Please see important note at bottom about refunds.
Due to US regulatory requirements, we are now collecting Tax documentation (ie: W-9, W-8BEN, etc.) from our artists and labels in order to be paid so that we can file your 1099s/1042s with the IRS as well as potentially withhold a certain percentage based on those tax regulations and remit that withholding to the IRS.
For foreign accounts (Non-US accounts) we are required by U.S. law to withhold a portion of the payment and remit it to the IRS unless the recipient's country is a party to any beneficial treaties with the United States as determined by the W-8BEN that you are required to submit to Catapult to receive payment.
Your account was determined to be a Non-US account, and since we did not know your tax status at the time payments for February and March were issued, we were required by US law to withhold a minimum of 30% of your payment for reporting and remittance to the IRS.*
Further, since we did not withhold the required amount when January 2025 payments were issued, we also deducted this withholding from your February 2025 payment along with the withholding amount that would normally be withheld from your February 2025 payment.
*For a small number of accounts, this also caused the account's balance at the end of February to be negative (ie: the withholding from January 2025 and February 2025 was greater than your February 2025 Finalized Report amount) which means the account did not get a payment at the end of February.
Example:
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For example purposes only, if you were already paid $1,000 in January 2025, and then were to be paid another $1,000 in February 2025, we have withheld 30% of January's payment and 30% of February's payment and deducted it from your February payment so your February payment would now be $400. January Report = 30% of $1,000 = $300 February Report = 30% of $1,000 = $300 February Payment = $1000 - $300 - $300 = $400 |
There is a tax module in your dashboard at Catapult which allows you to upload your tax documents (DO NOT EMAIL THEM TO US). Once you have submitted your tax information and they have been reviewed, it will be determined whether you are excluded from any withholding.
IMPORTANT: If it is determined that withholding should not have taken place or should have been withheld at a different percentage rate based on any potential beneficial treaty your country has with the United States, a refund will be issued to you at the end of the next month for any amounts that were withheld. Once you have submitted your Tax Form, our system will be able to calculate your refund. Without your tax form, no refunds will be issued. The amount of the refund will be the total amount withheld for January through March 2025 (if applicable) minus all US Sourced Earnings at the tax rate % determined by your W8 (ie: Streams and Purchases that took place in the United States may still be taxed but this depends on your W8).
What Should You Do Make Sure Any Withholding Can Be Refunded?
You should login to your dashboard as soon as possible to submit your tax information. Click the link below to learn how:
*If you are US citizen or resident alien of the United States and we withheld 30% incorrectly believing your account was foreign, we will correct this after you have submitted your tax information and your tax status is verified. It's still possible (though rare) that a US person or entity is not excluded from withholding, but that will be determined by the tax document you submit.
U.S. federal tax law requires us to collect tax information through an IRS Form W-9 or W-8 series and report on certain income paid. Disclaimer: While we do not provide tax, legal or accounting advice, we will do our best to provide you with the information you need to make your own decision about how to comply with applicable U.S. tax laws. If you still have questions after reviewing the information provided by the IRS, please contact your own tax, legal and/or accounting advisor prior to completing a U.S. Tax Form.