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Steam - Ireland / US Tax Treaty

  • 23-09-2015 9:49am
    #1
    volorion
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6 ✭


    Hello everyone.

    I was hoping to get some advice on a video games distribution platform known as Steam and how to handles taxes from it. I am currently working on a hobby project that will be a long time before I go to actually release anything. But between now and then I want to make sure I understand all the tax stuff correctly.

    Ok so here is some information relating to this:
    partner.steamgames.com/documentation/payment_info

    This part in particular I want to check:

    Q. Why do I need to obtain an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN)?
    A. Generally, a foreign person is subject to U.S. tax on its U.S. source income. Most types of U.S. source income received by a foreign person are subject to a U.S. tax rate of 30%. A reduced rate, including exemption, may apply if there is a tax treaty between the foreign person's country of residence and the United States. In order to exercise the benefits under the tax treaty, you will need to complete a Form W-8BEN and that requires either a foreign TIN or a US TIN.


    Now after that I read this:
    catherineryanhoward.com/2012/02/24/non-us-self-publisher-tax-issues-dont-need-to-be-taxing/

    "you only need the tax identification number from your own country to avail of any tax treaty benefits that may exist between your country of residence and the United States. This, for example, is an NI number in the UK and a PPS number in Ireland. "

    and

    "It depends on your country. Ireland has a 0% rate associated with their US tax treaty, so after getting my ITIN I get my full earnings and my tax liability is only here in my own country. "

    -So does this mean I can just provided my PPS number and not need to obtain an ITIN and have all the tax related stuff be handled here in Ireland through the revenue service?
    -Once I have my monthly sales reports from Steam, I have it pay into a separate account rather than my own, do I just take these reports to an accountant and have them sort out the taxes I need to pay, pay them and what is left is my own. Is that correct?
    -Should I look to actually form a company and release under that or just proceed with it under my own name?
    - Income such as this, if released under my name with my pps, what kind of tax rate would I be looking at?

    Sorry for all the questions and any information would be greatly appreciated.

    Thanks,
    Gerard.


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