Site Update, Death and Taxes (Patreon)

So, apparently there's some tax thing going around Patreon next month, something about various jurisdictions taxing digital goods. I don't fully understand it myself, and hopefully it shouldn't amount to much, but it is a flexible system where I can set vague targets as to what the "value" of what I provide is, verses how much of it is more of a "donation." I could just set it all as a donation, or something close to that, but I don't think that would be entirely honest, and I want to be as honest and fair as I can be. I do think taxes have value to them, and while I want you guys to get a good deal out of this, I don't think there would be much benefit to trying to be shady about it.

So here's how I've divided things up. Per the Patreon suggested model, the $1 donation will be considered half donation, and half digital good. I think that means taxes will be applied on 50 cents, and I think that can mean 5-25% tax on that amount depending on where you live, which would mean like 3-13 cents. There are more details here: https://support.patreon.com/hc/en-us/articles/360043054911-New-Sales-Tax-Requirements-effective-July-1st-2020

Since I don't really put out much of "value" at the higher and higher tiers, I've reduced the relative tax on each of those tiers, the $3 tier being taxed for 30% of that $3 (or X% of ~$1, depending on where you live), up to the $50 tier only being taxed for 1% of the amount donated. I believe that this is a fair and honest interpretation of the rules, since at those tiers, you're not getting much "stuff" lately that the $1 patrons are getting, and the rest is just support of the project we're building here, for which I'm very grateful. It's a bit more art than science, since I can only guess at what individual patrons find to be "of value" from their pledges, but I think this balance accurately reflects the average patron.

This all seems complicated to me, and I'm sorry if I can't be more specific with it, but let me know if anyone sees a charge they weren't expecting, and I'll see what I can do about that.