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Author Topic: Pond5 is paying EU contributors from Ireland now, what about VAT?  (Read 12195 times)

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« on: February 24, 2017, 05:08 »
+1
Since a few months Pond5 pays me through an Ireland paypal address.
As I am from Holland and having a VAT number, I suspect I have to comply to european VAT rules and either way Pond5 or myself have to add VAT to the earnings, or am I wrong?

Problem is that Pond5 issues no receipt whatsoever, I can only see the amount of dollars that has been credited to me.
Dutch (and other EU) taxes - as far as I know - probably would like to see a receipt with some VAT explanation.

Any advise on this from other EU contributors? How do you book these earnings?
« Last Edit: February 24, 2017, 05:13 by Luuk »


« Reply #1 on: February 24, 2017, 07:00 »
0
You are right, I didn't notice that.
I'm from Italy
I was used to receive money from Switzerland but since several months the money are coming from e UE country.
Did you send them a site mail?

« Reply #2 on: February 24, 2017, 08:04 »
0
As far as our accountant said is, it's only important where their primary company is registered.

« Reply #3 on: February 24, 2017, 09:02 »
0
lucagavagna: I have sent them this question, got a reply 'you can view your earnings in your contributor area...', simply ignoring the VAT question I wrote them.

Video-StockOrg: that's very interesting, if that's the case it would all be ok.
I think it is also strange that they pay in dollars from a EU account.

Anyone else also sharing Video-StockOrg's accountant view, to be sure we are ok when not going to deal with VAT?


« Reply #4 on: February 24, 2017, 10:05 »
0
I received this answer:

Please know that Pond5 does not withhold any of your royalties for tax purposes. It is your responsibility to report all your earnings yourself. You are welcome to view a Summary of your income for the year, by hovering over your Account avatar > Dashboard >> Financials > 2015: All months > OK

If you are a US resident who makes over $600 in a fiscal year, you will need to upload a current W-9. Doing this will ensure that you receive a copy of your 1099 report that is sent to the IRS. Please note, that these 1099 forms are usually mailed out at the end of January of every year. How quickly recipients will receive, will depend on the postal service.


I asked again about European laws and obligations. I'll let you know if they will answer me


« Reply #5 on: February 24, 2017, 10:30 »
0
The taxes are simpler; the amount you earn in a year is taxed as income, VAT is another story in the EU.

If - for example - Adobe charges me from Ireland for my cc membership, I have to add VAT to the receipt in order to comply to EU regulations, if Pond5 pays me from Ireland in dollars without any receipt I get confused....

Hope you will receive and post a good answer

« Reply #6 on: February 25, 2017, 04:51 »
0
I'm from the Netherlands as well, and I never bother with VAT for microstock income. Of course you still need to pay income tax.
As far as I know, VAT cannot be applied here because we can't send invoices for our sales and we can't control the way the agencies are paying their contributors. Also, we have no way of knowing from which country the sale originated.

So what I do is this: I basically collect all earnings (in an Excel sheet) and at the end of the year, I add the income as one lump sum to my total revenue.

The only VAT I'm dealing with is when I send a client an invoice directly, or when I receive an invoice.

And for your information (could be you already know this): the 'missing' VAT from Adobe CC membership should be registered as 'reverse charged VAT' in your tax return ('Prestaties uit het buitenland aan u verricht').
« Last Edit: February 25, 2017, 04:57 by Noedelhap »

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« Reply #7 on: February 25, 2017, 07:39 »
+2
As the agency, if they're operating in Europe, then I'm pretty sure that Pond5 should be charging and remitting VAT on your behalf.

OM

« Reply #8 on: February 25, 2017, 13:09 »
0
VAT in NL is simple. If you are required to charge VAT to a customer, you do that and complete the required VAT reporting every quarter or month. When you don't receive VAT payments from stock agencies because they're registered in USA or Canada etc, you can't report it because no VAT was involved in your payment. How the stock agencies work the VAT that they have to charge customers licensing images in the EU, I haven't a clue.....that's their problem.
Adobe appears to do all their 'transactions' in NL via Ireland. FT/Adobe payments come through Ireland as does my subscription to Photoshop CC. As I'm VAT registered here in NL, I don't have to pay VAT on my PS CC subscription after I've provided Adobe with my NL VAT registration number. (Falls under intra-community transactions, I believe).

SpaceStockFootage

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« Reply #9 on: February 25, 2017, 13:44 »
+2
Paying VAT and charging VAT are two very different things. If a company is registered in Canada or the US then charging VAT is their problem... in that it's a problem that doesn't exist because they don't have to charge VAT. However, if they're based in the EU (or to a certain extent - if they just sell to buyers in the EU), then it is their problem as they should be charging and remitting VAT. 

« Reply #10 on: February 28, 2017, 08:00 »
+1
VAT Questions should go directly to Irish Tax and Customs:

9/15 Upper O'Connell Street,
Dublin 1
D01 F9C1   

LoCall No.:
1890 236 336

Monday to Friday:
09.30 - 16.00
(excluding Public Holidays)   

email:
[email protected]

web:
http://www.revenue.ie/en/index.html

« Reply #11 on: March 15, 2017, 10:10 »
+1
Same problem here in Germany.

As a company, I normally have to discharge VAT if I am payed by a EU customer/company. To avoid this in case I receive payments from a company (Pond5 Media Ireland Ltd), I need their VAT ID. When I add it to my invoice, I don't have to discharge VAT on these earnings, just regular income tax.

Anyone has the VAT ID of Pond5 Ireland? I asked Pond5 Inc., but no answer yet.

« Reply #12 on: March 15, 2017, 10:14 »
+1
Just get the answer from Pond5 Inc.  :D

VAT ID Pond5 Ireland: IE3384130NH

« Reply #13 on: March 15, 2017, 13:11 »
0
If we add VAT we are going to loose 22% they will never pay even if they should.
I address my invoice to the main office of the company in NY-USA


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  • Space, Sci-Fi and Astronomy Related Stock Footage

« Reply #14 on: March 15, 2017, 20:35 »
+1
If we add VAT we are going to loose 22% they will never pay even if they should.
I address my invoice to the main office of the company in NY-USA

VAT is added to the price, so you'd still get the same amount per sale. Sure, you might lose some buyers due to the increased price, but that may or may not be around the 22% mark.

If you mean that Pond5 will never pay... well if they're charging VAT then they have to pay. There;s no guarantee they will, but as they'd get massive fines and blacklisted by the Irish government, I'd say it's more likely they'll pay then not. If you mean customers won't pay, then see above.

Even if you're based in a country where you have to charge VAT on every sale, the general consensus when it comes to charging VAT for stock media... is that if the site in question hosts your images and handles downloads and payments, then they're the one that should be charging and remitting VAT. 

« Reply #15 on: March 16, 2017, 03:16 »
+5
I don't know about the Netherlands, but I'm in Belgium, and my income from the stock agencies are ROYALTIES.  Royalties are NOT sales, they are licenses to use an image.  If you would sell copyright, that would be SALES and VAT would apply.  VAT is not applicable on foreign royalties.  (Foreign = HQ of stock agency outside Belgium).  IF they were NOT foreign (like a Belgian agency), 6% VAT would apply, not 21%.
So, have fun analysing the Dutch VAT law   ;D

« Reply #16 on: March 16, 2017, 12:15 »
+1
If we add VAT we are going to loose 22% they will never pay even if they should.
I address my invoice to the main office of the company in NY-USA


VAT is added to the price, so you'd still get the same amount per sale. Sure, you might lose some buyers due to the increased price, but that may or may not be around the 22% mark.

If you mean that Pond5 will never pay... well if they're charging VAT then they have to pay. There;s no guarantee they will, but as they'd get massive fines and blacklisted by the Irish government, I'd say it's more likely they'll pay then not. If you mean customers won't pay, then see above.

Even if you're based in a country where you have to charge VAT on every sale, the general consensus when it comes to charging VAT for stock media... is that if the site in question hosts your images and handles downloads and payments, then they're the one that should be charging and remitting VAT.


Some info here - http://www.solocheck.ie/Irish-Company/Pond5-Media-Ireland-Limited-568019#report-4


« Reply #17 on: December 12, 2018, 09:35 »
+1
For europeans it will be the W-8BEN. An ordinary form, has a lot in common with W-9, but for not US residents. It can be found here: https://w9.pdffiller.com/ [nofollow] (paid resource, free trial), or on the IRS website: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw8ben.pdf [nofollow] (free but can be filled only from the print)

« Reply #18 on: January 14, 2019, 11:30 »
+1
I'm also having the same questions about Pond5.

In France, according to the tax law, "royalties" are considered in the category of "services" for VAT.

In the EU, when a company (here Pond5) buys a service from another company located in another EU country (here the contributor), it's the buyer (Pond5) which should pay VAT according to the relevant tax rate in its country. The seller (contributor) should write the gross price (without tax) on the invoice, and mention that the other company is responsible for paying VAT.

In France (but I imagine in other EU country as well), the seller (contributor) is nevertheless responsible for declaring the service provided to another country to the customs. This declaration is called DES (Dclaration Europenne de Service) in France and is filled on the website https://pro.douane.gouv.fr.

For example, when I receive a payment from Alamy (VAT number GB718294123, which is still in EU at the time...), I write an invoice (which I don't send, but keep in case of control) with the gross price in EUR, and then I fill a DES form to the French customs. It's mandatory, and I can get a fine of 750 per missing declaration if I don't do it.

Now, It's still not clear for me if I need to do the same for Pond5 because they pay me through their Irish office, but their headquarters are in the US. I'll call the customs to clarify.

(It's a bit complicated, but at the end, it's not me who pays VAT, so my income is unchanged, and it's all what matters ;))
« Last Edit: January 14, 2019, 11:33 by Nico »

« Reply #19 on: January 16, 2019, 18:45 »
+1
OK, so according to French customs, I should fill a form when I receive a payment from Pond5 Ireland, even if the headquarters are in the US. It's the country of origin of the transaction which is important.

I don't need to pay any VAT, it's Pond5 (the buyer of the service) which has this responsibility in the EU VAT system, according to local rates in its country. This form (compulsory) help ensure that there is no hidden transactions.

In France, the form is a DES (Dclaration Europenne de Service), found on https://pro.douane.gouv.fr.

I don't know how it applies in other EU countries. But it looks like royalties or author rights are generally considered similar to "services" (as opposed to "goods") in a VAT perspective. Check your national laws.


 

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