Nothing is certain except for Death & Taxes.

Hello everyone!

It’s been a little while since I’ve made an update post, with everything going on around the world it’s probably been for the better. But in general, things are okay with me. All the pets are fine, and Shelab, although she fell ill about two months ago, seems to have largely recovered from whatever it was she came down with!

I hope you’ve all had similarly uninteresting stories, despite us all living in very interesting times at the moment. I am, as ever, incredibly happy whenever I read that someone has been able to use my videos as a sort of mental sanctuary to which to retreat to get away from the general chaos going on around them… but equally sad that they needed somewhere to withdraw to at all. 

Interesting times, indeed.

However, this post is mostly to address the changes coming into effect in July for some of my supporters here on Patreon. Namely, that due to recent changes in laws in several countries, Patreon will be required to start collecting sales tax for some pledges, depending on the benefits (digital goods, in our case) that the pledge involves.

From what I’ve been told by Patreon, in more than half of cases, no new taxes will be applied, and in those where it is the case, sales tax typically represents a minimal change. An example given is that sales tax rates in the US range from 4% to 11%, so on a $5 pledge, that would be between 20 cents and 55 cents.

Whether someone is charged sales tax depends on their location, and what is considered taxable there. In my case, where the primary purpose of Patreon is to support my continued creative efforts, this should mean that very little (or ideally, no) sales tax is due.

I have worked with Patreon to ensure that my tiers are correctly set up to represent the type of benefits offered. Based on feedback from the community, I’m humbled to note that the vast majority of interest is simply in supporting my channels, rather than any tangible rewards. That said, access to Patreon only posts/discord roles are considered digital goods, and as such, may be taxable to some extent.

Based on feedback from Patreon regarding my specific case, I wholly expect the impact of these changes to be minimal, and for the vast majority of my supporters to see no change at all. However, if you do live in a location where some sales tax is required, you should expect an e-mail direct from Patreon explaining the changes as they will relate to you.
If you are left with any other questions that their e-mail doesn’t answer, you should be able to find answers here. And if you still have questions, the best place to get an answer is from Patreon’s customer support team, here. 

Finally, but perhaps most importantly, I want to thank you all so very much for your support, and that will not change regardless of how the changing laws may impact your ability to support me in the future! 

As always, take care :)