How do I stop KDP Print from withholding 30% of my royalties?

If you don’t live in the United States, then KDP Print will withhold 30% of your royalties for tax purposes. This can be a bit excessive!

I don’t have any experience with this as I live in the United States, but there have been a few methods in various programs that I’ve seen for getting an EIN (employer identification number) from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) which allows you to avoid the withholding or to at least limit it to whatever the trade agreement is with your country.

One of the methods seems to be much more efficient than the others, and from the folks I’ve spoken with that have done this they’ve managed to get everything taken care of with a 10 minute skype call (about 25 cents!) although one person did have to call back to speak to a second agent after the first wasn’t willing to help him out for some reason.

1. Call the IRS at 1-267-941-1099
2. Ask for an EIN (employer identification number, equivalent to a federal tax identification number) – they can issue this over the phone
3. You will need the Tax File Number you use in your country
4. After receiving your EIN, fill out a W-8BEN form and send it to KDP Print (click here for instructions on how to fill out the form)