# **SOLVED** Amazon Associates Suddenly asks for my Tax number!!



## Viola Mazurkiewicz (Nov 21, 2014)

Hello my good writers/ readers..
I'm been always visiting Kboeard but i never registered before, untill now hat i encounter this problem. so i thought i'd ask in here
recently when i logged into my Amazon affiliate account theres a notice saying " we can't pay you untill you complete tax information interview..."  so i clicked on it and it wanted me to enter lots of information that i have no clue what they are. 
I've been an amazon affiliate for a while and i'm not a US citizen nor a US reisdient or anything like that, i dont even live in the US.
I normaly get paid by Amazon Gift cards, at max something between 50 to 90 dollars a month. not much really... so this month it was delayed cause past 3 months iv gotten them on 16th and 18th of the month, i so was wondering why it's got delayed this month that i saw this notice.  . could it be why? they holding my unpaid balance?
I don't know what to do or how to fill out the tax interview form. 
Does anyone else have or had this problem? or can walk me through it or give me some idea and help please? 
Thank you so much.

*************************************update***************************************
I hate how some people  mislead the others and give wrong info, i completed the tax interview in 10 mins easy without providing any number or such.  and now it's done. no headache.  if anyone needs help with this let me know.
*********************************************************************************


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## A. N. Other Author (Oct 11, 2014)

Where are you based?

I'm in the UK, and when they ask for my TIN (Tax Identification Number) that means my national insurance number. 

It's the number for however you are identified in your country by your equivalent of the IRS or HMRC. Lots easier than it used to be.


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## Viola Mazurkiewicz (Nov 21, 2014)

ADDavies said:


> Where are you based?
> 
> I'm in the UK, and when they ask for my TIN (Tax Identification Number) that means my national insurance number.
> 
> It's the number for however you are identified in your country by your equivalent of the IRS or HMRC. Lots easier than it used to be.


Thanks for replying back.
My base is on Poland and we don't have such numbers!!! my driver license has a number though


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## A. N. Other Author (Oct 11, 2014)

That might get complicated, then. I know with Smashwords I had to download and complete a very annoying form. I found some help with this article, though.

http://kareninglis.wordpress.com/tax/


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## K. D. (Jun 6, 2013)

You


Viola Mazurkiewicz said:


> Thanks for replying back.
> My base is on Poland and we don't have such numbers!!! my driver license has a number though


You should have a TIN number (tax identifaction number). It's EU law, Poland is in the EU, and is usual practice. Look at your yearly tax bill, it's on there.

Just googled: In Poland it's NIP-Law, issued 1995.


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## Viola Mazurkiewicz (Nov 21, 2014)

KarinD said:


> You
> You should have a TIN number (tax identifaction number). It's EU law, Poland is in the EU, and is usual practice. Look at your yearly tax bill, it's on there.


Thanks but it's not that easy. I've read that TIN is only for US people. If it was as simple "ADDavies" would not suffer .
What about you? Do you have an Amazon account too? and of so did you fill out this form?
And btw $50 a month is not a big deal that would need taxs, or does it?


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## K. D. (Jun 6, 2013)

Everyone not living in the US who does business with Amazon (Smashwords, etc.) has to fill the W8-BEN. The new form only requires your tax ID. 
Of course, if you have done business in the past (before Jan 2014), they may require you to get an EIN for a retroactive W8-BEN.

You'll find tons of info here if you use the search.


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## Viola Mazurkiewicz (Nov 21, 2014)

KarinD said:


> Everyone not living in the US who does business with Amazon (Smashwords, etc.) has to fill the W8-BEN. The new form only requires your tax ID.
> Of course, if you have done business in the past (before Jan 2014), they may require you to get an EIN for a retroactive W8-BEN.
> 
> You'll find tons of info here if you use the search.


The reason i asked if you filled the form or not, Because it's not like just that i can get a number and enter it and done. it has so many other questions and things i dont understand. Now lets say i enter my so called tax number and finish the tax interview, how are they going to verify this? and how long would it take. and what about my unpaid balance that had to be paid 2 days ago.?


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

If you make above a certain level in a year (I don't know what that amount is for non-US) then it has to be reported income and taxed by your country as income. It's not that Amazon will tax you, but they have to report to your country that you earned income.


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## A. N. Other Author (Oct 11, 2014)

KarenD is correct

If you have a day job and pay tax in Poland you should have some sort of tax ID code. It will be on your monthly/weekly payslip. That should suffice with Amazon. If you've never had a job, you might not have an ID code, but I am not sure how it works in Poland. In the UK we are issued a national insurance number when we turn 16, which is a little like the US social security no. 

It's only certain places like Smashwords that demand the W-8 form. I'm not even sure they do anymore, but when I registered I went through the long process.


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## Jac1106 (Jan 13, 2012)

I'm planning on doing the Amazon affiliate thing soon so this thread interests me.

Are you guys saying that the Amazon Associates program requires the affiliate to answer a tax interview similar to the one for KDP publishers?


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## Viola Mazurkiewicz (Nov 21, 2014)

Jac1106 said:


> I'm planning on doing the Amazon affiliate thing soon so this thread interests me.
> 
> Are you guys saying that the Amazon Associates program requires the affiliate to answer a tax interview similar to the one for KDP publishers?


Yes. And when i googled that tax interview, most links were for amazon KDP. I don't know why i get it in amazon affiliate. Is this even normal?


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## over and out (Sep 9, 2011)

You need to get the tax number so that Amazon doesn't withhold tax. Not sure what the tax rate is for Poland but for Canada it is 30%. If you don't have the number then Amazon is legally required to withhold tax and you may get taxed twice (Poland and Amazon withholding).

I think Amazon is doing a bit of tax compliance housekeeping which is why you hadn't been asked for this to date. It's in your best interests to do it, otherwise they will withhold the tax and send you less money. You need an ITIN first: http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/Obtaining-an-ITIN-from-Abroad


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## Viola Mazurkiewicz (Nov 21, 2014)

Colleen Cross said:


> You need to get the tax number so that Amazon doesn't withhold tax. Not sure what the tax rate is for Poland but for Canada it is 30%. If you don't have the number then Amazon is legally required to withhold tax and you may get taxed twice (Poland and Amazon withholding).
> 
> I think Amazon is doing a bit of tax compliance housekeeping which is why you hadn't been asked for this to date. It's in your best interests to do it, otherwise they will withhold the tax and send you less money. You need an ITIN first: http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/Obtaining-an-ITIN-from-Abroad


Hello COllen Thanks for replying
Thing is they dont even want to pay, The notice says, amazon wont pay me unless i complete my tax interview.
I don't care they hold 30% for now atleast i get some of my earnings. is it easy to get an ITIN?


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## over and out (Sep 9, 2011)

They are trying to do you a favor by not paying, to give you time to get that tax number.  Otherwise they will withhold tax from you, and you will either be double taxed (US and Poland) or the withholding rate will be much higher than you would pay on your income in Poland. It complicates things.

Once Amazon withholds the tax, you won't be able to get it back from them later, since they followed the legal requirements at time of payment (since you didn't give them the necessary form at that time).  I am simplifying things, but you need to file that form.

You should complete the form. The instructions are at the link I sent.  Not difficult but it does take a bit of time, so start today.

Good luck!


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## Viola Mazurkiewicz (Nov 21, 2014)

Thanks COlleen.
I was reading Amazon TOS and i found this...
"""""If you are not a U.S. citizen or resident, are not required to file U.S. tax returns, and do not have a business that is taxable in the U.S.:

You are not required to provide us with tax information or fill out any U.S. tax forms, such as the W-8ECI.

If you are not a U.S. citizen or resident, but your business is taxable in the U.S.:

You must provide us with a completed IRS Form W-8ECI, which you can download from http://www.irs.gov.
Please mail the form to us at: Amazon.com; Attn: Vendor Maintenance; P.O. Box 80683; Seattle, WA 98108-0683.
'''''''
so i'm the first one i think. i have no business and no nothing. what do you think? or maybe my english is bad to understand that?
Thanks


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## over and out (Sep 9, 2011)

if you are an individual and not a business you should follow the link I provided.


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## Jac1106 (Jan 13, 2012)

Viola Mazurkiewicz said:


> Hello COllen Thanks for replying
> Thing is they dont even want to pay, The notice says, amazon wont pay me unless i complete my tax interview.
> I don't care they hold 30% for now atleast i get some of my earnings. is it easy to get an ITIN?


Just answer the interview thing so they won't hold your money anymore. It doesn't matter if you get some answers wrong at first. You can go back later and change them.


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## Viola Mazurkiewicz (Nov 21, 2014)

Jac1106 said:


> Just answer the interview thing so they won't hold your money anymore. It doesn't matter if you get some answers wrong at first. You can go back later and change them.


Well i did a stupid thing and entered my Driver license number into SSN and wrongly filled out the form, now it says its in verfication status and i cant retake the interview anymore. I don't know what to do. i had to ask for help before filling the form out on my own.


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## Viola Mazurkiewicz (Nov 21, 2014)

Colleen Cross said:


> if you are an individual and not a business you should follow the link I provided.


Colleen, i clicked on your link, looked like it wanted documents and passport, looked hard.
Can you please explain why does amazon say that. or am i understand this line wrongly?
""""""If you are not a U.S. citizen or resident, are not required to file U.S. tax returns, and do not have a business that is taxable in the U.S.:

You are not required to provide us with tax information or fill out any U.S. tax forms, such as the W-8ECI."""
what does it mean? 
thanks


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

Viola,
It is asking for your information so it can either hold the proper amount of tax or none.  You are not a US citizen and need to prove that to Amazon so they can show the IRS here, that they are doing everything right.
It sounds like you reached the $600 annual limit for no taxes.
Now dry your eyes.  And just follow Colleen's link.  It can be fixed.


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## Jac1106 (Jan 13, 2012)

You can update/revise your answers when the verification process is finished. I wish you had left the tax number field empty and just let them withhold 30% until you have the proper Poland-issued tax number.  Anyway, may I suggest asking an affiliate marketing forum regarding your concerns? I think affiliate marketers are the most suitable people to answer your questions because they know more about the subject. And you should also write the relevant Amazon department and ask for clarification.


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## Viola Mazurkiewicz (Nov 21, 2014)

cinisajoy said:


> Viola,
> It is asking for your information so it can either hold the proper amount of tax or none. You are not a US citizen and need to prove that to Amazon so they can show the IRS here, that they are doing everything right.
> It sounds like you reached the $600 annual limit for no taxes.
> Now dry your eyes. And just follow Colleen's link. It can be fixed.


Well i didn't know that first $600 doesnt need tax. Thanks for revealing that. i followed Colleen's link, IT required me to post them documents, Are there any other way that i can do it just online withut sending anything? , 
Thanks for your answer anyway


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

I cannot answer your question but I bet someone here can.


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## Maria Romana (Jun 7, 2010)

I have one other suggestion for you. I used to have an Amazon affiliate account, and made only $10-$20 per month with it. All of the paperwork hassle was barely worth it already, but when they started up their restrictions with regards to free books, I was just going to give it up. But then someone pointed me to SkimLinks, which is an affiliate aggregator -- kind of the Smashwords or D2D of affiliate programs. It was free, so I signed up, and I've never looked back. Now all my affiliate links go through SkimLinks, and I end up with basically the same amount of commissions every month and NO HASSLES! They pay via PayPal, so there's no tax forms or address verification or any of that nonsense to deal with. They do have to approve your website, but that's it, and you can use their links on Twitter, Facebook, etc.

And FYI, I also got that letter from Amazon Affiliates recently, even though I haven't logged into my affiliates account in two years, and they don't owe me any money!

--Maria


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## Jac1106 (Jan 13, 2012)

An affiliate aggregator. Interesting! Thanks, Maria!


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## Lydniz (May 2, 2013)

I've just filled in that affiliates tax interview about 50 different ways but no matter what I do it tells me I need to fill in form 8233. Has anybody else had that? Does the IRS hell never end?


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

Lydniz said:


> I've just filled in that affiliates tax interview about 50 different ways but no matter what I do it tells me I need to fill in form 8233. Has anybody else had that? Does the IRS hell never end?


On the IRS hell, the answer is yes.


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## Jac1106 (Jan 13, 2012)

Lydniz said:


> I've just filled in that affiliates tax interview about 50 different ways but no matter what I do it tells me I need to fill in form 8233. Has anybody else had that? Does the IRS hell never end?


So W8BEN is for self-pubbers and 8233 is for affiliates? It's probably because royalties and affiliate income are two different things, and you have to satisfy the IRS in two different ways (forms). UGH! LOL


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## Viola Mazurkiewicz (Nov 21, 2014)

Lydniz said:


> I've just filled in that affiliates tax interview about 50 different ways but no matter what I do it tells me I need to fill in form 8233. Has anybody else had that? Does the IRS hell never end?


Hey lydniz. did they hold your earnings during that? or and how did they reject your interview? how long does it take? what do they say? II think we are in the same boat


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## Lydniz (May 2, 2013)

It says they won't pay me till I fill in the form. So I suppose I'll have to fill in the form. Another form. Sigh.


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## Viola Mazurkiewicz (Nov 21, 2014)

Lydniz said:


> It says they won't pay me till I fill in the form. So I suppose I'll have to fill in the form. Another form. Sigh.


Please let me know how are you going to do it too.


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## Viola Mazurkiewicz (Nov 21, 2014)

I solved it easily. Please check the first post, i updated it,
If anyone else needs help let me know. it would only take 5 mins.


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