Tax FAQs

Why has tax been withheld from my earnings?

Envato is required by law to withhold certain taxes from your earnings as an author. The relevant section of the author agreement says:

21. If required by law, we may deduct or withhold taxes (including withholding tax) in connection with your being an author. If so, we will give you relevant document that’s required by law about the deduction or withholding (like documentation allowing you to access rebates or credits, or to manage your tax affairs).

As an Australian company, Envato Elements Pty Ltd is required to withhold Australian Royalty Withholding Tax (AU RWT) from earnings paid out to authors located in other countries. The tax rate that applies can vary between 0% and 30%, depending on the tax treaty (if any) between Australia and your country.

We use the country information from your tax form (W8/W9) to calculate the amount to withhold. So please make sure you keep this information up to date if you move countries.

If taxes are withheld from your earnings, we will provide you with a relevant document each year to help you manage your tax affairs, for example, to claim a credit on your tax return for the amount withheld.

Why would a customer ask for my tax information?

From time to time you may receive requests from customers requesting a certificate of residency from you.

There are a number of reasons why they might be doing this, a couple are:

• Some countries, such as Poland, require customers to submit certain tax information that includes information about where they have purchased from, and how much they paid.
• Some companies, such as US companies, may have a code of business conduct that requires proper certification from you as to your tax residency status.

Please note that if you do not provide your tax information to the customer, they may not be able to purchase your item.

Do I need to pay taxes on my Envato Market earnings?

Any earnings that you receive from Envato Market are your responsibility to manage appropriately within your local country. We cannot provide advice on how you should proceed to pay taxes on your author earnings as tax laws vary greatly from country to country.

We encourage you to seek out professional advice on tax-law and filing taxes. While the specifics of your country’s tax laws might be different, there’s a good chance that your government still wants you to declare your income.

What happens to funds that are held by Envato?

It is Envato’s policy to suspend access to and prohibit the removal of funds from author accounts that Envato determines are related to individuals located in or associated with restricted countries. Funds held in suspended accounts will be held by Envato until the user is permitted to receive them. If you believe your account has been suspended in error, please contact us immediately.