Wall 01KDP's tax interview
30% withheld unless a treaty applies
KDP withholds 30% on US-source royalties unless you claim a treaty rate.
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Built for · Self-publishing
A US LLC for KDP authors and self-publishers outside the United States
Book royalties are the one kind of income where the tax treaty matters more than the company. A US LLC helps an author with payments, an imprint and a business to grow, but it doesn't change the withholding.
- Usually
- Structure
- Wyoming LLC
- Plan
- Starter
- On the day
- $391.40
- Every year
- $179
01Why a US company
What it does for KDP authors and self-publishers.
Authors form a US company for an imprint that can publish other writers, a bank account that receives royalties in dollars without converting each payment, a Stripe account for direct sales and courses, and a business kept separate from them. KDP pays individuals in most countries already, so the company is a choice, not a requirement.
02What stands in the way
Three things in the way, and one way through.
Wall 02Direct sales
Books and courses need a payments account
Selling books and courses directly needs a payments account that works for you.
Wall 03The bank
Dollar royalties without conversions
Royalties from Amazon, IngramSpark and other platforms arrive in dollars, ideally without a conversion each time.
The door
A US LLC, with its EIN and a US bank account.
One company, one EIN and one bank account, which is what everything above asks for.
03The honest part
What to know before you order.
01
Royalties, withholding and the treaty
Royalties from sales to US readers are US-source, and the platform withholds 30% unless a tax form claims a treaty rate. A single-member LLC owned by someone abroad is looked through to its owner, so the form is a W-8 and the rate is your country's treaty rate: 0% for the United Kingdom, Germany and many others, 15% for India, and 30% where there's no treaty. Forming a US LLC doesn't change that number. The treaty does.
02
Form 5472
A foreign-owned single-member LLC files Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120 every year, even a year with no income. It reports what moved between you and the company, and missing it carries a $25,000 penalty.
The plan that fits
Starter, usually.
An author's company is simple. Starter covers the imprint's company, the EIN, the operating agreement and the calendar.
StarterFits KDP authors and self-publishers
For your first company, when it needs to exist and nothing more yet.
To start
$391.40 once
Includes the $102.40 Wyoming fee · then $179 a year
04Questions
Questions from KDP authors and self-publishers.
If yours is not here, email us at [email protected] before you order.
No. The treaty between the United States and your country reduces it, claimed on a W-8 in the tax interview, and the LLC is looked through to you. If your country has no treaty, the rate stays at 30% with or without a company.
For an imprint, a dollar bank account, a Stripe account for direct sales, and a business kept separate from you. Not for the withholding.
Read next
Related.
Ready when you are
Answer the questions. We do the filing.
It takes about four minutes. You see the whole order, state fee included, before anything is charged.
Compare the plansCompany name
LLC · WYName checked first · Same business day
Start a companyStarter$289 + $102.40 WyomingSame day