The "myriad of tax forms" can be very, very nasty if you're not american. Documentation is confusing and I can assure you that the forms are not so understandable, if you're not a native speaker.
The docs on apple site say to apply for a 'TIN' but, as I learnt after some days, a TIN is almost impossible to get outside the US (it seems that you have to send your passport to the IRS by mail).
After a while (and a very useful post on the Internet from an UK guy that managed to get it I discovered that the key is to apply for an EIN. You can apply by phone, they release it to you immediately by phone and, after a while, you will receive a letter from the IRS with the number for your record...
With the EIN you can send your W8-BEN... but this is another, different, story.
Objective-C is easy and the development tools are very good (for an embedded system), the real problem (again, at least if you're not from US) are the US tax forms...
I might be on the wrong track here, but one option for assistance with US tax forms for foreign nationals might be to apply for a US stock trading account through a local stockbroker.
I setup a US trading account several years ago here in Australia through CommSec (local bank broker). I had to fill out a W8-BEN and a few other forms but they provided a full guide on how to do it. Just a thought.
Not quite. From a preliminary reading, it seems to me that there might be special exemptions on dividends from stocks and other instruments for nonresident alien individuals that don't extend to other kinds of income.
On the other hand, does Apple really need a TIN at all? Some people report that Apple is happy to have you skip it on the W-8BEN you submit to them because the 70% on iphone apps is 'sales/commission' and not 'royalties', hence not taxable at all (for non-US developers). I have asked Apple for clarification and am waiting to hear.
Tell me about it! I live in Norway and I have no clue on how to approach this problem. My provisions on my few, simple apps is at about 2 000$ in six weeks. So I was just wondering.. Apple can't claim my proceeds for themselves because I haven't yet set up my tax and bank forms can they?
