So, as a US-based contributor, do I need to fill out a W-9 with them or not?

Or did I do it already, years ago? 

I have contacted FT support with the following question:  "I am an individual living in a tax treaty country. If I submit a W-8BEN WITHOUT AN ITIN, will Fotolia deduct tax on my US sales at the reduced tax treaty rate?"   It seems like a simple question.   I'm waiting on a response.

I previously contacted them with the same question, and they responded that I should contact my tax advisor to find out how to fill out the forms.   That was NOT what I asked.  This is a question about Fotolia policy.

This time I hope they answer the question with a simple yes or no.

Dear Contributor,
We are happy to inform you that your U.S. IRS Withholding tax form has been validated. Thank you for providing the appropriate tax information. By complying with the U.S. IRS tax law and submitting the tax form, you are not subject to automatic tax withholding at the appropriate rate. Rather, withholding tax, if applicable, may be at a reduced or zero withholding rate.
Feel free to contact us with any questions.
Best Regards,
Fotolia Team

It is the word "may" that I have put in bold that confuses things.  The information in the tax center implies that they will withhold tax without the ITIN number.  We need to know if they will withhold tax without the ITIN, only a yes or no answer will clarify it for me.  SS made it very clear what they were doing, FT need to do the same.

hi guys and gals,

you may want to be careful with the meaning of that may:
reading the spanish version of the tax center (http://es.fotolia.com/Member/TaxCenter) I get the impression that although you can submit without the ITIN, you'll only get a reduced withholding rate on USA sales if you submit the form with the ITIN.

it actually reads:

RESIDENTE DE UN PA�S CON TRATADO FISCAL CON USA
Si es usted residente en un pa�s con tratado fiscal con USA, env�e el formulario W-8 BEN. De acuerdo al tratado impositivo correspondiente, se beneficiar� de tasas reducidas o incluso ninguna tasa. Aconsejamos que consiga un TIN para beneficiarse de reducciones o cero tasas, completando el formulario SS-4 o el Form W-7. Todos estos formularios deben ser enviados directamente a la agencia IRS, no a Fotolia. SS-4 ( SS-4 Instrucciones ) o W-7 . Este formulario debe ser enviado directamente a IRS, no a Fotolia.
Por favor, recuerde que un formulario W-8BEN puede ser enviado sin n�mero TIN. El TIN permite al colaborador beneficiarse de los beneficios del tratado para reducir o eliminar retenciones en los beneficios USA. El TIN no es obligatorio para beneficios fuera de USA.

which in english would be:

RESIDENTS IN A COUNTRY WITH FISCAL TREATY WITH THE USA
If you are resident in a country with a fiscal treaty with the USA, send the form W-8 BEN. According to the respective fiscal treaty you'll benefit from reduced tax or even no tax. We advice you to get a TIN to benefit of reductions or zero taxes, by filling the form SS-4 of form W-7. All these forms must be sent directly to the IRS, not Fotolia.
 Please, remember that a form W-8BEN may be sent without TIN number. The TIN allows the contributor to benefit with the benefits of the treaty to reduce or eliminate withholding from USA benefits. The TIN is not mandatory for benefits outside USA.

Fotolia really needs to explain these things in plain english.. or spanish, or... whatever, or at least be consistent in all languages.

You need a letter/document from Fotolia to support the W7 - application for ITIN.  I asked Fotolia for this, and the response was that their executive team is working on it, and will post info about it in a few days.

I am not applying for an ITIN just for fotolia.  If they do withhold any tax, I can put that on my tax return and I wont have to pay so much in my own country.  Hopefully, when they see how badly their contributes feel about this, they will have to do what SS did and let us have all our money without the ITIN number.  They have disappointed me so many times lately that I am not sure if I will be with them in years to come.  There are lots of other places to sell my images.

I'm not sure what country you're from, but in my case here in Australia there are limits on how much credit can be claimed for foreign tax paid.  It's not a matter of simply reporting the US tax paid on my income tax return and reducing local tax paid by the same amount.  That would be too easy!  So you might want to check this out further in your own country.   

(...)
 I'd just like to know exactly when they will start withholding the money?....

from the Fotolia newsletter:

HOW MUCH TIME DO I HAVE TO COMPLY?

We encourage you to complete this procedure as soon as possible. However, in order to allow enough time to our contributors, withholding will be activated on January 1, 2010. After this date, withholding will be applicable on all payments.

from the Fotolia newsletter:

Quote

HOW MUCH TIME DO I HAVE TO COMPLY?

We encourage you to complete this procedure as soon as possible. However, in order to allow enough time to our contributors, withholding will be activated on January 1, 2010. After this date, withholding will be applicable on all payments.

Thanks for that

I filled out the form without the ITIN number and received that same email confirming it has been validated.

The way I had interpretted the newsletter I thought that if you submitted no form you would be taxed 30% on ALL earnings (which seems like blackmail and not legal) but if you submitted a form without the number you would be taxed at the maximum rate only on US based earnings.

Having a ITIN number would ensure you would be able to claim the treaty rate (in my case 5%) on US earnings. (Noting that SS seemed to sort things out so that the treaty was applicable without the number!)

It's all too bloody confusing!

Fotolia is currently ranked as my second best earner but I will not under any circumstance be applying for an ITIN number.

I'm having trouble with the w-9 form as well. I have a business license and an EIN number which I keep putting on the form but they have rejected my w-9 twice.

Same thing happened to me until I supplied the number without spaces.  Try that.

I got a response on my question to support.
It was a bit cryptical, but essentially saying that the form should be filled out to receive the benefit of no tax reductions (I'm living in Germany, so the applicable tax rate under the tax treaty is 0%). They did not explicitely answer to my question about what happens if I do not fill in an ITIN.

I then filled out the form (without ITIN of course) and it now was approved. The approval message no explicitely states that they will not withhold taxes (original German text for those who understand it "Durch die Einreichung entsprechen Sie nun den geltenden Bestimmungen und sind nicht Gegenstand einer automatisch erhobenen Abgeltungssteuer und profitieren von einer reduzierten bzw. nicht erhobenen Quellensteuer-Abgabe.")
...

Let's wait for my first payout in 2010 to see if this all holds true...

Typical FT "support", unfortunately. 

I got a response from FT about my issue. In a nutshell they can't help me please go to the tax center on the site for help. Unfortunately the only thing on the tax center is the ability to re-submit the form that has already been rejected twice. There is no help file or other information.

The email also said that I could hire an accountant to help me. I didn't have this problem when I filled out the form for SS.

There is a bug on their site - the "Tax Center" link in the member area takes you to "http://www.fotolia.com/Member/TaxCenter/View", where there is the list of submitted tax forms and their status, but no other information.  There needs to be a link to take you to "http://www.fotolia.com/Member/TaxCenter" where there is the general information about requirements.  I pointed this out to them, but as yet no change.  Currently there is no link anywhere that I can see that takes members straight to this information area.  (Not that the area is particularly helpful once you do get there...)