Let me warn anyone who is selling his models and isn’t US citizen. Its been around 5 years since I’ve been selling my models there. All was going ok I was getting royalties through paypal and didn’t pay too much attention.
But this month I decided to check my account there and recent paypal payments from them that came. I earned $128 but on paypal received $89. I checked previous payments and similar things that there was missing quite a bit chunk of money.
First I though… it’s some paypal fees… but common 40$ !!! I wrote to Turbosquid and they said that I had to fill some tax form because without it they withheld 30% fees !!! I did it and it said that now they will only withed 6%! They send me also summary for all 5 years how much they took … it’s been over $500 !!! Does anyone knows if there is any chance to recover those money they stole? Why they heaven’t sent any warnings before every transaction that I should fill some stupid form to avoid this kind of robbery? It’s been long time since I’ve been so pissed !!! So if you’re from EU or other country than US be careful ! It’s not enough they directly take chunk of your money it’s even more !
Its the US tax law, not Turbosquid. But yes, its ridiculous.
I dont think you can do anything about it unfortunately
Was there an initial contract? Somewhere it has to state what they claim.
Tax Form Requirements
We are required by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to withhold 30% of your sales made by U.S. customers. We do not withhold tax for sales made by non-U.S. customers.
You can reduce, or possibly eliminate, the U.S. withholding tax if you are a resident of a country that shares a tax treaty with the United States and you are able to provide us with your tax information. Review our full list of tax treaty countries to see if you are eligible for a lower U.S. withholding tax rate.
Reducing Your U.S. Withholding Tax
We will guide you through a simple step-by-step tax interview to complete your tax documentation online. You will be required to provide the following information to be eligible for a lower U.S. tax withholding rate:
We are required by the IRS to collect your U.S. and/or foreign (non-U.S.) income tax identification number. This is sometimes known as your national security number, personal account number, or personal identification number. This ID will be verified using the IRS tax identification database.
You will be required to provide your permanent address, full name, and company name, if applicable.
We only support the electronic delivery of your yearly 1099-MISC or 1042-S tax documentation. For this to be possible, we require your consent to this electronic delivery.
You can sign the completed tax documentation online. However, if you do not wish to sign electronically, you will be required to print, sign, and mail us your tax documentation.
It’s on their page, https://www.turbosquid.com/PublishYourStuff
https://resources.squid.io/squidguild/
https://resources.squid.io/general-info/getting-paid/tax-documentation/
https://resources.squid.io/general-info/getting-paid/tax-documentation-faq/
It seems pretty straight forward to me. What are you expecting, to get 100% back what you charge?
Yep, welcome to American taxes. This is why companies open offices overseas. Personally, I pay 35% plus sales tax, property tax… Basically, Uncle Sam gets at least 1/2 my money.
Didn’t you recieve emails from them regarding those tax documents ?
When I started selling there several years ago they provided me with all the information, and were very helpful to guide me through the process. Also if I’m correct, as long as you haven’t provided the docs you should have a warning appearing in your dashboard.
No i do not! But i wasnt expecting to get ripped 30% more even after their commision. You got the picture?
Why I got a feeling those 30% taxes I paid went to fight some stupid wars that USA is in.
well it’s not just american taxes, compared with other strong economies around the globe that’s pretty average.
Then take your models off of there. Create a marketplace and sell them on your own page then. If you are not happy with it and feel you are getting ripped off, it seems silly to continue to use their service then.
They sent warnings. A lot of times. Sorry mate but looks like you just ignored them, or they went to spam folder.
35% sales tax in Your state ? or You mean income tax ?
We pay state and federal income tax, plus property tax and sales tax. Sales tax is around 7%[quote=“RotemS, post:9, topic:54556, username:RotemS”]
35% sales tax in Your state ? or You mean income tax ?
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so what percentage is Your income tax ?
Independent contractors generally want to save in the range of 20-30% of their income as taxes. My actual tax bracket is 28% of my income, but I file jointly with my wife.
Personally, I file married jointly and we are in the 28% tax bracket. However, having said that, I pay estimated quarterly taxes ($3800). Also, you get deductibles, so you are not necessarily taxed on all your income. If I make $100,000.00 and spend $60,000 I am taxed on the 40,000.00 We also get depreciation. Let’s say I purchased a computer last year and deducted it on last years taxes. Well, I get to deduct the depreciated value of that computer this year and years to come. I work out of my house, so I can deduct part of my mortgage, utilities… It really is a mad science. If you make less money you get child earned credit which, unfortunately, I no longer quality for. Basically, the more kids you have and the less money you make, the more the government gifts you. It is maddening to see people keep having kids, kids that they can’t afford, just to see them get a huge tax refund every year. Free health insurance, free food… Don’t get me started on this 
28 % is quite high in my opinion. Free stuff is very expensive unfortunately, so thats probably why You have to pay 1/2 of Your money. Actually I wasnt aware that US has become so fiscally opressive. I thought it was the land of the free or something.
A couple things Bobby… if you are in the 28% bracket you are only taxed at 28% on the income over a certain amount (I forget the bracket amounts) anything less than that is taxed at the next lower bracket and so on. So its’ not as simple as $40,000 x 28%. Lastly, you may want to be careful about claiming part of your mortgage as a business expense, when you go to sell your house you may get nailed on taxes as you home is no longer fully excluded from capital gains taxes since a part of it is your business. In other words, consult your accountant!
Yes, it is all a mad science. I use a CPA, so he works through all the mess.[quote=“dlparisi, username:dlparisi”]
A couple things Bobby… if you are in the 28% bracket you are only taxed at 28% on the income over a certain amount (I forget the bracket amounts) anything less than that is taxed at the next lower bracket and so on. So its’ not as simple as $40,000 x 28%. Lastly, you may want to be careful about claiming part of your mortgage as a business expense, when you go to sell your house you may get nailed on taxes as you home is no longer fully excluded from capital gains taxes since a part of it is your business. In other words, consult your accountant!
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