DACS Payment 2023

[NYCat]

1 hour ago, spacecadet said:

When Alamy used to send out emails telling you how many licences it could claim for, I found out that it doesn't- it was only a few more, not enough to get me into a higher claim category and certainly not enough to make up for 50% commission. But as you say the bother may not be worth it- but presumably Alamy is withholding tax on all your payments?

 

Unless something is happening I don't know about I don't pay the British taxes on anything I get from Alamy. I pay my US taxes as an independent contractor (both cat-sitting and photography). I am also a low income earner so never pay huge amounts of tax. I assume Alamy would be required to tell me about any tax money withheld. When I did my own DACS I was informed of the (rather large) tax withheld. I guess I don't have a lot of sales in the UK. I never seem to show up in the Images Found thread. In theory Americans don't pay the British taxes but it's a total pain to avoid them.

 

Paulette

[spacecadet]

1 hour ago, NYCat said:

I don't have a lot of sales in the UK

Well of course all your sales are in the UK because Alamy is a British company, so I don't know how it deals with American payments if you don't get any withholding tax information. Perhaps it isn't required to.

BTW the "rather large" withholding rate of 20% is just the standard rate of UK income tax that every taxpayer is subject to here.

[NYCat]

1 hour ago, spacecadet said:

Well of course all your sales are in the UK because Alamy is a British company, so I don't know how it deals with American payments if you don't get any withholding tax information. Perhaps it isn't required to.

BTW the "rather large" withholding rate of 20% is just the standard rate of UK income tax that every taxpayer is subject to here.

 

But doesn't DACS only count the sales to UK publications? I may be confused. In any case I think it would make sense for Alamy to not be withholding from USA and Canadian payments since we aren't supposed to have to pay the tax. Do other non-Briitsh contributors get your tax withheld? I am glad, by the way, we were a British colony because I think we got a lot of what is best from you. Our Founding Fathers knew a lot about what works in government. 

 

Paulette

[spacecadet]

17 minutes ago, NYCat said:

 

But doesn't DACS only count the sales to UK publications? I may be confused. In any case I think it would make sense for Alamy to not be withholding from USA and Canadian payments since we aren't supposed to have to pay the tax. Do other non-Briitsh contributors get your tax withheld? I am glad, by the way, we were a British colony because I think we got a lot of what is best from you. Our Founding Fathers knew a lot about what works in government. 

 

Paulette

Ah I see, you mean UK sales qualifying for royalties. That's right.

I may be confused as well but I do know that non-US suppliers to the US picture libraries have tax withheld by the US tax system. So it seems the reverse isn't the case, except for royalties, apparently. Hmm.

[NYCat]

Is it hard for you to get exempted? I'm sure it is reciprocal that you don't pay our tax and we don't pay yours.

 

Paulette

[Michael Ventura]

26 minutes ago, spacecadet said:

Ah I see, you mean UK sales qualifying for royalties. That's right.

I may be confused as well but I do know that non-US suppliers to the US picture libraries have tax withheld by the US tax system. So it seems the reverse isn't the case, except for royalties, apparently. Hmm.

 

In the many years that I supplied U.S. stock agencies (now all gone), they never took out U.S. taxes, that was always on me to report.  We were always treated as independent contractors, not as employees.  They would send a form to our Internal Revenue Service, stating our "royalty income", so no getting around paying up.

Edited November 4, 2023 by Michael Ventura

[spacecadet]

3 minutes ago, Michael Ventura said:

 

In the many years that I supplied U.S. stock agencies (now all gone), they never took out U.S. taxes, that was always on me to report.  We were always treated as independent contractors, not as employees.

I was referring specifically to non-US residents, and to withholding tax, not PAYE, and I don't know about the past. I'm referring to the likes of Shutterstock, where withholding applied last time I looked. It's one reason I never started supplying them.

Edited November 4, 2023 by spacecadet

[Michael Ventura]

43 minutes ago, spacecadet said:

I was referring specifically to non-US residents, and to withholding tax, not PAYE, and I don't know about the past. I'm referring to the likes of Shutterstock, where withholding applied last time I looked. It's one reason I never started supplying them.

 

I didn't know that about Shutterstock.  I doubt any of the agencies, I was with, withheld taxes from any contributor, resident or not, everyone was an independent contractor.

[John Mitchell]

1 hour ago, Michael Ventura said:

 

In the many years that I supplied U.S. stock agencies (now all gone), they never took out U.S. taxes, that was always on me to report.  We were always treated as independent contractors, not as employees.  They would send a form to our Internal Revenue Service, stating our "royalty income", so no getting around paying up.

 

I drove down to the IRS office in Bellingham, Washington many years ago to apply for an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), which now makes it very easy for me to take advantage of the tax treaty between Canada and the US. However, avoiding double taxation with other countries with tax treaties can be a bureaucratic boondoggle IME.

[Reimar]

I've never had any problem with withholding tax from stock sites (one exception: agefotostock wanted a certificate, so I got one for Spain).  For DACS, I seem to need a new certificate for the UK every 5 or more years.  It's free, and not too much hassle, but as pointed out: expect a long lead time.

 

I wish I was as generous as you John.  In 2020 I tried to get a lousy 33 pounds back from HMRC, when DACS withheld 10%.  I could not contact anyone at HMRC about this via e-mail or snail mail.  I then tried an online "self-assessment".  Big mistake.  Now HMRC believes I owe them yearly income tax forms.  I am a Canadian taxpayer, so I'm not going to do that.  So far, my fines for not filing are about 2000 pounds.  Lovely.  I guess I'm never going back to the UK.

[spacecadet]

14 hours ago, Reimar said:

 I then tried an online "self-assessment".  Big mistake.  Now HMRC believes I owe them yearly income tax forms.  I am a Canadian taxpayer, so I'm not going to do that.  So far, my fines for not filing are about 2000 pounds.  Lovely.  I guess I'm never going back to the UK.

Self-assessment is for UK residents or non-resident citizens. Since you've enrolled in error, and can't use the system, you wouldn't be liable for the fines. ISTR you've tried to explain it to HMRC. If you were going to be pursued for it it would have happened by now so presumably HMRC are aware of the circumstances. I think you can drop by.

Edited November 5, 2023 by spacecadet

[NYCat]

On 04/11/2023 at 10:06, spacecadet said:

Well of course all your sales are in the UK because Alamy is a British company, so I don't know how it deals with American payments if you don't get any withholding tax information. Perhaps it isn't required to.

BTW the "rather large" withholding rate of 20% is just the standard rate of UK income tax that every taxpayer is subject to here.

 

When I checked my account details as Alamy has asked us to do I saw that they ask if you are VAT registered in the UK. So I assume that would determine whether they withhold taxes.

 

Paulette

[spacecadet]

9 minutes ago, NYCat said:

 

When I checked my account details as Alamy has asked us to do I saw that they ask if you are VAT registered in the UK. So I assume that would determine whether they withhold taxes.

 

Paulette

VAT is an excise/sales tax which doesn't apply outside the UK. It's nothing to do with double taxation.

[NYCat]

1 minute ago, spacecadet said:

VAT is an excise/sales tax which doesn't apply outside the UK. It's nothing to do with double taxation.

 

Oh well. I figured I knew nothing about your taxes. Bad enough understanding ours.

 

Paulette

[giphotostock]

On 06/11/2023 at 04:00, spacecadet said:

VAT is an excise/sales tax which doesn't apply outside the UK. It's nothing to do with double taxation.

Per US-UK tax treaty UK must not withhold VAT from US tax residents...

[John Mitchell]

My DACS payment, minus the 20% tip for HRMC, arrived in my bank today (direct claim). Slightly up from last year.