Set Up Tax Forms for Your Account
To earn revenue from your Alexa skills, you need to provide your taxpayer information to be eligible to publish skills that have in-skill purchases.
Completing the Tax Identity Interview
To comply with United States Internal Revenue tax regulations, you need to complete a tax identity interview for skills that are intended to generate royalties or other payments to you from Amazon. The tax identity interview is a self-service process that is designed to guide you through entering your required taxpayer information. As part of the tax identity interview, you will need to provide your 9-digit US tax identification number (TIN), which can be any of the following identification numbers:
- Social Security Number (SSN)
- Employer Identification Number (EIN)
- Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN)
To monetize your skill, you will need to fill out the Royalty Tax Identification Interview:
- Log in to your developer account on the developer portal.
- Go to Settings > Tax Identity.
- Enter your taxpayer information as required.
In most cases, your tax information will be validated within a few minutes of submission. In rare cases, the validation process can take 7-10 business days. Once the validation process is complete, your tax status will show as Complete. Note that you will be unable to make changes to your tax information during the validation process. If your information or circumstances change, retake the Tax Identity Interview.
Tax Identity Interview for Tax-Exempt Organizations
Even if your organization is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization, you still need to complete a Tax Identification Interview. Completing the Tax Identification Interview will provide Amazon with the appropriate tax identify as a W-9 or W-8BEN form.
Tax Identity Interview for International Developers
Even if you are not based in the United States and pay taxes in your own country or region, you still need to provide valid taxpayer information. You will need to take the Tax Identity Interview to complete either an IRS Form W-8 or Form 8233 for US tax reporting. The results of the Tax Identity Interview helps with three things:
- Certifying your non-US status.
- Determining if your payments are subject to US tax reporting.
- Determining the rate of US tax withholding (if any) applicable to your payments
Troubleshooting Your Tax Identity Interview
If the information that you submitted in your tax identity interview does not match IRS records, you will need to retake the tax identity interview within 30 days. Amazon will email you instructions for updating your tax information. If you do not supply valid information within this timeframe, your skills that have in-skill products will be made unavailable for customers to purchase and use.
Amazon checks whether the tax information you supplied matches IRS records and does not report specific issues or solutions related to your tax information. If you need to re-take the tax identity interview, consider some of the most common causes for invalid tax information:
- Check the spelling of your name. Make sure that you provide your middle initial or middle name if applicable.
- Use the name and Tax Identification Number (TIN) that appear on your Social Security card (SSN), CP565 notice (ITIN), or CP575A notice (EIN), if applicable.
- If you are providing an EIN, use the name that appears on the top line of the address header on your CP575A notice from the IRS if you are providing a business name.
For your security, Amazon cannot update your account records if you provide your tax identity over the phone or via email. Amazon also cannot disclose to you which information in the tax identity interview was not valid.
Check your records to confirm your tax identity, and enter this information in the tax identity interview.
Taxation for International Developers
US tax law requires Amazon to report royalty payments made to entities and persons residing outside of the United States, and may require Amazon to withhold and remit taxes on such royalty payments to the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS). You may also be required to report and pay taxes to your own government. Consult a tax advisor if you have any questions on these requirements.
Determining Tax Rates for International Developers
The statutory US withholding tax rate applied to US source royalty and service payments made to non-US persons is 30%. If you are a non-US-based developer, and your country/region of residence has an existing income tax treaty with the US, you may be able to claim a reduced rate of US tax withholding on the royalty and/or service payments that you receive by completing an IRS tax form (e.g. Form W-8) in the tax identity interview.
Amazon will provide you and the IRS with an IRS Form 1042-S each year, which provides details regarding US source payments and associated US tax withholdings remitted to the IRS during that year.
Related Topics
- Learn more about completing your Tax Identity Interview
