Filling Out the W-8 BEN Form on Depositphotos

Recently, the Depositphotos stock photo site sent all contributors an email about the requirement to complete a U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax form for non-U.S. authors (including instructions for filling out the W-8 BEN form):

Dear Contributors,

Depositphotos would like to inform you about our new Tax Center, created in accordance with U.S. federal tax law regarding sales made within the United States, and we have prepared guidance on completing the relevant IRS form.

Sales tax will apply to all purchases made by buyers in the United States, with rates ranging from 0% for U.S. contributors to 30% for sellers from countries without a tax treaty with the U.S. For contributors from treaty countries, the rate will be set according to the terms of the agreement.

Please visit our Tax Center in your contributor account and follow the guidance to complete the applicable tax form(s). If you are a U.S. resident, you must complete Form W-9. Contributors from other countries should complete Form W-8 BEN.

From the time the Depositphotos Tax Center launches and until you complete Form W-9 or W-8 BEN, sales taxes will be applied based on the country listed in your profile during registration. If you do not complete Form W-8 BEN within a month, we will withhold tax at the maximum 30% rate until your country of residence is confirmed with documentation.

Please complete the required form as soon as possible. If you are unsure which form you need, consult your tax advisor.

For more information about our Tax Center and to determine which tax form you need to complete, visit the Tax Center page or contact our contributor support.

Depositphotos hopes you understand the need for this procedure for our mutual benefit, as the legality of stock operations also guarantees the security of you and your funds. We believe that rapid growth in sales from our non-U.S. buyers will more than offset these newly introduced sales tax withholdings.

Sincerely, the Depositphotos Team.

In light of this, every contributor should complete the U.S. W-8 tax form as soon as possible to avoid losing 30% of earnings from image sales in the United States.

Instructions for Completing W-8 BEN

For residents of countries that have a tax treaty with the U.S. (the list of countries and rates can be found in the Tax Center) and who are not representing organizations, follow this flow (these W-8 BEN instructions also apply to other stock agencies):

1. Go to the Depositphotos Tax Center page;
2. In step two, select subsection “A”;
3. In the dropdown, review Group A2 and find the link to the W-8BEN form, then follow it;
4. Item 1 is auto-filled using your profile data;
5. For Item 2, enter “N/A”;
6. In Item 3, select “Individual”;
7. In Item 4, verify your permanent residence (registration) address in Latin characters;
8. Item 5 is for cases where your permanent address differs from your mailing address. Also in Latin characters;
9. In Item 6, select “I have no SSN, ITIN or EIN”;
10. Leave Items 7 and 8 blank;
11. In Item 9, subsection “a” should already show your country of residence (taken from your profile); if it’s missing, enter it manually;
12. Leave the remaining W-8 subsections untouched;
13. Item 10 will already display the withholding rate. You can verify your tax treaty rate in the Tax Center;
14. Skip the rest;
15. At the end, under “Please enter your full name as a digital signature in the box below (must match Name part of this form)”: enter your surname in Latin characters exactly as in Item 1 (you can copy it), then click “Submit”;
16. Now just wait for the form to be approved by the Depositphotos team.

Good luck!

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