Disclaimer Regarding Tax Information: Spreadshirt aims to make payments and legal tax compliance as easy as possible for our partners. The following is for informational purposes only. Spreadshirt is unable to give tax or legal advice. If you have questions or concerns about tax filings, please contact a tax professional. Please note: The payment method "bank transfer" is currently only accepted by U.S. banks.
Setting up your payment information as a non-U.S. corporation is a straightforward process that ensures you're ready to receive earnings smoothly and securely. In the “Payment info” tab, all partners and designers are required to submit their payment details—either bank or PayPal account information—along with tax documents. It’s important to complete this step by the time you make your first sale, as providing this information is necessary to enable payouts.
Who Needs to Submit Form W-8BEN-E?
Form W-8BEN-E must be provided to the withholding agent or payer if you are a foreign entity receiving a payment that is subject to withholding, such as a withholdable payment from a withholding agent or a payment under Chapter 3 withholding. Additionally, entities maintaining accounts with a foreign financial institution (FFI) that requests this form must also submit it.
How to set up your payment data
First off, in the “Payment info” tab, if you haven’t already, you’ll have the option of setting two-factor authentication, which we suggest setting up to further protect your data.
Then the set-up process begins. First, click on the button “+ Add Payout Method”. A page with your personal data transmitted from your profile will show up. Then select the account type “registered business” just like you did in the “Personal information tab” then click “Next” on the bottom right.
You will then be asked to enter either your U.S. bank account information (if you have one) or your Paypal information. At this stage, you will need to select one; however, you can always add another payout method later (although only one can be active).
The next step is providing your tax form, which is mandatory for you to receive your payouts. Start by clicking “Submit a Tax Form”, which will lead you to a page where you are required to select whether you are a U.S. citizen or not.
As a non-U.S. citizen, you are to provide a W-8BEN-E form, so click “I am not a U.S. Person” (if you are a U.S. citizen you may provide the W-9 form, see the FAQ for “U.S. individuals and cooperations”). Then click on “I am a corporation”. If you are an individual, see the FAQ for “non-U.S. individuals”.
At the next stage, you will be required to certify that you are not a U.S. company and certify whether you provide services from within or outside of the U.S. The term “provide services” here refers to your design creation and/or marketing. Once you have confirmed everything, you can type in your full business name to certify it.
Then, you’ll be asked to identify the beneficial owner by entering your organization’s name in the provided field. If you select the option to transmit your data, your personal details will automatically be filled in from the previous steps.
Next, enter your Country of Incorporation or Organization and select your entity type. Then, you need to fill in your permanent residence, which can be done automatically with the pop-up. If your mailing address is the same as your permanent residence, you can click on the box in that section to make things easier.
Once that’s done you’ll need to select your Taxpayer Identification and enter your Foreign Tax Identification Number (FTIN). If your company is in a country that issues TINs, you’re required to provide one; otherwise, the form will be invalid, and payouts cannot be processed. If your company is based in a country that doesn’t issue TINs, check the box labeled “I am unable to provide a TIN” to proceed.
If you’re from a country that has a double tax treaty (DTT) with the U.S., you will be taxed at a reduced rate or you will be exempt from U.S. taxes on certain items of income you receive from sources within the U.S. You will have to confirm a number of things if this is the case for you:
- You are required to verify that the beneficial owner is a resident in the country you entered before. The “Beneficial owner” mentioned in this step is the natural person who ultimately owns a company or has control over it.
- The second part covers the Limitation on Benefits (LOB) test, where partners must confirm eligibility under tax treaty rules. Different tests are available, one example being the “Company that meets the ownership and base erosion test”. This is one such test that confirms that at least over half of the company’s owners are residents of treaty countries, ensuring it legitimately qualifies for reduced taxes under the treaty.
The withholding rate and treaty article will be shown in an extra field. If your country doesn’t have a DTT with the U.S., 30% withholding will be added as usual.
Now, check that all the information is correct, click continue, and ensure all boxes on the lefthand side are ticked to proceed and complete your W-8BEN-E form. Once that’s all done, you can click “Complete W-8BEN-E” on the bottom right, and your tax form has been submitted!
After everything has successfully been submitted, you will be asked if you accept e-delivery for your end-of-year tax statement. This statement will be stored in your Partner Area, and you will receive an email notification when it’s ready to be downloaded. If you do not accept e-delivery, you will receive it by post instead.
You can now find your tax form in the “Payment info” tab and check its status. The final confirmation of your tax form may take up to 2 weeks.
If you wish, you can add another payment method by clicking on the blue “+ Add Payout Method” button next to “Payout Methods”. Enter the data for the extra payout method you’d like to add. After entering the data, you can choose between “Add” or “Add and Active”. If you select “Add and Active”, this payment method will be your preferred/active one.
