How not to pay US tax: my experience
This post was last modified: 22 Feb 2012 02:33 PM by LexiRevellian.
I've started this thread for any author who is thinking about applying to the IRS to avoid Amazon retaining 30% tax on American book sales.I had such good sales with my recent Remix promotion that Amazon will be withholding about $2,000 in US tax. This galvanized me into action. This morning I visited the American Embassy in London. I took with me:
I took lots of other stuff - a blue pen, printouts of my sales, my Citibank dollar chequebook, a UK tax letter, two paperbacks in case of queues, but needed none of them. After going through various checkpoints, a nice chap copied my passport, stamped it, my letter and form, and told me I should receive a certificate in due course, which could be several months. When I have it I send it with Form W-8BEN to Amazon.
And that was it. I've been putting off getting started with this as I've read so many horror stories about how next-to-impossible it is to get an ITIN. Of course, I'm not there yet, but I feel optimistic at having accomplished the first step. And I bought myself a fabulous pair of black suede biker boots in Debenhams' sale on the way back.
