"It is mutually assumed and understood that uploading your images to the iStock web site is done purely at your own risk. It is possible once your digital images are entrusted to our servers that your images could be stolen, misused, or possibly even distributed for free. iStock assumes no responsibility or liability if this is to happen. It has happened in the past and may happen again in the future. The estimated financial damage and losses of future revenue on your images from this type of occurrence is unknown. iStock will not share in any of the losses occuring to you from such potential thefts. So before uploading your images to our server please consider all the potential risks to you property in doing so."

Add it to all of them. It seems to be catching on.

Is that maybe a box elder bug

 It was a panic state around here for awhile. Closing schools for one reported case. Cancelling events.  Now people are being told to stay home if they are sick. Schools will stay open now.  We have had some deaths around here. Most were people that had other illnesses but there were some healthy people that died also. There are still a few being reported even as recent as last week.  I remember it was a big deal back in the mid/late '70s also and it seemed to quietly go away. I think it makes news because it is a flu that is contracted out of "flu season". If these were regular flu deaths or illnesses you wouldn't even hear of it. It wouldn't be news.  I guess the best you can do is take precautions like washing your hands and such.

YES we all know paying taxes is a pain and a reality.
YES we know it's the IRS how is demanding these taxes
YES some SS contributors could have been more professional
YES Jon/SS handled this in a textbook 101 WRONG way

But the bottom line is, Jon/SS handled this entire taxation in a most mediocre way. Lack of foresight and maturity.  I earn good money from the stock sites and would like to see this continue on a long term basis.

Was Jon's actions really good long-term for SS?  Try putting yourseif in a board of director's shoes when thinking about long term investments. He's not a very capable CEO if he likes going into tantrum mode when things are not smooth sailing. 

Yes it should have been handled better. By EVERYONE.

I doubt that SS will be deducting your expenses (gear, models, travel, whatever) before calculating the withholding tax.

Individuals will need to do their own tax returns to do this. I would think if someone gets stuck paying the 30% tax, that in theory you would also be able to (may be required to) file a tax return. Which is where you calculate the taxes actually owed.  Any overpayment would be refunded.

Quickly over-reading all this some logical issues popped up in my mind.

1. Taxes have to be paid since buyers deduct their costs from their own taxes. The problem is with non-US buyers that deduct the costs from their government's taxes but that's not a contributor's issue.

2. By taxing gross income and not net income, the IRS denies the costs involved in making the images. For many contributors, costs are probably higher than their income. The IRS considers royalties as "passive" income. It's not. The right way should be that contributors are taxed in their own country where they also have the means to deduct their costs.

3. The red tape involved in all this is huge, depending on your nationality, place of residence and fiscal status. SS could help by negotiating a group deal with the IRS where they handle all the red tape themselves, after collecting passport copies (certified or not).

#2 doesn't sound true as deduction are taken off gross income. You are then taxed on the adjusted gross income.
I'm guessing it would be the same for the companies/people buying the from SS. It would be an expense that comes off of the gross income.

Red tape is probably just as big a problem for Americans wanting to do business in other countries. I know from US to Canada isn't a picnic either. Lots of red tape there.  People are just going to have to do what needs to be done for them. It sucks, but with the slow economy here I imagine the government is coming up short and started looking for the missing taxes.  SS won't be the last stop on the IRS' rampage.
 Good luck to all. Don't give up.

It could be on your computer already. It is supposed to go active on the first. I just had to clean up my daughters PC. The virus blocks you from updating at Microsoft. I needed to restore to an earlier date. About a month then go through all of the updates.  The virus also turns off your automatic update.  So far it looks to be working.

As Borg said, what they actually want is the W9 for US, and W8 for others.
It is for their records only. Although US citizens should report all income,
even if not enough to pay taxes on, the 1099 form is only sent to
submitters who have more than $400 in sales.

So go ahead and download the W9 or W8, fill it in and send it to SS in the way they ask.

My answer from SS was they are changing the $400 rule to $10.(even though the least would be $75.00???)  According to support you will receive a 1099 if you cashed out last year. US anyways. Not sure how it would be for non US.

Go to IRS.GOV and type 'employ children' in the search box and you will find some answers. Tax wise any ways. Do the same for your state. I am sure it won't be simple.

I think all the micros require the photographer/guardian at a minimum. I know that IS, SS, FT, DT, CC, 123 and BigStock have all accepted my releases that were done this way. Alamy doesn't look at the MR so it doesn't matter how you do it. That said I think most prefer that it's 3 different people.

I have never had a problem being the photographer and guardian on the MR at any of the micro sites.

Thanks God they did not patent internet :-)

Didn't Al Gore invent that??

Quote from: alpy7 on November 06, 2008, 15:57

The electoral votes are based on the population od the state. Or by how many representatives and senators there are which is based on the population of the state.  T

Actually only congressional seats are based on population, but every state only has two senate seats.

yes