At the risk of sounding pedantic...

[norrimac]

Re. the US-IRS Withholding Tax  :-(

Could this be a workaround? And a legit one at that, maybe...

Lulu retain (say) 30% Withholding Tax on sales to US addresses. Understood.

However, I believe this is because we are using a Lulu ISBN. (Or am I wrong?)

Begs the question: if I use a local ISBN (I'm in Spain, and the Association of Authors will 'sell' us blocks of ISBNs) then would Lulu still have to withhold tax on my sales on US territory?

Norman.

[Ken Anderson]

I don't believe that it has anything to do with the ISBN.
It's US sales taxes.
I believe it would also apply to books that don't have an ISBN.

[norrimac]

Cheers Ken. I'm going to look into this further, will let you knwow.

Norman.

[Peter May]

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norrimac wrote:

 However, I believe this is because we are using a Lulu ISBN. (Or am I wrong?)

Begs the question: if I use a local ISBN (I'm in Spain, and the Association of Authors will 'sell' us blocks of ISBNs) then would Lulu still have to withhold tax on my sales on US territory?

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Yes to 1, No to second

I have sent you a PM

[Belinda D'Alessandro · Accepted solution]

I have to second Peter's answer: using a free Lulu ISBN means sales of the book with a free Lulu ISBN within the US will be subject to tax withheld, even if you live outside the US. Here are the Help pages which explain:

http://connect.lulu.com/t5/Creator-Revenues-FAQ/What-are-Royalties/ta-p/31843

http://connect.lulu.com/t5/Creator-Revenues-FAQ/When-does-a-royalty-become-subject-to-withholding/ta...

I use ISBNs issued by the Australian ISBN agency and Lulu doesn't withhold tax from revenue from sales of books with those ISBNs or from sales of books without ISBNs.

[norrimac]

 "..... sales of material with a Lulu-owned ISBN ...... ...... ...... ...are reported to the IRS and are subject to withholding."

Belinda, looks like we are in agreement!

I shall off to La Asociación de Autores tomorrow morning and get myself some ISBNs.

Whooppee! Another revision! Another  copy of my own book!!!

Thanks Srta D'Allessandro! (Great name - can't really be yours, can it???)

Norman.

PS "Tie me kangaroo down, sport..." ... is that legal? Is it like 'sheep' jokes in Wales???????