When your song gets streamed on Spotify or Apple Music in a foreign country, that country may deduct a tax from your earnings before the money ever reaches you. Then your own country turns around and taxes you on that same income. This is double taxation — and it's a real problem that affects many independent artists distributing music globally, most of whom have no idea that a portion of their income is being taken twice.
The good news is that many countries have signed agreements known as Double Tax Treaties (DTTs). These treaties can reduce the withholding rate or eliminate it entirely — but in most cases, the benefit doesn't kick in automatically. You have to take action.
Streaming platforms operate through digital distributors, and when revenues are transferred from certain countries, some governments apply a Withholding Tax on intellectual property payments. The United States, for example, imposes a withholding rate of up to 30% on non-American artists who haven't completed the proper tax documentation — as published by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on its official website. Countries like Japan, Canada, and South Korea also apply their own withholding rates to royalty payments.
Double Tax Treaties are bilateral agreements between two countries that determine which of them has the right to tax a specific type of income, and at what rate. For music royalties, most of these treaties provide for a reduced or eliminated withholding rate, provided the artist can prove their tax residency in the other contracting country.
To check whether a treaty exists between your country and another, you can consult the tax treaty database published by the OECD on its official website, or go directly to your own country's tax authority.
If you're an artist based outside the United States and you're selling or streaming your music there, you most likely need to submit Form W-8BEN to the paying entity — such as your digital distributor. This form establishes your tax residency outside the US and allows you to benefit from a reduced withholding rate under an applicable treaty, rather than the default 30%. Full details and instructions for the form are available on the IRS official website at irs.gov.
If you discover that tax was withheld at a higher rate than your treaty allows, you are generally entitled to file a refund claim. The process varies by country, but the general steps involve gathering withholding documentation from your distributor, obtaining a tax residency certificate from your home country, and then submitting your claim to the tax authority of the country that withheld the funds — within the legally specified deadline, which typically ranges from one to three years from the date of withholding. Some countries allow this process to be completed online.
Double taxation is not an unavoidable fate — it's usually the result of incomplete paperwork that can be corrected. Learn about the tax requirements before distributing your music internationally, complete the necessary forms with your distributor, and review your statements on a regular basis. And if your tax situation is becoming more complex, don't hesitate to bring in a specialist.