You will only need the tax certificate if you actually ever sell anything there.

What's all the fuss about?  Its just filling in a form.  They don't take all your teeth out at the same time, do they?

Bateleur...  my strong suggestion is to NOT upload at all or pull your images from PhotoShelter.   Any US company that requires you to fill this in..and they ARE NOT witholding tax, has no real understanding of their own (and international) tax laws.

Strong words but do you know what you talk about? Getty and Corbis handle this issue exactly like Photoshelter. Guess there must be a reason for this besides not understanding tax laws.

hey Gizeh... which sites have made you fill in this paperwork to get paid?

I talk about the main businesses of Getty and Corbis in the U.S. It is different with their micro spin offs as they are not american (Istock-Canada, snapvillage-Ireland).

an US based micros?

we're currently with RF and separate RM agencies in the US and don't have this issue..  only one corporation to date and that was enough for us! 

The funny thing there... is only one staff member was trying to enforce it and the rest of the admin staff didn't think it was required.

exactly Dave...  W-8BEN  has NOTHING TO DO WITH WITHHOLDING TAX.   Withholding tax on royalty/commission via worldwide tax treaty is 10% ..  30% is a penalty, not a tax...  and is not payable...  been through it with the IRS .

JC (from USA living in AUS)

Bateleur...  as you can see ..  this will just keep going.  I'm out, good luck.
cheers,  JC

sharpshot...you're sort of right..  but you are not required to be registered within the US tax system if they are not withholding any tax.

If you don't want them to withhold taxes then you should fill out the form. W-8BEN is used to declare that you are not a resident of the United States. If you don't file and they are willing to pay you, then they will likely withhold 30% as taxes (the IRS's recommended amount in this situation) even though you don't own them.

Because I am concerned by the way in which the US authorities are gathering data about individuals, worldwide. Will information about me stay purely withing the tax system ... or will it be sent elsewhere? There is no statement on the form that it will only be used for tax purposes.

I'm not a terrorist or a criminal either, and many people will say, "If you've got nothing to hide you've not nothing to worry about."

Unfortunately, as a number of innocent but unfortunate individuals will attest, this isn't always true.

There are no guarantees in this post-9/11 world that info provided to the US government won't be shared. HOWEVER, the IRS functions as a separate entity within the US government and general refuses to share information about taxpayers. I'll give you an example. Every year millions of illegal aliens file tax returns in the US in order to get a return. The IRS issues special ITIN numbers specifically for this purpose. Even though the IRS has the addresses of all these illegal aliens (and they're known to be illegal by the IRS), the IRS has refused to provide that information to the immigration and naturalization service (INS).

Honestly, you think the US government is going to track you down and take you to Cuba because you filed a tax form?

Quote from: Microbius on July 28, 2008, 04:27

I didn't see a problem with it, why not fill it in?

Because I am concerned by the way in which the US authorities are gathering data about individuals, worldwide. Will information about me stay purely withing the tax system ... or will it be sent elsewhere? There is no statement on the form that it will only be used for tax purposes.

I am not a US Citizen, nor have I ever been there, so I fail to see how my personal data are business of the US Government's.

I'm not a terrorist or a criminal either, and many people will say, "If you've got nothing to hide you've not nothing to worry about."

Unfortunately, as a number of innocent but unfortunate individuals will attest, this isn't always true.

 

Point taken, I assumed the forms were mainly to prevent the payer (rather than the payee) laundering/ hiding money/ defrauding the government etc. It would be very easy to claim nonexistent expenses by paying out to fictional international contributors. 
I can understand you not wanting to fill it in. I have taken the risk however, it's a personal choice.

Every agency I ever dealt with that has US roots requires the W-8BEN form. You will need either a EIN (corporation) or ITIN (personal) number which you can get from the IRS. It's a pain but it allows the payment under double taxation agreements between countries which means no withholding taxes. Anyone who says you don't need it probably lives in a park or car.

Quote from: yingyang0 link=topic=5332.msg57039#msg57039

Honestly, you think the US government is going to track you down and take you to Cuba because you filed a tax form?

Some of the people currently or previously incarcerated in Cuba might have a different opinion.

I am going to assume you are a US citizen. It's my opinion that Americans and Rest of the World (ROtW) have different views on US government activities.

Yes I'm a US citizen, and I think you assume wrong. I hate the activities of the US government under the Bush administration, and I think what has been done in Cuba is morally and legally wrong. However, this is a discussion of taxes and the US government doesn't track you down for not filling in a form (especially when by not filling the form out you give free money to the IRS).

It's my opinion that the "ROtW" sometimes doesn't realize that there is a difference between the actions of former drug addict elected officials and the views of normal Americans.

Honestly, you think the US government is going to track you down and take you to Cuba because you filed a tax form?

No. I don't think that. But, as a non US citizen who does not reside in the country and has never been there, I believe that my personal information is still none of a US Government department's  business.

Have you ever read George Orwell's 1984? Okay, he got the date wrong. But a lot of other things that he foresaw are now beginning to happen.

I know of an awful lot of people that are now deciding to holiday elsewhere in the world because of the US being totally ridiculous on the amount of information it "needs" to know on people in case they are terrorists.

I'm one of those people (along with the rest of my family). I would dearly like to see the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, New York, etc. But I will not go because of the amount of personal data the US Government collects. I mean ... why do they need my fingerprints and credit card details?

I'm also going to put a hold on Photoshelter. They've accepted me, but I'm not willing to fill in the forms. Why should I? Shutterstock doesn't require them.

Every agency I ever dealt with that has US roots requires the W-8BEN form. You will need either a EIN (corporation) or ITIN (personal) number which you can get from the IRS. It's a pain but it allows the payment under double taxation agreements between countries which means no withholding taxes. Anyone who says you don't need it probably lives in a park or car.

Shutterstock is an US-Agency isn't it? It haven't required a W-8BEN form from me in the last four years of submitting.