Regarding Sales Tax on Patreon in July (Patreon)

Hey there, Oxdarock here!

So, I got a heads up from Patreon stating that, on July 1st 2020, they will be required by law to collect sales taxes from patrons. Something about taxes laws being written to apply to downloadable content and/or streams. According to the CEO of Patreon, sites like Twitch and Youtube already deal with this and now Patreon has to as well, which isn't too hard to believe considering they have to deal with VAT.

So what does this mean for my patrons? Probably nothing in all honesty. I'm not 100% sure on the details, but they're going to implement an automatic method of taxing patrons based on key words in the tier description, but they're also giving creators control to tweak the settings (which I intend to do). For the most part, however, pretty much all my tiers aren't really taxable in a majority of states in the US. Probably the only exception is the $10 tier where I offer a free issue of my latest image pack. I'll still offer it regardless, but I may have to get creative in how I advertise it. 

Finally, how much will the sales tax be per tier? Something like 4%-11% based on what tier is considered taxable in certain areas. Keep in mind that while I intend to tweak the tax settings, it still might affect some patrons, which is out of my control. 

Anywho, just thought I'd give everyone a heads up. It might not be much to worry about with one or two memberships, but it'll add up for those with a lot. Come to think of it, it's actually the return of the fee creators vs patrons debacle that popped up years ago, only this time Patreon is required to do it and they're trying to use what they've learned to make it as painless as possible. If you'd like to learn more about what Patreon is doing, check out their FAQ page on the matter. 

Anyway, that's all for now!