Just a quick note to let you know that I have updated my blog post on Tax on US Royalties to cover two extra important points.

(If you’ve not read it, this blog post is about how to get a US Tax ID to prevent tax being deducted at source from your royalties on US sales.)

The updates are:

1. You can apply for EIN (Employer Identification Number) quickly and easily by ‘phone not only if you are a limited company (which is the route I took), but also if you are a sole trader – I hadn’t covered the sole trader point previously simply because I applied as a limited company. (To become a sole trader in the UK you need to register as self-employed with HM Revenue & Customs and complete a Self Assessment tax return each year to declare your business income.)
2. I’ve recently read that if you are an individual applying for an ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number) things just got more tricky – it seems that since the summer of 2012 they are now sending original passports off to Texas as part of the ITIN approval process.  However one author did find a workaround for this – see the post for more info.

I hope the updated information is of help to anyone still thinking of applying for a US tax ID – as ever, applying as a business seems so much more straightforward!

Best wishes,

Karen