Ebook Tax Information

This document explains how taxes are handled for purchases and sales on the ChefSphere Ebook Marketplace. It is informational and does not constitute tax advice. If you are an Author, or an EU buyer unsure about your VAT status, please consult a qualified tax adviser in your country.

1. Headline position

• Consumer buyers. The price you see on the ebook detail page is the price you pay. Where ChefSphere is required to collect VAT from consumers, the VAT is included in that displayed price.
• Business buyers. Where an ebook is sold B2B and a valid VAT registration number is provided at checkout, VAT may be reverse-charged or zero-rated in line with the rules of the buyer's country. If you need a VAT invoice addressed to a company, provide the company's VAT ID at checkout.
• Authors. ChefSphere does not advise on your personal or corporate income tax. You are responsible for reporting your ebook earnings as business income in your country and for paying the taxes due. We provide the statements, receipts, and DAC7 reports you need to comply.

2. ChefSphere's own VAT posture

To be transparent about the statutory basis for every tax line on every receipt:

• Union One-Stop-Shop (OSS). ChefSphere OÜ is registered for the EU Union One-Stop-Shop scheme under Articles 369a–369k of Council Directive 2006/112/EC, with Estonia (country code EE) as the Member State of identification. Union-OSS returns are filed on a quarterly basis and cover all cross-border B2C supplies of electronically-supplied services to consumers in other EU Member States.
• Estonian domestic VAT (KMKR). ChefSphere OÜ is not registered for Estonian domestic VAT, because taxable turnover in Estonia remains below the €40,000 registration threshold in Käibemaksuseadus §19 (Estonian VAT Act).

3. VAT on consumer sales (web rail, ChefSphere as merchant of record)

For web purchases processed through Stripe, ChefSphere acts as the seller of record for the purpose of VAT only on digital services supplied to EU consumers. This follows the EU rule (Art. 58 of Directive 2006/112/EC) that treats electronically-supplied services as taxable in the country of the consumer. Practically this means:

• VAT is calculated at the buyer's country rate based on the buyer's billing country and the two-piece non-contradictory evidence required by Art. 24b of Implementing Regulation (EU) 282/2011 (typically billing address plus IP country or payment-method country);
• ChefSphere declares and remits that VAT through the EU Union OSS scheme described in Section 2 above, consolidated through our payment and tax automation stack (Stripe Tax is enabled with automatic_tax);
• the Author receives their share of the price net of VAT: the VAT is collected on top of (or already included in) the displayed price and is not part of the Author's earnings.

For consumer sales to non-EU buyers, ChefSphere applies the appropriate local rule of the buyer's jurisdiction (for example, UK VAT, Australian GST, Swiss VAT, Norwegian VAT on electronic services, certain US state sales taxes). Where we are not required to collect local tax we do not, and the buyer remains responsible for any tax the law of their country may put on them.

4. Sales tax on in-app purchases (iOS and Android)

For purchases made inside the ChefSphere iOS or Android app through Apple App Store or Google Play billing:

• Apple and Google are the merchant of record in most jurisdictions and they collect and remit the consumer-facing tax directly;
• the revenue we receive from Apple or Google is already net of store commission and local tax;
• the Author's share in section 1 of the Ebook Fee Schedule is applied to that net amount.

If you need an invoice for an iOS or Android purchase addressed to a company, request it from Apple or Google directly; ChefSphere cannot re-issue an invoice for a sale it was not the merchant of record for.

5. Author income tax is your own

ChefSphere does not withhold or pay income tax on your behalf. You are responsible for:

• reporting earnings from ebook sales as business income (or equivalent) in your country of tax residence;
• collecting and remitting VAT, GST, or sales tax yourself if you sell enough to cross a registration threshold in a jurisdiction where ChefSphere is not already collecting on that sale;
• keeping records of your earnings statements, Stripe payouts, and our receipts;
• understanding the tax consequences of switching your account type (individual vs. business) or moving your tax residence.

Providing accurate tax country and tax ID information during author onboarding is not optional. If you move, update both fields promptly. Giving ChefSphere wrong or outdated tax information may delay payouts and may be reported to your tax authority under DAC7 regardless.

6. DAC7 — EU seller reporting

Council Directive (EU) 2021/514 (commonly called DAC7) requires digital platforms established or operating in the EU to collect, verify, and report information about certain sellers and their consideration from cross-border activities to the tax authority of the platform's home member state. ChefSphere is established in Estonia; the Estonian Tax and Customs Board is our reporting authority under DAC7.

In practice this means:

• for reportable Authors we verify identity, tax residence, tax ID, and (for business accounts) the business registration;
• once a year we submit an annual report covering the preceding calendar year listing the reportable Authors and the aggregated consideration they received;
• DAC7 information is shared between EU tax authorities; so reaching the threshold in one member state can result in reporting in the Author's member state of residence.

The Author's consent is not required for this report; it is a statutory obligation and is covered by Article 6(1)(c) of the GDPR (legal obligation). We retain DAC7 records for the period the law requires (currently five calendar years from the end of the reporting year).

7. Withholding on US-tax-resident buyers or Authors

• ChefSphere does not currently deduct US withholding on Author payouts. Where Stripe or the buyer's rail imposes a withholding obligation, Stripe handles it directly and the net payout to your Stripe account reflects the withholding.
• US-tax-resident Authors may receive a Form 1099-K from Stripe if they cross the Internal Revenue Service's reporting threshold. That form comes from Stripe, not from ChefSphere, and is delivered through the Stripe dashboard.

8. Receipts, invoices, and statements

• Every buyer receipt is generated automatically at the moment of purchase and is accessible from the buyer's account.
• Authors see a monthly earnings statement in the Author dashboard, with per-sale detail, per-market VAT split, and Stripe fee breakdown. You can download the statement as CSV or PDF for your bookkeeping.
• VAT-registered Authors in the EU can download a monthly statement that splits VAT-liable and out-of-scope sales to simplify their own VAT returns.

9. Refunds and taxes

When a refund is approved, VAT collected on the original purchase is reversed together with the principal. The Author's share is reversed through the earnings lifecycle described in the Ebook Fee Schedule. The refund receipt we issue to the buyer clearly shows the VAT reversal for their own records.

10. Changes

We will post a new version of this document whenever tax rules, reporting obligations, or our payment automation change materially. Material changes take effect 30 days after we notify Authors and buyers, unless the law requires a shorter notice period.

11. Contact

• Billing, invoices, tax statements: [email protected]
• DAC7 / regulator correspondence: [email protected]
• Privacy aspects of tax data: [email protected]