Heads-up: Sales Tax Beginning in July

Alright.

Seeing as Patreon is mostly leaving it up to us to wrangle this particular PR monster (again): Due to some new laws and such that I admittedly don't know much about, Patreon is having to make some adjustments to make sure they're in compliance with tax laws in every region.

I'm not a finance person. I just like to draw and mash art into people's faces, so I'm just going to give you the copy they gave to me:

Hi everyone,

I wanted to give you an update on some changes that we’ll be seeing which may affect some of your pledges. Due to new laws passing in several countries and US states, Patreon will be required to start charging sales tax on some pledges starting July 1st. 

Less than half of all patrons will be charged sales tax, and for most, the amount will be very small. For example, 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 or not you will be charged sales tax depends on your location, and what is considered taxable there. Not every pledge is taxable, not all benefits are taxable in every location, and sometimes only a fraction of a pledge will be taxable. The money that Patreon collects as a result of these laws are paid directly to local governments.

I’m working closely with Patreon to ensure I’m able to save you as much money as possible when it comes to sales tax - which is not something that’s possible with other platforms.

If you’re in a location where sales tax will be required, you should expect to receive an email from Patreon with more information about this very soon, but I wanted to make sure you were aware of these changes way ahead of July 1st when they go into effect. 

If you have questions, you should be able to find answers here. If you still have questions, the best place to get an answer is from Patreon’s customer support team, here.

Thank you for all of your support.

That said, I've gone through all of the two tiers that I've got and clarified that they're digital only, no physical benefits. I was under the impression that Patreon already charged VAT per regulations in the EU, but if not, I'm not sure how that's going to change things. I'm just grateful that I don't have to sort all of this out myself, or it would probably bury me.

Sorry to drop this on you all of the sudden. I just hope that it's giving you ample time to decide what you need to do come the end of the month. I understand that things are difficult right now and that some of you may have to drop. Rest assured, there're no hard feelings. But hopefully I've set things up in a manner that will save you as much as possible.

Hope June has been treating you all as well as can be!