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Are non-US sellers classed as being engaged with a trade or business when they sell on Itch.io?

A topic by actuallyKron created Jun 01, 2021 Views: 388 Replies: 4
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Does anyone know if sellers receiving income from Itch.io through the "Collected by Itch.io, paid later" payment method, mean that sellers that are outside of the US would be classed as an "individual engaged or considered to be engaged in a trade or business in the United States"?

Thanks. :)

(+2)

Technically you are selling to the whole world not just the USA. You also can trade in other stuff beside games which would mean everyone who sells in itch.io would be consider to be engaged in a trade. However this is not the correct answer because each country has different laws so what you consider 'engaged in a trade' wont legally translate to another country.

This is why itch.io is Merchant of Record because they will handle this for you. The only thing you need to do is file the correct tax files  your country requested. You maybe consider a sole proprietorship or business depending on what country you live.

Firstly, thanks for the response. 

The reasons I specifically asked about the US is because Itch.io is a US company and I'm not from the US. I'm actually from the UK. When it comes to doing taxes over here I'm pretty confident however when it comes to the US I have no clue. I have a feeling that I might have to file a 1040NR tax return, however it all depends on whether or not selling on Itch.io, for US tax purposes, is classed as "being engaged with a trade or business". 

From what I can gather from your reply, selling things on Itch is classed as "being engaged with a trade or business" for US tax purposes?

Thanks. :)

(+1)

1040NR and SCHEDULE 2 part 2 files are what you need to file tax  if you never been in the USA but are selling digital goods. The IRS made this simple table for anyone to understand what needs to be filled: https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1040nr

Thank you so much for your help. 

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