I think almost every producer is breaking international tax laws
So, you made a sale on BeatStars or the Airbit marketplace. Someone in South Korea bought your beat? Another one in the UK? Cool.
Did you know that you now have 30 days to register your business in South Korea for local Goods and Services Tax and pay 10%? The same applies to the UK.
"But I'm just a small business!" – Well, that doesn’t matter. This requirement applies from the very first sale. Pay up.
"I'm located in the US, so I don’t have to pay." – Yes, you do.
You reach out to BeatStars/Airbit customer support: "Can you help me? Can you block sales to countries with immediate tax obligations from the first sale?"
Customer support responds that their job is to facilitate sales, while handling taxes is your responsibility—end of story.
What people don’t seem to realize is that there are over 20 countries worldwide with no threshold for sales tax or VAT obligations, including the UK, Australia, Switzerland, and others. If even one person from these countries buys your beat, you must begin the registration process for that country, which can take a lot of time and money.
This is a huge concern for me, and no one seems to be talking about it. I assume most producers are completely unaware of this issue.
BeatStars and Airbit could address this by utilizing third-party sellers like FastSpring, which handle tax collection and payment.
However, they won’t do it and I just don't understand why. It would be so much simpler for everyone.
EDIT: Thank you for your comments. I agree that it seems very unlikely for a foreign government to start chasing you over uncleared VAT on beat sales.
However, I've noticed that:
1) this is an existing issue when selling internationally online,
2) no one seems to be talking about it, and
3) I would prefer to avoid any nasty surprises as an entrepreneur.