tta

Sales Tax and You

Added 2020-05-28 23:24:26 +0000 UTC

As I'm a bit of a deadbeat, unfortunately this most recent post doesn't celebrate a new milestone, but instead is about a relatively important change happening here on Patreon.

Like many companies in this exciting digital world, the regulators have finally caught up with the folks at Patreon and are forcing them to adhere to those pesky ol' laws. Specifically, as of July 1, 2020, Patreon is obligated to collect sales tax from transactions made in the United States. For good measure, they'll also be rolling out sales tax in other regions as well.

I'm unable to absorb the cost of the sales tax myself. That is to say, United States law supposedly prevents the sales tax from being included in the price of a transaction; it needs to be listed separately and on top of the base price. If you live in the EU and pledge money, you've been subject to VAT, which Patreon has been collecting since 2015.

Luckily, it seems that if a pledge gives you no benefit (this includes me, as you already can watch my videos for free and none are locked away), you are NOT required to pay sales tax. According to Patreon's FAQ for this upcoming change "many patrons won’t see any sales tax added to their pledge at all."

In summary:

• As of July 1, you'll be charged sales tax based on your region

• This sales tax will be added on to your pledge, which means you have to pay more now

• BUT as I don't actually offer a unique benefit for your pledge, it should be exempt from taxation

So in the end, assuming Patreon's automated systems that calculate tax status detect that my content should be exempt from sales tax, nothing should change for you.