What are these forms and which will I get?
Between January and March of each year, Envato will provide you with tax forms 1099 or 1042. The date you can expect to receive the form and the form that you will receive will vary depending on whether you have submitted your W8-BEN, W8-BEN-E or W9 forms.
- If you have submitted your W9 form we will be sending you your Form 1099, to be posted to your account billing address by February 28.
- If you submitted a Form W8BEN or W8BEN-E and received earnings from US buyers, you will receive a Form 1042 form by March 15 each year.
- If you had earnings from US buyers before you submitted your Form W8BEN or W8BEN-E, you will still receive a Form 1042 whereby your earnings for this period will be taxed at the highest rate.
For more information regarding these forms, please contact your local tax advisor.
FAQ: Tax Forms 1099
(Form 1099-MISC and Form 1099-NEC)
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What appears on the 1099-MISC form?
You have essentially completed a W9 form because you are based in the US, therefore, you will receive a Form 1099. The Form provides a summary of your worldwide income, as well as taxes paid to the IRS on your behalf. You may use this information in completing your tax return, so make sure you give them to your tax advisor/accountant.
The earnings and taxes related to the earnings that were credited to your Envato account during the period January to December.
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What appears on the 1099-NEC form?
You will only receive a Form 1099-NEC if you have performed services on behalf of Envato, but was not an employee of Envato. The Form will provide a summary of your non-employee compensation during the period January to December.
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What do the figures mean?
The amounts shown as income are your total earnings for the period January to December. The amounts shown as the tax paid are the taxes that Envato collected from your earnings and paid to the IRS on your behalf.
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Why did I not get a Form 1099?
Either you did not have any reportable earnings from Envato during the period, or you are a non-US person and have submitted a Form W8BEN or W8NE-E. Note that payments to a corporation, including a Limited Liability Company that is treated as a C- or S-Corporation, are not reportable on a Form 1099-MISC. If you submitted a Form W8BEN or W8BEN-E, you may receive a Form 1042 which would have similar information as the Form 1099, from March following the year your earnings have been credited to your Envato account.
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When will I get my form?
You will receive Form 1099 by February 28 following the calendar year that your earnings have been credited to your Envato account.
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Can I get the form for a different period so that it matches the financial year of my country?
No, unfortunately, the form is an annual form that has to match the United States financial year (i.e. January to December). This is an IRS requirement.
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Can I get it electronically?
Yes, you can. Your electronic statements are under your account settings - Author Tools - Tax Summaries. For more information on accessing electronic summaries, please visit this article.
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What do I do with my summary?
You may use this information in completing your tax return, so make sure you give them to your tax advisor/accountant.
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When do I get my money back?
Depending on whether you have other earnings (apart from your earnings from Envato), your personal tax rate and the tax laws in your home country, you may be entitled to a refund on some of the taxes paid after you lodge your tax return with the tax authority in your country.
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My Form 1099 says royalties of $X but on my statements page, my funds show a lesser amount. Why is that?
The earnings amount displayed on your Form 1099 is your gross (or total) income from January to December. This is the total revenue you received over the course of the year through Envato before we make deductions from Envato services charges and taxes.
These charges are:
- Any taxes
- Author fee
This earnings figure is different to the total amount that you would have withdrawn from Envato over the course of the year, which is what you receive after these deductions are made.
Keep in mind, when you prepare your tax return you may be able to claim a tax deduction for the author fee charges. You can get the total amount of the author fees from your statement page. We suggest you speak to your tax adviser/accountant if you need further assistance.
If you wanted to reconcile your earnings to what has been reported on your Form 1099, you would have to total your earnings from each Envato platform you have earned on, using your dashboard for the period January to December. It should then materially agree to what’s been reported on your Form.
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Where do I find the total amount of author fees that I paid Envato?
You may find the total earnings, taxes and author fees for any period in your statements page. Just select statement from the drop-down box on your username (the top right hand corner).
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What do the figures mean?
The amounts shown as income are your total earnings for the period January to December. The amounts shown as tax paid are the taxes that Envato collected from your earnings and paid to the IRS on your behalf.
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What do Royalty and Other Income mean?
Royalties are your earnings from licensing your items to your customers and the included support. Other income is your earnings from extended and renewed support.
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I am not a US author, but I still received a Form 1099. Why?
You received a Form 1099 because you would have previously submitted your W9 Form to us, before updating us with your new tax information (and submitting a Form W8).
Box 2 is the income that you earned before your submitted your tax information. Box 4 is the backup withholding tax that was applied to those earnings.
You may also receive a Form 1042 in March which will show your earnings from the time you submitted your tax information.
You may use these statements in completing your tax return in your country. You may be able to claim foreign tax credit for the US taxes you paid against the tax liability in your country. We suggest you give these statements to your tax adviser/accountant.
FAQ: Tax Forms 1042
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When will I get my form?
Your Form 1042 will be available on your dashboard by 15 March each year. Please ensure that you have enabled two factor authentication (2FA). For further details and instructions on accessing your tax summaries, please read this help article.
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Why did I not get a Form 1042?
You may not have been issued a Form 1042 because you did not submit your tax information. You were issued a Form 1099 instead.
Please note that for IRS reporting requirements, Envato has an obligation to provide this Form to the IRS. You will only receive a Form 1042 if you made sales to US buyers ONLY, and for sales in relation to “royalty income” only. These earnings may be subject to royalty withholding taxes, any taxes that have been paid to the IRS on your behalf will also be reported on this Form.
To ensure that you receive your Form 1042, please submit your tax information by copying the following link and updating it with your username:
https://themeforest.net/user/USERNAME/tax_information/new
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Can I get the form for a different period so that it matches the financial year of my country?
No, unfortunately, the form is an annual form that has to match the United States financial year (i.e. January to December). This is an IRS requirement.
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Can I get it electronically?
Yes, you can. Your electronic statements are under your account settings - Author Tools - Tax Summaries. For more information on accessing electronic summaries, please visit this article.
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What do I do with my summary?
You may use this information in completing your tax return, so make sure you give them to your tax advisor/accountant.
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When do I get my money back?
Depending on whether you have other earnings (apart from your earnings from Envato), your personal tax rate and the tax laws in your home country, you may be entitled to a refund on some of the taxes paid after you lodge your tax return with the tax authority in your country.
We suggest you ask your tax adviser on how to include the information in your tax return in your country.
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My Form 1042 says gross income of $X but on my statements page, I did not receive this amount from Envato. Why is that?
The earnings amount displayed on your Form 1042 is your gross (or total) income from January to December the previous year. As noted above, this income will only be in relation to your “royalty income” with transactions from US buyers ONLY. This is only one of many components that make up your total gross earnings, therefore, it will not be easy to reconcile.