So 30% for US Tax is actualy 36%?

[dtbaker]

Collis explains here.

I’ll do my best!

So, using your example, I’m going to look at the sale of a $45 WordPress theme to a U.S. buyer.

The first thing is that in a $45 WP theme sale, $9 (20%) of that is our Envato Buyer Fee directly to the buyer. So the author’s Item Price is in fact just the $36.

Step 1: $45 - $9 = $36 is the author’s Item Price

Next, we apply US Royalty Withholding Tax (RWHT) and send this to the IRS. This changes based on the treaty rate between your country and the USA. Again, using your example, let’s say the author’s country doesn’t have a treaty with the US and the RWHT rate is 30%.

Step 2 (part 1): 30% of $36 = $10.80 to the IRS

The other thing that happens (at virtually the same time as the RWHT is applied) is that we take our Author Fee. This will be based on the kind of author you are (exclusive or non-exclusive) and the amount you have sold on Envato Market. You can see these rates here.

Let’s say for the purposes of this example that the author is an exclusive Elite author with an Author Fee of 12.5%.

Step 2 (part 2): 12.5% of $36 = $4.50 to Envato

These amounts are deducted in sequence from the author’s earnings of $36:

$36 - $10.80 (to the IRS) = $25.20
$25.20 - $4.50 (author fee to Envato) = $20.70

Therefore the author will have a net earning of $20.70.

Also if you click on on collis’s name and click on the “6 messages” button you can see all his replies in one which are really helpful on the topic.