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All replies
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Helpful answers
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Mar 27, 2012 12:36 PM in response to jaxswimby tndom,Do you mean the EIN confirmation letter jaxswim? Because I got that a few weeks after applying to, and mine mentions nothing of having to file returns.
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Mar 27, 2012 1:08 PM in response to tndomby jaxswim,The letter from IRS confirming EIN says nothing about filing tax returns but it puts you on the IRS system and from what I gathered its up to you to file quarterly tax returns. Its very hard to get straight answers from the internet unless you understand the jargon. Its a minefield out there. Paying for professional advice seems the only answer. All these complications.................honestly don't think its worth writing ibook.
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Apr 7, 2012 2:42 AM in response to Radoslavby tndom,Hi everyone.
Here is a direct help response from the IRS after I have been chasing this issue relentlessly for the past few weeks.
"Copyright royalties paid to a nonresident alien from U.S. sources are taxed in the U.S. at a flat rate of either 30% or a lower tax treaty rate. The U.S.-UK tax treaty provides that royalties from a U.S. publisher to a U.K. resident are taxed at 0%. If you gave the U.S. publisher a Form W-8BEN, Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding, he will be able to calculate the proper using the treaty rate. If the tax is withheld at the applicable treaty rate you will not be required to file a tax return.
However if the tax withholding amount is greater than the applicable treaty rate, you will need to file a tax return to claim a refund."
Obviously this case is personal to my situation, but could generally be applied to people with an EIN in the UK. Other forms of TINs and authors from other countries may wish to investigate their treaty and situation further.
In short - we don't need to file returns.
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Apr 8, 2012 1:52 AM in response to tndomby buildyo23,Thanks tndom, that also was my understanding BUT has anyone sent a Form W-8BEN to Apple? I haven't submitted a book yet but completed the procedure inside iTunes connect and nowhere I found this form mentioned. Is this something that comes into play when there's actual money changing hands?
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Apr 8, 2012 11:51 PM in response to buildyo23by tndom,You will fill out a W-8BEN through Apple when filling in your information after registering for iTunes Connect.
It is the 'Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding'.
*Breathe.*
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Apr 9, 2012 12:55 AM in response to tndomby buildyo,Thanks a lot tndom. I filled in the Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner. Good to know that this is the W-8BEN.
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Apr 9, 2012 1:48 AM in response to buildyoby matsnaxe,Does it exist a step by step tuturial how to do it all? A guide to every step and all forms? How to fill them in and were to send them, who to talk to and exakt what I can expect will happen after I have sold some books in iBooks store? A list of phone numbers and homepages? It would probably give Apple more customers if all of this would be easy instead of complicated for us from other countries.
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Apr 9, 2012 2:04 AM in response to matsnaxeby MichiHenning,It wasn't terribly complicated for me (Australia).
You download the EIN application form and fill it in. That's just so you have all the details handy when you need them.
Then you call the IRS and ask for an EIN. They will ask you for all the details you filled in previously and give you an EIN on the spot.
Once you have an EIN, you fill in your application to become a publisher with Apple.
The entire process took well less than an hour for me.
The one glitch I encountered was that I filled in the application with Apple immediately, once I got my EIN over the phone. Maybe five or six days later, I received an email from Apple telling me that my application was on hold because Apple had not been able to find my EIN in the IRS database. (It takes about a week for newly-issued EINs to make their way into the IRS database.) The email said that I should resubmit after a week or so, and I did.
I think it was three days later that I received my iTunes Connect authorisation and could start to provide my publisher details.
Michi.
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Apr 9, 2012 2:07 AM in response to matsnaxeby john buck1,I completely agree matsnaxe
It just seems at complete odds with Aple's notion of - It just works.
Why even create iBA?
If you are an American iBA user and are a reasonably IRS savvy - It kinda just works.
But for all non-American tax payers it's a case of here's a Version 1 app release, you go work out how to sell books by yourself because we can't be bothered writing a simple no end to end explaination.
A url link to the IRS isn't - It just works.
Sure the laws are different for different countries and different users, but US based ebook aggregators are already helping authors write and sell epub titles, so why doesn't Apple let them in on the iBA app?
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Apr 9, 2012 2:08 AM in response to MichiHenningby john buck1,and Michi as an Australian tax payer how and where are you declaring your taxable income?
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Apr 9, 2012 2:15 AM in response to john buck1by MichiHenning,I declare my income in Australia. There is a reciprocal tax agreement between Australia in the US. Any difference in tax rates is taken into account, so I don't pay more tax than I would have paid if the income had been generated in Australia.
The net effect is that, even if the US applies a withholding tax to my income, that tax is credited against my other taxes at the end of the year. In practice, even if Apple apply US alien withholding tax, it makes not difference to me: I only pay the difference in the tax applicable in the US and Australia. Seeing that alien withholding tax is well below what most people in Oz pay in income tax, that means that I pay some tax to the ATO (Australian Taxation Office), but the tax withheld by Apple (if any) is subtracted from what I need to pay.
Even though it works like this in Australia, I recommend that you check with an accountant for the situation in your particular country. I have no idea how things work between the US and countries other than Australia…
Michi.
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Apr 9, 2012 2:18 AM in response to john buck1by MichiHenning,I found the following links helpful in getting my application approved:
http://www.apple.com/itunes/content-providers/book-faq.html
http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=97860,00.html
https://itunesconnect.apple.com/WebObjects/iTunesConnect.woa/wa/bookSignup
For the US: https://www.myidentifiers.com/
For outside the US: http://www.isbn-international.org/agency
That was all I need to get my application approved.
Michi.
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Apr 9, 2012 2:20 AM in response to MichiHenningby john buck1,Michi thanks for taking the time to reply
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Apr 28, 2012 6:37 AM in response to K Tby dinobu,How do I create a paid iBooks account without a US tax ID? Apple doesn't let me complete the aplication proces without it.
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Apr 28, 2012 2:19 PM in response to dinobuby MichiHenning,Did you read the information provided by the links above? You need an EIN, which can get in ten minutes by calling the IRS. The phone number is provided in one of the links above.
Michi.