TuneCore will require your applicable U.S. tax documentation (i.e., Form W-9). These forms are used to represent U.S. tax status, claim income tax treaty benefits (if applicable), and provide other information necessary to comply with U.S. tax information reporting and withholding rules.

The following information will be helpful when filling in tax information. Do note that tax-related questions beyond what is written in this article should be consulted with your tax advisor.

Questions in this Article

Submitting Tax Forms

• How do I submit my W-9 tax form?
• How do I know if my W-9 was successfully submitted?
• I already submitted a W-9 through Payoneer. Do I need to submit a new one?
• Do I need to do this if I already pay taxes in my country of residence, outside of the U.S.?
• Do I still need to do this if I don’t use TuneCore Music Publishing Administration?
• I’m having trouble filling out the form, what should I do?
• What should I do if I pay more than one artist or entity from my account?
• Can I fill this form out once and have the information apply to all of my TuneCore accounts?
• How do I update my W-9?
• Will I be receiving a 1099 from TuneCore for the previous tax year?
• How do I change my 1099 e-delivery consent?
• As a non-U.S. person, I don’t have a U.S. Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN). Do I need to apply for one with the IRS in order to complete this form?

Backup Withholding

• What is backup withholding and why do I have to pay it?
• Can I reclaim the withheld amount?
• What payments are subject to withholding?
• I am not/am no longer a U.S. citizen or resident but still see that I’ve been withheld. Why is that?
• I submitted a W-9 in the past to Payoneer, but I still see that I’m being withheld. What’s going on?

Submitting Tax Forms

How do I submit my W-9 tax form?

1. Log in to your TuneCore dashboard
2. Go to “Account Settings” in the dropdown menu under the person icon on the top right of your dashboard, click "Payout Preferences", then click “Submit W-9”
   

3. Fill out the form with the information requested, including your name, federal tax classification (Individual, C Corp, S Corp, et al), any exemptions, address, SSN/EIN, etc.

   

4. Once you've finished filling out the form, click "Submit W-9".
5. You're done!

How do I know if my W-9 was successfully submitted?

If your W-9 was successfully submitted, you will see the details listed under "Tax Information" in your Payout Preferences as pictured below!

I already submitted a W-9 through Payoneer. Do I need to submit a new one?

Any tax form you submitted to Payoneer will still be visible in your Payoneer account. However, any changes made to your tax form in Payoneer will not reflect in your TuneCore account. You must update your W-9 directly from your TuneCore account for the changes to be applied.

*NOTE: If you see a modal prompting you to review/confirm your W-9, we recommend doing so promptly!

Do I need to do this if I already pay taxes in my country of residence, outside of the U.S.?

If you are a foreign business or non-resident alien earning income sourced from the U.S., you are NOT required to submit one of the W-8 forms. 

There are tax treaties between the U.S. and many countries that stipulate a lower rate of withholding, and in many cases a 0% withholding, so if you are a resident of a country that has a tax treaty with the U.S. and claim tax treaty benefits on the appropriate form, there will only be tax withholding up to the applicable percentage.

Please note, however, that we cannot provide tax advice. You may want to consult your local tax advisor or the IRS at www.irs.gov for further information regarding U.S. tax reporting guidelines, withholding, and the appropriate documentation for you to complete.

Do I still need to do this if I don’t use TuneCore Music Publishing Administration?

This is not limited to just Publishing Administration. This applies to all reportable earnings posted to your TuneCore account, including Distribution. 

I’m having trouble filling out the form, what should I do?

Please ensure that you have filled out all required fields. It might also help to clear your cookies/cache, fully close and restart your browser, or use an incognito window.

What should I do if I pay more than one artist or entity from my account?

Even if you have multiple artists or entities that you pay out of your TuneCore account, you are only able to submit one Distribution and one Publishing W-9 per TuneCore account, which will include reportable income from all artists or entities linked to your account. Please use the provided wizard or consult your local tax advisor for more information and guidance on how to fill out the tax form.

Can I fill this form out once and have the information apply to all of my TuneCore accounts?

Unfortunately, each account will need its own tax form, as we don’t have the ability to “link” accounts for tax purposes.

How do I update my W-9?

To update your W-9, navigate to your Payout Preferences section in Account Settings, then click "Edit" next to your W-9!

Will I be receiving a 1099 from TuneCore for the previous tax year?

If you are a U.S. person or U.S. resident by definition (https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw9.pdf), you will receive a 1099 for qualified earnings posted to your TuneCore account in the applicable tax year.

How do I change my 1099 e-delivery consent?

To give or revoke consent for your 1099 e-delivery, you must update your W-9 and select the appropriate e-delivery consent box before resubmitting!

As a non-U.S. person, I don’t have a U.S. Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN). Do I need to apply for one with the IRS in order to complete this form?

If you are required to submit a W-8 form as a Foreign Person (https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/iw8.pdf), then instead of a U.S. ITIN, you can supply your foreign tax ID instead.  This will not affect your ability to claim treaty benefits. That said, we cannot provide tax advice. So, you may want to consult your local tax advisor or the IRS at www.irs.gov for further information regarding U.S. tax withholding, reporting guidelines, and the appropriate documentation for you to complete.

Backup Withholding

What is backup withholding and why do I have to pay it?

Backup withholding is a method the IRS uses to ensure that all taxes due on certain types of income are paid by requiring the payor (TuneCore) to withhold and deposit with the IRS, a portion of their payments. The payor has the financial obligation to withhold a standard rate of 24% of each payment made to the payee and remit this amount to the IRS if the payee has not provided their legal name and tax identification number (Social Security Number for an individual or Entity Identification Number for an entity). The most accurate manner to collect this information is through the use of a Form W-9.

TuneCore is assessing withholding on all untaxed earnings from 2021 as well as all earnings for 2022 for which no W-9 form was provided. Withholding will also be deducted from all incoming payments until a valid W-9 tax form is submitted. Please note that TuneCore requires a W-9 (Individual or Entity) submitted through Payoneer for all U.S. & Territories taxpayers; W-9s sent directly to TuneCore will not be accepted.

For more information, please see these resources from the IRS website and contact a tax advisor.

Can I reclaim the withheld amount?

Yes, it is possible to reclaim backup withholding as a tax credit when filing your income tax return.  TuneCore cannot reclaim the funds on your behalf or re-deposit them back into your TuneCore account.

The first step is to prevent further withholding by correcting the underlying issue: either by submitting your W-9 or providing corrected taxpayer information through an updated W-9.

If you have had tax withheld, you can report the federal income tax withholding (shown on Form 1099) on your return for the year you received the income. The Balance History page in your TuneCore account will show records for each time withholding was assessed on a royalty payment.

For more information, please see these resources from the IRS website and contact a tax advisor.

What payments are subject to withholding?

Taxes will be withheld from all revenue generated from recordings and compositions earned during the time that the payee’s country is the U.S. or its territories, which have not previously been taxed and for which the payee has not submitted a valid W-9 through Payoneer.

I am not/am no longer a U.S. citizen or resident but still see that I’ve been withheld. Why is that?

If you have onboarded to Payoneer, check that the country under which your Payoneer account is registered is your country of residence or citizenship. If your Payoneer account does not accurately reflect the country to which you have an obligation as a taxpayer, please reach out to update your account details. This will involve re-registering for Payoneer using appropriate identification. In addition, please note that submitting a W8* with a non-U.S. country is not sufficient to change your country in Payoneer’s system.

If you have not yet signed up for Payoneer, please do so using identification appropriate for your country of residence or citizenship. We also recommend updating your address under Account Settings or if prompted during checkout or withdrawal.

I submitted a W-9 in the past to Payoneer, but I still see that I’m being withheld. What’s going on?

Past W-9s submitted to Payoneer are considered valid indefinitely and should not expire. However, if you recently submitted a new form that was not a W-9 (such as any form of W8*) without also changing your country to non-U.S., you will be withheld on the basis that your most recent form is not a W-9, which is the required form for any taxpayer in the U.S. & Territories. Please note that submitting a W8* with a non-U.S. country is not sufficient to change your country in Payoneer’s system.

Another reason for withholding could be that you have disassociated from the Payoneer account under which you originally submitted that W-9. This renders the form unretrievable. If you have recently made changes to your Payoneer account that required you to re-register, please make sure that you have completed the onboarding process and have submitted a W-9 to your updated Payoneer account.