I see your point about taking this changes as new opportunities; from a bad situation it’s possible to generate new ideas to increase sales, however we need to be honest with ourselves, previous updates (i.e. VAT and paid support) were implemented in a tricky way that put authors with more work for less income with no clear answers. US tax change is not the first time authors get mad for these “improvements”.
Besides that, I still I appreciate and thank what Envato’s made for me, however we as authors contributed in their success. We deserve good news once in a while
Just a note to Envato - This Notice of TAX CHANGES should be a MAJOR ALERT to all authors IN OUR DASHBOARD!
We only discovered this serious news after stumbling across the Halloween Pumpkin Contest Notice…which after reading all the dissent in that post (as to how there were bigger issues for Authors to worry about right now than colouring-in pumpkins) - led us here… to this far more important issue affecting the entire community.
I don’t think everyone is actually aware of these impending Tax changes as not everyone reads the forums.
I guess now it is no point stretching this conversation as the decision has already been taken. Now, we as authors should decide where to head.
We are waiting for an official reply from our accountant regarding this tax treaty with India. If we can get a tax benefit for this, we will continue else we won’t.
So, I guess every author should get a legal guidance in their home country and head on the right path…
US RWHT won’t be applied on items sold with a Tools license (such as items in GraphicRiver’s Add-ons category). Income made from selling this kind of license is classified in a different way and doesn’t give rise to this tax."
Is the GR add-ons category the only one free of new taxes or are there any other categories that will remain the same? Please specify.
No chance!
I’m living in Bolivia and Bolivia is not even on the country list to check the tax treaty percentage.
That would be a 30% of tax on all items sold to US buyers.
I think you will force out quite some authors with this change.
Therefore I have some questions:
Why does Envato does not create an own company in the U.S. and the authors can decide for which company they want to work (Envato AUS or Envato U.S.)? The authors could also work for both of them… Depending for which company an author works, the tax situation will be different.
What advantage have the authors with this new move? I really don’t see any.
You write that I should ask my tax advisor. I don’t have one and they will cost a lot of $$$$$$$$ per hour. That’s not an option for me. I don’t sell enough to hire a tax advisor.
I see a lot different problems now:
Authors can not specify the item price (adjust for tax loss)
Unwanted price changes now and then
Low earnings % (now even lower with the new tax problems)
Feeling that authors are not “important” to the success of the company
@natman@collis Hi guys, I have several questions of my own. I read everything in this thread and didn’t find answers so far:
if our country is on 0% list, do you still deduct those 30% and then we get those US IRS fees through the tax refund request sent to our tax authorities at the end of fiscal year? Or you simply go with 0% in the moment of sale?
you said that only one financial account is possible per account on Envato market. Does it mean that the same account will be used both for our earnings on Theme Forest and Envato Studio? Or we can split this in this case?
Having tried to build a small company myself, I know for sure that business is not about feelings. Potential benefit for the company > Potential losses? Let’s go. Dead authors along the way are taken into account at some point, but that’s not what will prevent a company to make its business moves.
When we publish through Envato, we accept to play by their own rules because it has some benefits for us. And when you play with someone who made the rules, you loose at some point. That’s inevitable.
The fundamental decision is : do I enter the game or not? Do I stay in the game or not? What are my alternatives?
I have to agree with other authors. This is a disgusting and a clear slap in the face. I have never been so disgusted by a company in my life, as I am right now with Envato. I used to like Envato a lot.
Up until now I justified the 30% commision that Envato takes as a “commision for handling complicated tax and sales and returns”. That’s clearly no longer the case. By the way - removing the split payments is just unjustified for the “community”.
As I said in the past - Community oriented my donkey. Maybe, just maybe, I would believe “Community Oriented, except authors”. Envato is money oriented, itching to reach 1B by any means necessary. Screw the authors, we have enough of them, let’s just make more money.
Instead of developing new ways to help new and existing authors to innovate and sustain their products, a whole lot money is going into tax compliance and making it difficult to actually earn something.
I know, I know, I’m wasting bytes here typing. Where else can we vent ?
@Mega_Music Don’t get me wrong, I’m just trying to solve one point here on which I have previous experiences, the W8 case. Each and every time I worked with a US based company that was collecting money in my name (Apple, various ad networks), I had to fill out a W8 form. No W8, no business, that was as simple as this. So, in our case, that’s no surprise to me. The only new thing is the need for and ITIN/EIN that I never had to provide before (thus my research on the Amazon case, see previous posts). That’s all. If there are some other legal points that must be solved, I’m not qualified
@InspiringSound Agreed, but it’s all the same. If you’re not the one who makes the rules, in the end, you loose. That’s the game. There are alternatives, with their advantages and drawbacks. It’s up to each of us to choose!
My country is a treaty one, so I need a ITIN but I have to apply it by submitting W-7 form with the tax return(report) to get it. Should I submit my tax report by myself separately from Envato? I mean, does not Envato reporting the tax for me? (I worry about the duplicate tax reporting). If so, I could not get a ITIN as I couldn’t submit the tax return form. I want to get my ITIN right now. Please tell me what I should do.
How can I contact all people who bought an item from me?
I would like to give them my email address because I will be forced out of business at Codecanyon.
The buyers could contact me if they have a problem with an item (especially the people who will buy an item between now and year end 2015). I don’t like the idea that they buy an item and the next day they can’t contact me anymore…
When do I have to send a request to the Help Team and schedule the final payout so that my items are available for sale until year end but not in 2016?
Envato writes that if I remove an item: “Once you have opted to remove the item, it may continue to be displayed for sale for up to 30 days. After 30 days the item will be removed.” Why is my item still sold if I removed it?
