If you publish on Amazon KDP, you have to complete a tax profile (formerly called the tax interview) before you can publish. If you live outside the US, US tax of 30% is withheld from some of your royalties by default, but you may get a lower rate under a tax treaty between your country and the US. Whatever the US withholds, you will usually still need to declare your royalties as income where you live.

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This guide explains how the KDP tax profile works, the difference between Form W-8BEN and Form W-9, how treaty rates work (with Australia, the UK and Canada as examples), what VAT and GST mean for your ebook royalties, and which records to keep. It is general information, not tax advice. Tax rules depend on your country and your own circumstances, so check your situation with a registered tax agent or accountant where you live.

• Everyone completes a tax profile. KDP’s help pages say all non-US persons must complete one before they can publish on KDP.
• W-9 is for US persons, W-8BEN for non-US individuals. Non-US companies use W-8BEN-E instead. The KDP profile asks you questions and picks the right form for you.
• 30% is the default for non-US authors. A treaty can lower it. The IRS treaty table lists 0% for literary royalties for UK and Canadian residents and 5% for Australian residents.
• US withholding does not settle your home tax. Most countries tax their residents on worldwide income, and many give a credit for foreign tax already paid.
• VAT and GST come off before your royalty is worked out. In many countries Amazon handles the consumer tax on ebooks, but you should still understand how it changes your royalty.

At a glance

• Every KDP author must complete a tax profile before publishing, and it generates the right IRS form for you.
• Form W-9 is for US persons, Form W-8BEN for non-US individuals, and W-8BEN-E for non-US companies.
• US withholding defaults to 30% for non-US authors, but the IRS treaty table lists 0% for UK and Canadian residents and 5% for Australian residents.
• US withholding does not settle your home tax, so you will usually still need to declare royalties where you live.
• Avoid letting your W-8 expire, as a reduced rate reverts to 30%, and never use your pen name in the tax profile.
• Check your situation with a registered tax agent or accountant in your country.

Why the US takes tax from authors who don’t live there

Royalties from sales on US-based Amazon storefronts count as US-source income. Under US law, a company paying US-source royalties to a non-US person has to withhold tax unless it holds paperwork showing a lower rate applies. That is why Amazon asks for your tax details before you publish, and why your country of residence matters so much.

According to the KDP Tax Withholding help page, royalties from ebook sales on Amazon.com, and from print sales on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.jp, Amazon.com.au and Amazon.ca, are subject to 30% US withholding for non-US persons. This includes payments from the KDP Select Global Fund (Kindle Unlimited page reads). The same page explains that a lower rate may apply if your country of permanent residence has an income tax treaty with the US.

A few storefronts have their own rules. KDP’s help pages say royalties from sales on Amazon.in are subject to 10% Singaporean withholding for publishers outside Singapore, and that sales on Amazon.com.br have their own Brazilian withholding rules. If you sell much in those markets, read the relevant KDP help pages for the current details.

W-8BEN vs W-9: which form applies to you

The forms belong to the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS). You don’t normally download and post them yourself. The KDP tax profile asks a series of questions and generates the right form from your answers. It still helps to know which one you should end up with.

Form	Who it is for	What it does	Typical result on KDP
W-9	US citizens, US residents for tax purposes, and US entities	Gives Amazon your US taxpayer identification number	No US withholding once valid information is on file. You receive Form 1099-MISC if you pass the reporting threshold.
W-8BEN	Individuals who are not US persons	Confirms foreign status and, where eligible, claims a treaty rate	30% by default, or the treaty rate if you qualify. You receive Form 1042-S.
W-8BEN-E	Companies and other entities set up outside the US	The same job as W-8BEN, for a business entity	Depends on the entity type and the treaty

Answer the US person questions honestly and carefully. US citizens who live abroad, such as an American author living in Australia or the UK, are still US persons for this purpose and normally fall under W-9, not W-8BEN. Dual citizens and recent movers are the most likely to get this wrong, so they should get professional advice before filling in the profile.

How treaty rates work, with three examples

A tax treaty is an agreement between two countries about which one can tax certain income, and how much. Many US treaties lower the tax on royalties from copyright in literary works, which is the type of income book royalties fall under. The IRS publishes a summary table of treaty rates (Tax Treaty Table 1). The current version is dated May 2023, and it is the table KDP points authors to when they check their rate.

Country of residence	Literary copyright royalty rate in the IRS treaty table	What it means in practice
Australia	5%	With a valid treaty claim, 5% of eligible US royalties is withheld instead of 30%
United Kingdom	0%	With a valid treaty claim, no US withholding on eligible royalties
Canada	0%	With a valid treaty claim, no US withholding on eligible royalties
New Zealand	5%	5% withheld with a valid treaty claim
India	15%	15% withheld with a valid treaty claim
Countries with no US treaty	No reduced rate	The default 30% applies

Treaty rates can change, and a treaty can have conditions that the summary table doesn’t show. Check the current IRS table and your KDP tax information page, not a figure copied from a forum post or an old blog. After you finish your profile, KDP shows your applicable rate on the Tax Information section of your account. The help pages say that if the rate doesn’t match what you expected, you may need to review your answers.

Do you need a US tax number?

Not always. KDP’s help pages say that if you have a US taxpayer identification number you must provide it to claim a reduced rate. If you don’t have one, you can enter the income tax ID issued by your country of residence, such as an Australian tax file number or a UK Unique Taxpayer Reference. Only if your country doesn’t issue tax IDs for income tax do you need to look at applying for a US Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN). KDP has a separate help page on that.

A worked example

Take an author who is a tax resident of Australia and earns US$1,000 in royalties from Amazon.com in a month. Without a treaty claim, US$300 (30%) would be withheld and US$700 paid out. With a valid treaty claim at the 5% rate in the IRS table, US$50 would be withheld and US$950 paid out. In both cases, the author would normally declare the royalties in their Australian tax return. The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) explains that Australian residents must declare foreign income and may be able to claim a foreign income tax offset for foreign tax paid. Exactly how that works for you is a question for your tax agent.

How to complete the KDP tax profile: step by step

1. Gather your details first. You need your legal name as your tax authority knows it, your permanent residence address, your country of citizenship and your tax identification number. If you publish as a company, have the company’s details ready.
2. Sign in and open Tax Information. In KDP, go to Your Account, then Tax Information, then Complete Tax Profile. KDP’s help pages say you need two-step verification switched on.
3. Answer the US person questions. This decides whether you end up with a W-9 or a W-8 form.
4. Claim treaty benefits if you are eligible. The profile asks for your country of residence and works out the treaty claim from your answers.
5. Use your real legal name, not your pen name. Your pen name goes on the book, while your legal name and tax ID go on the tax profile. They don’t need to match.
6. Review and sign electronically. Read the summary before you submit. Check the address, country and ID number carefully.
7. Check the status. Go back to Tax Information. Validated information shows as Complete, and your withholding rate is displayed.
8. Diary the expiry date. KDP says a W-8 expires on the last day of the third calendar year after the year you signed it, and that a reduced rate reverts to 30% if you let it lapse. Put a reminder in your calendar.

You still owe tax where you live

This is the part new authors miss most often. The US withholding is tax the US takes at source. It doesn’t replace the income tax you may owe in your own country. Most countries tax their residents on income from anywhere in the world. They treat book royalties as income, and often as business income if writing is an ongoing activity.

How this works differs by country:

• Many countries let you claim a credit or offset for foreign tax already withheld, so you aren’t taxed twice on the same income. The ATO calls this the foreign income tax offset, and other countries have their own versions.
• If your treaty rate is 0%, there is no foreign tax to credit. You simply pay your home country’s tax on the royalties.
• You may be able to claim expenses against your royalty income, such as editing, cover design, advertising and software. What counts, and how, depends on local rules.
• Above certain thresholds, some countries require you to register for consumer taxes, file as a business, or make advance tax payments.

A registered tax agent or accountant in your country can tell you how royalties are classed, what you can claim and when to file. That conversation is worth having in your first year rather than after several years of untidy records.

VAT and GST on ebooks: what Amazon handles and what it means for you

Many countries charge consumption tax (VAT or GST) on ebooks bought by their residents. On KDP, the price shown to a buyer in those countries already includes the tax, and the royalty is worked out after it is removed.

• KDP’s eBook Royalties page gives the formula as royalty rate multiplied by list price minus applicable VAT. For the 70% option, delivery costs are also deducted.
• KDP’s GST help page says ebooks sold to customers in Australia carry 10% GST and ebooks sold to customers in India carry 18% GST, and that KDP deducts GST from the list price before calculating royalties on those sales.
• In the UK, HMRC guidance confirms that e-publications, including ebooks, have been zero-rated for VAT since 1 May 2020.
• Rates vary across EU countries. KDP’s page on EU taxes and ebook list prices lists each country’s rate, and notes that Italy applies a lower rate to ebooks with an ISBN.

For most authors selling through Amazon, the practical upshot is that the same list price can earn different royalties in different countries. That doesn’t remove any obligations you may have in your own country. If you are registered for VAT or GST at home, or you sell direct from your own website, the rules can be quite different. Selling direct is where many authors take on consumer tax obligations themselves, so ask your adviser before you set up a shop.

Records worth keeping

Good records make tax time faster and cheaper, and they let you prove your figures if a tax authority asks. KDP’s year-end tax forms page notes that its tax forms show payments made, not royalties earned. Because royalties are paid about two months after the month they were earned, your own records should track both.

• A copy or screenshot of your completed tax profile summary, and the date you signed it
• Monthly royalty reports downloaded from the KDP Reports area
• Bank statements showing each payment received, in the currency it arrived in
• Year-end forms: Form 1042-S for non-US publishers, or Form 1099-MISC for US publishers
• Exchange rates you used to convert foreign payments, and where they came from
• Receipts and invoices for writing expenses such as editing, covers, ISBNs, software, advertising and training
• Records from every other platform you use, such as aggregators, audiobook distributors, print services and direct sales

KDP’s year-end forms page says Form 1042-S is issued to non-US publishers on or before 15 March each year, once their global royalty payments pass US$0.49. Form 1099-MISC is issued to US publishers on or before 31 January, once their payments pass US$10. How long you must keep records depends on your country, so ask your adviser.

Common mistakes to watch out for

• Treating the US withholding as your whole tax bill. It usually isn’t. Plan for home-country tax on your royalties.
• Letting the W-8 expire. Your rate can jump back to 30% without much warning. Diary the expiry date.
• Entering the wrong country of residence. Treaty rates depend on where you are tax resident, not where you were born or where your bank is.
• Using a pen name in the tax profile. Tax forms need your legal name or your company’s legal name.
• Forgetting other platforms. Many other publishing and distribution platforms also ask for tax forms. Treat each one separately and keep copies.
• Mixing earned and paid dates. Your bank receipts and your sales reports cover different months. Decide with your adviser which basis to use, and use it every year.
• Relying on outdated rates. Rules and rates change. Check the current KDP help pages and IRS treaty table each year.

Questions to ask your tax agent or accountant

1. Should my royalties be treated as hobby, personal or business income here?
2. Can I claim a credit for the US tax that was withheld, and what records do you need?
3. Which writing expenses can I claim, and from when?
4. Do I need to register for VAT or GST at any point, especially if I sell direct?
5. Would publishing through a company change anything for me, and is it worth it at my income level?
6. Which exchange rate method should I use for foreign payments?

If you are just starting out, these guides on publishing your first book, what to realistically expect from KDP and pricing your book for profit sit well alongside this one. If you write under a pseudonym, our guide to pen names explains how they work alongside your legal identity. To protect the account your royalties are paid into, read online security for authors. For a wider look at legal basics, see legal considerations for self-publishers.

Related guide: How to Publish a Book in Australia Without Costly Mistakes.

Sources this guide draws on: the Kindle Direct Publishing help pages on Tax Withholding, Complete Tax Profile, Year End Tax Forms, eBook Royalties, Goods and Services Tax for eBooks in Australia and India, and How EU Taxes Affect eBooks List Price; the IRS Tax Treaty Table 1 (Rev. May 2023) and the IRS pages for Forms W-8BEN, W-8BEN-E and W-9; Australian Taxation Office guidance on foreign income and the foreign income tax offset; and HMRC guidance on the zero rate of VAT for electronic publications. Rules change, so check the current versions.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to fill out a W-8BEN for Amazon KDP?

If you are not a US person, you need to complete KDP’s tax profile, which generates a W-8 form from your answers. Individuals end up with a W-8BEN, while non-US companies end up with a W-8BEN-E. KDP’s help pages say non-US persons must complete a tax profile before they can publish.

Why is Amazon withholding 30% of my royalties?

Thirty per cent is the default US withholding rate for non-US persons on royalties from the storefronts KDP lists. It is likely to apply if your tax profile is incomplete, has expired, or doesn’t make a valid treaty claim. If your country has a treaty with the US, review your profile answers and compare your rate with the current IRS treaty table.

Do I need an ITIN or EIN to publish on KDP from outside the US?

Usually not. KDP’s help pages say you can enter the income tax ID issued by your country of residence when claiming a reduced rate. You only need a US number if your country doesn’t issue tax IDs for income tax, or if you already have one.

Can I get back tax that was withheld at 30%?

Possibly, but it isn’t automatic, and the process sits with US and home-country tax rules rather than with Amazon. Some authors can claim a credit at home for foreign tax paid, and in some cases a refund can be claimed from the IRS. Ask a registered tax agent or accountant which route, if any, fits your situation.

Do I pay VAT or GST on my ebook sales through Amazon?

For ebook sales through Amazon, the VAT or GST is included in the buyer’s price, and KDP removes it before calculating your royalty. Whether you have any separate VAT or GST obligations at home depends on your country, your turnover and whether you sell elsewhere, so check with your adviser.

Does my pen name need to match my tax information?

No. The book can carry any pen name you choose, while the tax profile must use your legal name, or your company’s legal name, and its tax ID. Keeping the two separate is normal.

Tax is rarely anyone’s favourite part of publishing, but once you know how it works it takes only a little time each year. Complete your tax profile accurately, check your withholding rate, diary the expiry date and keep tidy records. Then bring your questions to a registered tax agent or accountant in your country, who can turn this general information into advice that fits you.