Hi all,

Right, I've been though the maze of instructions and forum posts for setting up payment in the UK. Can someone tell me if I've got this right:

1 - Fill out the W7 form for a ITIN. Attach the Microsoft statement (ITIN.pdf). Mail to the US and wait for the ITIN.
2 - Fill out the W8 form (with ITIN number) and send this to Microsoft  
3 - Get a Swift code from my bank (Do I just ring my bank to get this?)
4 - Get a IBAN for my bank

5 - Put all this lot into the form in the 'my business' section and wait for the loot to roll in :P

I think this right. Can anyone confirm?

Many thanks in advance. I have a lot of sympathy for the devs that had to do this first!

Cheers,
Steve

That appears to be correct. As a Brit myself I wish the process was easier but unfortunately that's US tax law for you!

Thanks for that Pheel. I'll start the paper work then! :P

If you are registered as a sole trader/limited company, then you can apply for an EIN which can be done over the phone. This is the route I went down, and whilst it required a 20 minute call to the States, it was certainly quicker than waiting for an ITIN.

Deej,

This is the route I'm going down too. Did you need to be registered with companies house? We're a partnership so we're not registered as a formal entity at the moment - there's no need - unless, of course, the IRS demands that we are. Just thought I'd see what your experience was?

Alex

when they ask for your "ROUTING NUMBER" you need to enter your SORTCODE as 6 digits eg. "309156"

SWIFT CODE looks something like this: "LOYDGB21018"

IBAN looks something like this: "GB30LOYD30915601111111"

super moggy:

Deej,

This is the route I'm going down too. Did you need to be registered with companies house? We're a partnership so we're not registered as a formal entity at the moment - there's no need - unless, of course, the IRS demands that we are. Just thought I'd see what your experience was?

Alex

At risk of delving into legal advice, you need to make sure any income earned through your partnership is accounted for properly with HMRC. You may find you end up better off as a properly registered entity - I certainly was, to the tune of several hundred pounds in tax relief. If XBLIG is your primary income, you may also want to register for VAT. As the payments are royalties, they're VAT exempt, meaning that if your only income is royalties, you can claim back all the VAT you pay on supplies for your business. Handy if you need to buy a lot of hardware, and then if you make a loss in your first year of operating, you can claim this loss against tax you've paid in the last three years. If you are/were a top-band taxpayer (I was), this basically means you get 40% back from every pound the business loses. Again, talk to an accountant - although mine are a massive pain in the *** to deal with, they've made me about £4,500 better off.

Although I do have a limited company, the XBLIG stuff goes through my sole trader business (which is registered with HMRC). Trying to find the form I used to apply for an EIN, but I think I did it online and forgot to save a copy. I'm fairly sure it asked for a foreign entity registration number, but I can't remember. The W8BEN doesn't (it's optional), but then if you're asking for an EIN (employer identification number) I'm guessing IRS would want proof you're a business entity and not a random immigrant trying to get tax registered :)

Prolly best give them a call. They were pretty helpful, but wouldn't tell me what boxes I should tick.

Ooh, I didn't know about the tax relief stuff. I've dealt with HMRC before because I used to be a contractor so I'm all up with the tax return nonsense ;)

I will fill out the SS4 form and we'll try to submit it without registering for now. I'll let everyone know how it goes!

ShadowRage:

Hi all,

Right, I've been though the maze of instructions and forum posts for setting up payment in the UK. Can someone tell me if I've got this right:

1 - Fill out the W7 form for a ITIN. Attach the Microsoft statement (ITIN.pdf). Mail to the US and wait for the ITIN.
2 - Fill out the W8 form (with ITIN number) and send this to Microsoft  
3 - Get a Swift code from my bank (Do I just ring my bank to get this?)
4 - Get a IBAN for my bank

5 - Put all this lot into the form in the 'my business' section and wait for the loot to roll in :P

I think this right. Can anyone confirm?

Many thanks in advance. I have a lot of sympathy for the devs that had to do this first!

Cheers,
Steve

Where do you find these forms and the ITIN.pdf? Is there a section of the site that i have failed to go to? Cheers -Jon

Hi Jon,

It's in the FAQ here (Read the next 4-5 pages)
It's pretty complex, that's why I tried to condense it down to that list I posted. (From the UK pov)
Btw, step 1 is by far the hardest, but I've got that done and I'm currently waiting for that to come back.
It's a bit of a pain, but it'll save you 30% in the long run.

Hope that helps,
Cheers,
Steve

Thanks for your help Steve.

I would have never looked in the FAQ :D. So if you dont fill out these forms you loose 30% of your profits?
-Jon

Yup. Because the US automatically tax you 30% income tax before the money is sent. (Then you need to pay UK income tax too!)

So, if you think you're going to make more than a few quid, it's probably best to get it sorted.
Cheers,
Steve

Actually that's not 100% accurate. You need to fill in a W-8 regardless of whether you have a Tax ID or not. No W-8, no payment

With a Tax ID the tax treaty between the UK and US means you only pay UK tax (no withholding at all)

Yup, I was just talking about step one to get the 30% exemption.

As Pheel says, you still need to do the other forms if you want payment from MS.

Does anyone know if you need an ITIN to get an EIN ? I was just looking at the form for the EIN and it has a space for an ITIN...so I'm a little confused. Never was very good at filling in forms. :D

Has anyone successfully received an ITIN using the letter provided by MS?