

Again, really?! Would you then be so kind to comment here the snapshot as of Jan 17 (login to view the image; click to enlarge):

It's possible the update will take time to reach all the suppliers. Mine were corrected earlier today.

When are we going to get retro payed? I might have already been, I'm not really sure, since the sales volumes are so low, that only a handful of sales were affected (I virtually only get subs and XS standard)

disorderly · « **Reply #24 on:** January 17, 2012, 17:51 »

Quote from: wut on January 17, 2012, 17:34

Quote from: disorderly on January 17, 2012, 17:26
Quote from: krilcis on January 17, 2012, 17:24
Quote from: Depositphotos Marius on January 16, 2012, 09:57
I have been told, that all wrongly deducted tax up to today has been or will be refunded today. ..

Again, really?! Would you then be so kind to comment here the snapshot as of Jan 17 (login to view the image; click to enlarge):

It's possible the update will take time to reach all the suppliers. Mine were corrected earlier today.

When are we going to get retro payed? I might have already been, I'm not really sure, since the sales volumes are so low, that only a handful of sales were affected (I virtually only get subs and XS standard)

I don't understand your question. We get paid after we request payment. If you just requested payment, there will be some additional balance in your account for next time. If you haven't made such a request over the last few days, your balance will be adjusted to reflect the addition back of the withheld amounts. In any case, it's easy to see if something was withheld incorrectly and if it's been corrected. I saw the withheld amounts, and now the money is credited to my balance.