Shutterstock Photographer Forum :: View topic - Tax thing step-by-step tutorial.

shevs · Joined: 31 Jul 2008 Posts: 1658 Location: Belgium

Maybe not necessary, but for those still in trouble it could be handy if we can work out a step-by-step plan together to see the trees through the forest. This is what i can come up with; please correct if there are errors:

Summary: All countries listed here (scroll down) need to go through the papermill to have the specified amounts per country withdrawn from our SS-incomes. If we dont fill it in automatically 30% will be taken off.
We need to fill in a W-8 form which will be provided by Shutterstock soon. To fill in the form we need an ITIN number which we only can get by filling in the form W-7.

1) Print out the mail you received from Shutterstock (if you didnt receive it you soon will, otherwise contact support?)

2) Print out the W-7 form which can be found here:
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw7.pdf

3) First, in the 2nd upper square where it lists a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h, >> check the a and h box.

4) for reason h put this text: "Exception 1d - Third party witholding tax on passive income royalties (royalties on photographic sales)"
Additional information for a and f: enter your country; the treaty article number is "12"
EDIT: Treaty article number varies per country; get your article number here:http://submit.shutterstock.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=62471

5)Fill in the name, (applicants mailing) adress, birth information and 6a, your country. 6b, 6c,6f and 6g doesn't apply for the majority of us, so put "N/A" there. Do not leave it just open.

6) On 6d check the squares with the documents you will be providing. 6e will be "No/Do not know" for the most of us.

7) in the square "sign here", put your autograph, the date, and your phone number in the 3 sections. That's it for the form W-7.

8) We need to prove our identity and country for this we need a copy of our passport and have it made official.

9) To have it made official usually going to the place that issued your passport should do the trick. Take your original passport with you together with the copy and they will put stamps on it.

10) Stuff the W-7 form, the validated copy of your passport and the printed mail from Shutterstock in an envelope and send it to:

Internal Revenue Service, ITIN Operation
P.O. Box 149342
Austin, TX 78714-9342
U.S.A

11) just wait until they give you your ITIN number.

I think this covers it all; if anyone spots errors please do correct. Also: is just the validated copy of the passport enough, or do we still need 2 validated documents because we're not sending original documents?

digitalvision · Joined: 25 Oct 2005 Posts: 56 Location: Czech republic

That would be wonderful in a perfect world... shevs.
Unfortunately there are many special cases, as the one of whom lives in a Country that is not the one of his own citizenship, for example.

If it was straight I would not care, is really an easy procedure, I was ready to go, when found out nobody here do the certification of my passport, plus my nationality is another than the Country where I live... (and I'm not the only case in our global society). So, for us is very difficult and not so simple the procedure to get the infamous ITIN.

Anyway the step by step you outlined here is surely good and should be useful to whom has an easier situation.

perkus · Joined: 13 Dec 2007 Posts: 11

shevs · Joined: 31 Jul 2008 Posts: 1658 Location: Belgium

this was mainly an attempt to help other peeps who are as lost as i was yesterday before spending the day trying to figure things out...
Digitalvision: It sucks that its even more complicated for you ;( If you found things out maybe you can post a step-by-step thing here as well for people in the same situation..?

Perkus: ouch! $100?! The whole certification -validation thing indeed remains unclear and seems different in each country.

As for the email: Others and i asked SS specifically and they assured us just the printed mail will do. If we all get our ITIN refused because of this i hope the consequences will be for Shutterstock, not for us :/

nagib · Joined: 29 May 2006 Posts: 18

thank you shevs. that was very useful. do you know by any chance whether every single line has to be filled with N/A if it doesnt apply to us (eg Name at birth if different) ?

mantonis · Joined: 05 Jun 2007 Posts: 82 Location: Greece

I do not have a passport. Can i use a copy of my id card and assure it to police? Any other documet that will do?

flaviaraddavero · Joined: 05 Dec 2008 Posts: 50 Location: france

just a word to thank you shevs for all this work,it really helps

shevs · Joined: 31 Jul 2008 Posts: 1658 Location: Belgium

My pleasure flaviaraddavero!

It's just all the info i found in other threads collected into one, so i just hope it's all correct.

For the N/A's: someone mentioned that when you leave certain things just open it might be denied, so i'll be filling in N/A in every line that's not applicable; not sure if its a big deal if you dont (dont think so..)

Mantonis: i have no clue whether an ID card will do...i somehow doubt it. Maybe someone else can clear this out?

dragonfilms · Joined: 22 May 2009 Posts: 3

Hello,

I am a french citizen, travelling the world. I am also new on SS, and I have absolutly NO clue of what to do toand what form to fill to avoid those 30% US taxes.
Help !

Thanks a lot

G.

doppelklick · Moderator Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 42

dragonfilms · Joined: 22 May 2009 Posts: 3

Thank you Dk for you fast answer, but unfortunetly, I didn' receive the email you are talking about...

Gaelle

Pierdelune · Joined: 09 Nov 2004 Posts: 104

Thanks Shevs

It is very nice to you to give your time.

I just want to ask you about
this line
Additional information for a and f: Enter treaty country and treaty article number.

Is treaty article number the same for every country?
I am Canadian.
My language is French.

P.S. I am living 300 km away from the city. I keep asking everyone if certified copy by any bank manager who is autorized to do so will be accepted.
I really don't want to pay notary fees of 50 $ or more to only put its sign on.
I also hope that it will work for you because I read everywhere that they might refuse the SS e mail copy.
Even Jon made a post saying that SS will discuss the matter with IRS and let us know about it. He also said to wait development before mailing it.
What a mess !

nzdzeni · Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 3:00 am

Thanks for this. It was super helpful.

I read through the instructions that come with the form and it said either a certified or a notarised copy would do. Turns out that in New Zealand, certified is easy to do (and usually free). We have a "Justice of the Peace" service where JP's will certify documents for free as a service to the wider community.

Not sure how to go about getting something notarised though :)

davindac · Joined: 08 May 2009 Posts: 46 Location: The Netherlands

otnaydur · Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 7:10 am

So to notarization copy of the passport must be done by US consular officer and no other way? Oh great.

I've called the US consular office in my country and they kept me on hold for several times and no one answer it and when finally they picked up, I asked about getting ITIN,
>>He ask about contract.
- I said I only get e-mail from a microstock agency.
>>first they asked what is microstock
- I explained to him
>>You need to get your contract with this agency which you're working to?
- I said that I don't work for that agency
>>He asked so why do you need ITIN
- I makes photography sales through this agency and get royalties
>>Ask the agency about the contract and then get your copy of passport with Citizen ID or driving license and the original ones. And we'll try to schedule you to meet here in about 2-4 weeks.
- Why do I have to wait so long
>>Because this is holiday season for kids and lot of people applying VISA, so you must wait in queue line.
- I don't know what makes me so stupid not asking about the fee because I get depressed when they to make an appointment in about 2-4 weeks.

And I haven't received any e-mail from Shutterstock after their last E-mail telling me to wait until they make clarification about the contract and will notify me soon.
Still no new message from Shutterstock until now.

anyone, because I get confused since the first time and now I don't know what to do and just wait. :(

btw thanks shevs to explain how to fill the W-7 form, at least that only thing I can do Right now,
I have question about Phone number - DO we need to attach our country code in the ( ) or not?
And We must fill the form using handwriting? Cause I can use Adobe reader to fill it except the signature?
once again thanks.