New Udemy rules for taxes for Non-US instructors

[Ventsi]

Hi everyone, 

can someone give me a hand?

I'm a new instructor on Udemy. I will upload my first course soon. However, there are some new Udemy tax report rules which confuse me.

First of all, I'm from Bulgaria, an EU Member State. 

Can someone clarify for me what I have to do when it comes to submitting tax forms required by Udemy?

I am an individual instructor. I have no company or any business identification number and so on.

I don't know whether I need to pay any taxes in my country because I'm not sure whether I will earn anything as an income from Udemy. In that regard what tax form I have to submit and what information to fill in.

There are taxforms.udemy.com where you need to fill in your details, they require the so-Foreign TIN but I don't have such one.

So from that perspective, it is confusing what exactly we need to do as non-US residents.

Thanks for your help

[MikeXCohen · Accepted solution]

Hi Ventsi. No one can tell you this because tax laws are (1) specific for each country and (2) depend on tax treaties between Bulgaria and US. Udemy won't tell you because if they provide advice for each country, then it's a huge amount of work for them, and they obviously do not want to be liable if someone does their taxes wrong and blames it on Udemy's advice.

I recommend finding a good tax expert in Bulgaria and pay them to tell you what to do. I know it's annoying to have to pay for tax advice, but I do it, and it's worth the cost to help you sleep better. Plus, paying for professional advice motivates you to make better courses so you can recoup the costs 😉

[Ventsi · Accepted solution]

Yes, I've already arranged a meeting with an accountant for that purpose. I just wanted to know more about these Udemy tax forms that we will need to fill in. Thanks for your reply.

[Abbie]

Hey @Ventsi! To be sure, only premium, published instructors need to complete this and we'll reach out to folks when it's time for them to do this.

If you're looking ahead to be prepared for when you publish your course, that's awesome! We can't provide tax advice though, so I'd recommend reaching out to an accountant or seeing what information is available online.

[Ventsi]

Hi, well I consider to be a Premium instructor, that's why I ask for more clarifications. The Tax system in different countries is different so from that perspective, it will be nice if we know what we need to do and what is these new Udemy tax rules in detail.

I don't expect tax advice but only what non-US instructors have to submit as a form and in what situations. Is it mandatory and what will be the consequences if we don't do that.

Have a nice day.

[MikeXCohen · Accepted solution]

Hi Ventsi. No one can tell you this because tax laws are (1) specific for each country and (2) depend on tax treaties between Bulgaria and US. Udemy won't tell you because if they provide advice for each country, then it's a huge amount of work for them, and they obviously do not want to be liable if someone does their taxes wrong and blames it on Udemy's advice.

I recommend finding a good tax expert in Bulgaria and pay them to tell you what to do. I know it's annoying to have to pay for tax advice, but I do it, and it's worth the cost to help you sleep better. Plus, paying for professional advice motivates you to make better courses so you can recoup the costs 😉

[Ventsi · Accepted solution]

Yes, I've already arranged a meeting with an accountant for that purpose. I just wanted to know more about these Udemy tax forms that we will need to fill in. Thanks for your reply.

[Zine]

Hi Ventsi,

I'm in the same situation as you; I wonder if you did figure out how to fill the tax form!

[Ventsi]

Hi Zine,

well, this depends on the country where you will pay your taxes. In the case of Bulgaria, we have several options - to be registered as an individual in the Tax Agency from where we can get a Tax Number or to register a company for that purpose. 

But this is in the case where you will earn something. In the beginning, there is no immediate need to do this because you have no earnings. Of course, tax legislation can be different in your country.

Unfortunately, taxes are a huge mess everywhere especially when it comes to online solo businessmen or freelancers. Here we have national requirements, the EU once, the US and so on.

The tax rules are not so flexible for freelancers as a whole and it is very unfortunate because more and more people start to work in that way.

[AnasMohamed]

I am still confused, Ventsi. How to solve this problem? 

[Ventsi]

Well, I talked again with Udemy and they give me this link https://www.oecd.org/tax/automatic-exchange/crs-implementation-and-assistance/tax-identification-num... where you can find what TIN numbers mean for every country in the world.

This in case that you are instructor as an individual. For companies I guess TIN could be different.

[AnasMohamed]

thanks for your replying. My country, Egypt, isn't on this list, what does it mean?

[Ventsi]

Honestly, I don't know. Ask Udemy for help, I suppose that they can give you more clarification for cases like yours. 

[SushantBram679]

Hey everyone I need a help I am from nepal and I have tin I also knew I need to fill w8 Ben form in udemy. But don't I have to do taxes in my country or udemy will do taxes using my tin.

I further see you to reply and help me .

Thanks in advance.

[Gabrielle]

I am from Hong Kong. We actually are tax free for all products and service, the only one tax-free place in the world.

For income tax, the minum is 2%, and the maximum is 17%  (you need to earn more than 30K monthly). 

I don't know why I need to pay 30% tax in udemy course. Also, I am only a student, no money to hire an accountant for this tax form clarification. 

Could u pls give me some advice? coz the tax has been deducted from Jan 2020. To sum up, it is a big money to a student. :'(

[MikeXCohen]

There is only one answer: Hire a tax professional to help you fill in the W8. If you do it wrong, the IRS will take 30% even if the US has a tax treaty with your country. I paid an accountant here in the Netherlands 50 euros, which is a lot less than 30% of my Udemy earnings.

And don't expect Udemy to help every instructor in every country. They cannot be held responsible for tax situations in every country.

[CemalArican95]

Could I borrow you accountant, given he did the same for you?

[H]

Hoi Mike, (niet zeker of je zelf ook Nederlands bent 🙂 I am also living in the Netherlands and trying to figure out which form I have to fill out. As an 'eenmanszaak' I think I have to fill out form W-8BEN but as you said this can differ per person/kind of business. Are you willing to share the accountant that helped you? I would love to ask /hire this person to help me too? Kind Regards

[MikeXCohen]

Hoi H :).  I have a BV but I'd guess an eenmanszaak would also fill in a W8BENE. I used Rubes Tax accountants; they are experts on US-NL relations.

[AHMED REFAIE]

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@AnasMohamed wrote:
thanks for your replying. My country, Egypt, isn't on this list, what does it mean?

---

Hi AnasMohamed,u seem like u r from Egypt  just like me

i still have a problem with the foreign ITN in the tax decomention  

 I wonder if you did figure out how to fill the tax form!

[AlyssaCurta004]

This link is helpful, thank you

[AHMED REFAIE]

Hi AnasMohamed,u seem like u r from Egypt  just like me

i still have a problem with the foreign ITN in the tax decomention  

 I wonder if you did figure out how to fill the tax form!

[AdnanKhawaja]

I have the same question I'm from Canada