Updates to itch.io seller accounts, payouts, & tax interview
We’ve made some changes to our seller terms of service, along with some new requirements for getting paid by itch.io.
Our updated Terms of Service from May 24th includes new clauses specific to publishers. As part of this change we’re requiring all sellers to agree to the terms of service to continue publishing and getting paid by itch.io. We’ve contacted all sellers via email, but we’re announcing it here as well. You can accept the terms by going to your Seller Settings page on your Account Settings.
Above each section of the terms we’ve added a summary in plain English to help you understand it. Please take a moment to read through it.
What’s new
If you’ve been selling on itch.io for a while then you’ll be happy to know that this updated terms of service does not change how itch.io operates. Here are the primary changes:
- We’ve filled in gaps to make itch.io’s and your rights more explicitly outlined. The Publisher Content section has been added.
- We’re introducing a new policy for unclaimed payout earnings. If you’re using itch.io’s Payouts system then you’re expected to claim your earnings within a year of the revenue generating transaction. If, for whatever reason, you’re unable to claim a payout within the year please contact us so we can work out an arrangement. We’re adding this to reduce our liability of holding onto money in abandoned accounts.
If you have any concerns with the updates please contact support.
We’ve added a few more requirements before you can get paid by itch.io. Before that though, we’ve updated the Getting Paid guide on our documentation with a more detailed descriptions of the different payout modes, along with a chart highlighting the differences side by side. If you’re rusty on how itch.io handles payouts you might want to take a look.
The following changes only affect Collected by itch.io & paid later (aka itch.io Payouts), not Direct to you.
You must complete a tax interview to collect a payout
If you receive payouts from itch.io, it’s now necessary to complete a tax interview in order to get paid. We’re legally obligated to collect tax information from the people we pay. To reduce risk and liability for itch.io, all publishers that collect payments and get paid by itch.io are required to complete the form up front. You can start the tax interview from your publisher settings page.
We’ve partnered with a third party service to handle all tax information. Your data is not stored on itch.io’s servers. This is the same platform used by many other game storefronts.
For sellers with outstanding pending payout requests, we’ve canceled the payouts and sent you an email reminder to complete the tax interview. Once you complete the interview, please request a new payout so we can pay you. If you have any issues with a pending payout please contact support.
The new tax collection system will allow you to download your tax documents from the itch.io site at the end of the year.
Notes on Withholding Tax
Since itch.io is a US company, foreign entities we send money to are subject to a Withholding Tax. This tax defaults to 30%, but can be reduced for countries that have a tax treaty with the United States. In order to receive a reduced rate you must provide a U.S. or foreign TIN (Tax Identification Number). For many countries, you can enter the tax number you already have from your home country. Otherwise, you may need to register for an EIN or ITIN. itch.io can not offer specialized tax advice, so we recommend contacting a local tax professional if you’re having trouble.
Note: It’s possible to complete the tax interview without providing a tax number. If you do this you’ll be defaulted into the 30% tax withholding rate, even if you may be eligible for a reduced rate. This means you will lose 30% of your earnings! We highly recommend taking the time to fill out the form correctly, and file for any numbers if necessary. You must provide a tax number to claim a reduced rate when available.
Connect your PayPal account
We’ve changed how you attach a PayPal account to your itch.io account. Instead of typing in an email address, we now require you to Connect with PayPal. This will ensure that your email address is entered correctly and points to a valid PayPal account that you own. Going forward, we will require all sellers to connect their account in order to receive a payout. Please check your itch.io payout settings to confirm that your account is set up for payouts from your Dashboard.
A lot of these changes we’ve pushed out incrementally over the past few months, but we’re organizing them all together here for your reference. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to support. Comments are disabled for this post so it doesn’t turn into account support.
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