The answer is no. Neither Envato nor the IRS will give it back.
In March 2017 you get a copy of the Form 1042-S from Envato. That is a summary of the taxes withheld and can be used to deduct the tax from your taxable income (depends on the income tax law in your country) when you do your domestic tax return. Itâs best to talk to with tax advisor how this can be done in your country.
thatâs really sad news. our local tax office doesnât have much knowledge about international tax issues. they took around 4k dollars. itâs big. we are late to fill out w8 form somehow. but it should be returned. I know we canât get back 100%. but it should be some way to get back for all of authors who have this case.
But ALL our sales have the â-$6.47 US Backup Withholding Taxâ reduction but we have purchases from the UK, Spain, Brazil, Italy, Australia, Germany, France, Poland and Romania.
So âYou will be charged this tax on all US sales nowâ is not true.
Have you filled the W8 form? When you do, there is no tax on non-US sales.
Ok, just finished the Tax Information questionnaire in the Profile Settings. I have filled out my location, gave information and signed it. Does this apply automatically?
If you go back to where you filled out the form, there should be on the top of the section a box that says youâve successfully submitted your tax information. If you can find it there then the form is put into effect and there should be no taxes on your future non-US sales.
Ok, itâs all good now, we had a couple of purchases and the ones that are not US donât have the withholding tax applied, thanks a lot guys!
Hi there, Iâm new to themeforest and Iâm wondering if you can give me answers for below questions
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Iâm from Sri lanka and I donât have a TaxID or ITIN yet. Letâs say somehow I got my Tax ID and fill out W-8 form. Then what percentage of withheld will get on US sales.?
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And If I fill that form now without entering Tax ID or ITIN, Can I enter my Tax ID later whenever I get it?
Thanks
Hello,
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The treaty rate between the US and Sri Lanka is 10%, so youâll have 10% withheld from your US sales.
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Sure!
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I want to point something out (noticed in one of my invoices):
buyer - non US
me - non US
envato - non US
yet, âUS Backup Withholding Taxâ has been applied.
The author terms say: âIf required by law, we may deduct or withhold taxesâ (https://audiojungle.net/legal/author). If everyone involved is outside US, then why is this tax being applied?
Since I thought about returning to the market, I would like to know if this is still the practice here?
Not everyone!
Since the time Envato became also a US registered company, they are required by US law to treat non-US authors who do not provide the W-8 form in the same way as US authors who are not provide accurate tax information = 28% US Backup Withholding Tax on all worldwide sales.
Read the Backup Withholding Tax section
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Oh, I see. The invoice says Australia, website also, so it didnât make sense initially.
(Too bad for me, filling that form would make no difference in my country, and with all the taxes, it makes no sense for me to participate, I would be working more for others than for myself.)
Cheers!
Even when your country has no tax treaty with the USA, if you submit the W-8 form you has to pay the US Withholding Tax only on sales to US customers and not on all your sales like now.
no W-8 form = 28% US Backup Withholding Tax on all sales
W-8 form = 0-30% US Royalty Withholding Tax only on US sales
It depends on your customer base on this market, you have to analyse if you sell more to US customers or to non-US customers.
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Ah, I totally missed that distinction, didnât read the thread carefully (sorry for that!), thanks for taking the time to clarify! 
simple FAQ:
supply your ssn and fill out the w8 as otherwise they will withhold as ordered to do so by the US IRSâŚand this is for all US authors origin of buyer has nothing to do with it
Correct, but the origin of buyer does have an impact on non-US authors.
And if you have a SSN then youâre more likely to be filling out a W9 than a W8.
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