This article and the FAQs below include details about how sales tax applies to Patreon, and how it may apply to your Patreon.
Please note that in this article (and generally on the Patreon platform), any reference to VAT includes reference to Value-Added Tax (VAT), Goods and Services Tax (“GST”), Harmonised Sales Tax (“HST”) and any other similar tax or indirect tax imposed in non-US jurisdictions, as relevant. This article is intended to provide guidance on both sales tax in the United States (US) and VAT in non-US jurisdictions (collectively referred to as sales tax).
Patreon is required by law to add sales tax (including VAT, GST or other similar taxes) to some payments made by members. Tax laws in many countries and US states have evolved in recent years to require online marketplaces such as Patreon to apply sales tax to transactions that take place via their platform.
About Sales Tax
For transactions where we collect tax, sales tax is charged on supplies to members and customers generally based on the location of the member/customer and not of the creator. Since you may have members and customers anywhere in the world and the tax rules differ among locations, all of this information is relevant to you.
The amount of sales tax applied to payments depends on the tax rate in the jurisdiction of the member or customer and what you are offering. Tax will apply on every charge for a sale, whether that’s for a monthly or annual subscription or a one-off item. Please note that the tax laws in some jurisdictions do not require or allow Patreon to collect sales tax on payments made to you, and therefore in certain jurisdictions, you may have your own tax obligations. For this reason, we always recommend that you speak to your local accountant or tax advisor.
How do I make sure that my membership benefits are taxed correctly?
We encourage creators to explore our advanced sales tax settings function for their membership benefits. This will give you more control over ensuring that sales tax is being applied correctly to your membership benefits. We rely on the information you provide to us about the benefits you are providing to your members within each tier offering to ensure we are charging your members and customers the correct amount of tax.
If you want to set up your tiers quickly and do not want to use the advanced sales tax settings, we will apply the highest relevant tax rate to your whole tier (if at least one of the benefits you are providing is taxable in the jurisdiction where your member is located – if none of the benefits are taxable, we will not apply tax to that payment). Note that if you choose not to define your benefits at all, we will generally tax your full offer as a digital product.
Check out our article, About Advanced Sales Tax Settings, for details and instructions.
Sales Tax FAQ
- Yes. When customers in relevant tax locations purchase your digital products from your Shop, sales tax will apply to their purchase(s). Visit our Commerce fees article for more information.
- If a member is receiving benefits in exchange for their membership, their payments may be subject to sales tax, depending on what is considered taxable in the member’s location. For example, many places have passed laws that make streaming content taxable. In those places, streaming video and audio are considered taxable.
- Some members may decide to pay outside of your set tiers. For example, they may have entered an amount above your set tier price or made a custom payment amount without joining a tier. In several jurisdictions, this custom amount would be akin to a “tip” or “gratuity” and treated as non-taxable. However, in other jurisdictions, it is not possible to treat these amounts as non-taxable.
- The scope of what is taxable varies by location, but in many places, digital goods and content are taxable.
- Yes! Sales tax on sales to fans is determined based on the location of the “buyer” or “user”, so in our case, this is the location of the paid member or customer. Patreon creators can have members and customers all over the world. We encourage creators to review their Tax settings once they have launched to ensure current and future members are taxed accurately.
- No, not at this time. Note that in many jurisdictions, sales tax may be required to be charged separately from your pricing.
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We encourage creators to take the time to set up their tiers carefully. By using the advanced sales tax settings, you can provide details on the benefits you’re offering and the relative value of those benefits. This will allow us to apply tax rates more accurately and efficiently.
As mentioned above, if the advanced sales tax settings are not used, Patreon will apply sales tax to your whole tier if at least one of the benefits in that tier is taxable in the jurisdiction where the member is located. Furthermore, if you prefer to keep your membership simple and not define your benefits, Patreon will consider your Tier a digital product and apply tax accordingly.
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Typical Benefit Type Examples US Status Donations/Support Support only. Languages such as “pays whatever” Currently exempt from sales tax in the majority of states Professional Services Live chats and phone calls Exempt in the vast majority of states Exclusive Community Access Paid member-only posts, Discord, server access, polls Taxable in roughly half the states Streaming Content Extra podcast episode per month, videos, bonus content Taxable in roughly half the states Downloadable Digital Goods PDFs, computer game builds, downloaded colour pages Taxable in roughly half the states Physical Goods Candles, T-shirts, mugs, mailed colouring pages Taxable in all states in which Patreon is collecting Patreon, in its capacity as a marketplace, usually collects tax on most of these benefits in non-US jurisdictions that have implemented VAT/GST obligations for non-resident suppliers of digital or intangible services, or of certain imported goods. Please see below for an indicative list of these locations and the standard tax rates applicable. Taxation will, however, depend on the type of benefit, the locations of the parties and the flow of goods.
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Patreon continues to monitor laws governing the sale of online content and creation, and will continue to update our platform to ensure sales and payments made through Patreon comply with local tax laws. A list of the main countries where Patreon is currently collecting VAT/GST is included below.
Country What sales tax is called Tax Rate Australia GST 10% Belarus VAT 20% Canada (Alberta) Federal GST 5% Canada (British Columbia) PST + Federal GST 7% + 5% Canada (Manitoba) RST + Federal GST 7% + 5% Canada (New Brunswick) Federal HST 15% Canada (Newfoundland and Labrador) Federal HST 15% Canada (Northwest Territories) Federal GST 5% Canada (Nova Scotia) Federal HST 14% Canada (Nunavut) Federal GST 5% Canada (Ontario) Federal HST 13% Canada (Prince Edward Island) Federal HST 15% Canada (Quebec) QST + Federal GST 9.975% + 5% Canada (Saskatchewan) PST + Federal GST 6% + 5% Canada (Yukon) Federal GST 5% Chile VAT 19% Egypt VAT 14% EU VAT Varies by country – see EU VAT list below Kenya VAT 16% Iceland VAT 24% India GST 18% Indonesia GST 12% (effectively 11%) Malaysia Service Tax
Sales Tax (Tangible Property)
8%
10%Moldova VAT 20% New Zealand GST 15% Norway VAT 25% Philippines VAT 12% Saudi Arabia VAT 15% Singapore GST 9% South Africa VAT 15% South Korea VAT 10% Taiwan VAT 5% Thailand VAT 7% Turkey VAT 20% Ukraine VAT 20% United Kingdom VAT 20% United States Sales Tax (see list of states where Patreon is collecting Sales Tax below) Varies by state / zip/postcode * In certain jurisdictions, a reduced rate of tax may apply to certain supplies such as digital publications (e.g. e-books). Those rates are not listed here.
** To comply with local laws, there are some countries or regions where we do not charge VAT/GST to members who are located in the same country as the creator they are paying. However, if those members support creators in other countries, they may still be charged VAT/GST on those payments if the benefits they receive are taxable in their country. For more details about this, please refer to this section: Sales Tax FAQs for Australian creators and members
Country Standard VAT Rate Austria 20% Belgium 21% Bulgaria 20% Croatia 25% Cyprus 19% Czech Republic 21% Denmark 25% Estonia 22% Finland 25.5% France 20% Germany 19% Greece 24% Hungary 27% Ireland 23% Italy 22% Latvia 21% Lithuania 21% Luxembourg 17% Malta 18% Netherlands 21% Poland 23% Portugal 23% Romania 19% Slovakia 23% Slovenia 22% Spain 21% Sweden 25% * In certain jurisdictions, a reduced rate of tax may apply to certain supplies such as digital publications (e.g. e-books). Those rates are not listed here.States and Territories where Patreon collects sales tax States where Patreon does not collect sales tax Alabama Nebraska Alaska Arizona Nevada Delaware Arkansas New Jersey Montana California New Mexico New Hampshire Colorado New York Oregon Connecticut North Carolina District of Columbia North Dakota Florida Ohio Georgia Oklahoma Hawaii Pennsylvania Idaho Rhode Island Illinois South Carolina Indiana South Dakota Iowa Tennessee Kansas Texas Kentucky Utah Louisiana Vermont Maine Virginia Maryland Washington Massachusetts West Virginia Michigan Wisconsin Minnesota Wyoming Mississippi Puerto Rico Missouri -
As referenced above, whether your members and customers are taxed, and at what rate, depends on both their location and the types of benefits you are providing to them.
Within the United States, rates currently range from 4% to 14%. To make things more complex, some locations tax certain things while others don’t (e.g. “physical goods” vs “digital downloads” vs “digital streaming”). Outside of the United States, rates range from 5% to 27% in the countries where Patreon will charge and pay sales tax.
It is important to understand that tax rates and rules change frequently. Patreon monitors these changes, working with relevant resources as needed, to ensure that your members and customers are taxed at the current rate for their location and the benefits being provided.
- Yes, it’s very likely. We expect more states and countries will attempt to pass similar laws or regulatory changes in the future. We are constantly monitoring our and your obligations and will keep this page up to date and with as much warning as possible.
- Sales tax applies to each transaction. For members who pay per thing, if they are in a location where sales tax applies, and the thing you offer is taxable in their location, sales tax will be applied to each monthly transaction where a “paid thing” was posted during that month.
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Our advanced tax settings will allow you to provide more detail on exactly what you are offering in your tiers and give us guidance on how much those benefits are worth for sales tax purposes. If we have that level of detail from creators, we’ll be able to apply sales tax to just the portion of the payment that should be taxed per member in locations where tax laws allow us to do so.
For example, imagine you have a member in California whose membership tier is $5. In the $5 tier, there are three benefits, and only one of those is taxable in California. California tax laws will allow us to charge sales tax on a portion of that $5 rather than the entire amount if we can break out on the invoice that the $5 is allocated to each benefit.
- Yes. Click on Payouts from the left navigation and then on the Documents tab. In the Sales tax section at the bottom of the page, you can export a CSV of yearly sales tax totals for each country and US state.
Sales Tax FAQs for Australian creators and members
- Patreon does not apply GST on payments from members and customers in Australia who pay creators also located in Australia. However, if those members and customers pay creators in other countries, Patreon may still charge them GST on those payments if the benefits they receive are taxable in Australia.
- If GST already applies to your business under existing rules (i.e. you are an Australian-based merchant registered or required to be registered for GST selling digital services or digital products), then you will continue to be responsible for GST on these sales, instead of the EDP operator (Patreon). Please refer to the ATO website for more information.
- For creators located in Australia, GST from Australian members and customers will remain your responsibility. Patreon will not collect GST from members and customers in Australia on payments to Australian creators. That said, regardless of Australian GST thresholds, Patreon is still, as a marketplace, responsible for collecting and paying sales tax/VAT from members who reside in certain countries outside of Australia.