Updating Your Tax Info and Payout Method

The short version

• We pay affiliates through Stripe Connect Express — Stripe holds and verifies all your bank and tax data, not us
• To update anything (bank account, address, tax form, identity verification), go to dashboard → /affiliate/settings → "Manage payout info"
• That button redirects you to a Stripe-hosted page where you make the change directly with Stripe
• We get back: "this affiliate is verified and ready for payout" — nothing more

Why Stripe and not us

Honestly, the answer is both compliance and "you wouldn't trust us with this anyway."

Compliance: holding bank account numbers, social security numbers, and W-9 forms makes a company subject to a serious slate of regulations — PCI-DSS for payment data, IRS data-handling rules for tax forms, state-by-state money-transmitter laws if you're paying people out across state lines. Stripe handles this professionally so we don't have to handle it amateurishly. They're a public company with hundreds of compliance engineers; we're a small team. Pick the right tool.

Trust: even setting compliance aside, would you give your routing number and SSN to a small SaaS company you found through someone's YouTube channel? Probably not. By keeping the bank/tax data with Stripe — the same company that handles payments for OpenAI, Shopify, DoorDash, and your local coffee shop — you only have to trust them, which you already do every time you swipe a card.

The data flow:

You → Stripe (bank + SSN + tax form go here, encrypted, never touch us)
       ↓
We → Stripe ("pay $X to affiliate ID Y on the 1st of the month")
       ↓
Stripe → Your bank account

What we see in our database: your name, your email, your country, your Stripe Connect account ID (a meaningless opaque string), and a boolean flag "verified yes/no". That's the whole record.

How to update your info

Same flow for everything — bank details, tax form, name, address, identity verification:

1. Open your affiliate dashboard
2. Navigate to /affiliate/settings
3. Click "Manage payout info"
4. You're redirected to a Stripe-hosted page (URL is connect.stripe.com — that's how you know it's the real Stripe, not a phishing imitation)
5. Make your change — Stripe walks you through what they need
6. When you're done, Stripe redirects you back to our dashboard
7. We re-check verification status — usually within a few seconds

The Stripe-hosted page is the same one used by Shopify sellers, DoorDash drivers, and a million other freelancers — if you've ever set up a Stripe payout before, it'll feel familiar.

What you can change there

• Bank account — routing number, account number, or switch from one bank to another
• Identity verification — name, date of birth, address, SSN (US) / SIN (Canada) / equivalent ID number elsewhere
• Tax form — US affiliates fill out a W-9; non-US affiliates fill out a W-8BEN (individuals) or W-8BEN-E (companies)
• Business vs. individual — if you start an LLC for your creator business, you can switch your Connect account from individual to company
• Currency / country of payout — you can change the country your payouts go to if you move, but it requires re-verifying your identity in the new country

Year-end 1099-NEC (US affiliates)

If you're a US affiliate and you earn more than $600 in a calendar year, the IRS requires us to issue you a 1099-NEC. This is handled automatically by Stripe Tax — the same Stripe service that holds your W-9.

You'll get the 1099-NEC two ways:

• Electronic copy in your Stripe Connect account dashboard (available around January 15)
• Mailed paper copy to the address on your W-9 (around January 31)

You don't have to do anything to get it — Stripe Tax handles the filing with the IRS directly, and you handle the filing on your own tax return. No paperwork bouncing between us.

If you earn less than $600 in a year, no 1099-NEC is issued (IRS doesn't require it) but you're still responsible for reporting the income on your own return.

If you're non-US, no 1099 is issued and your W-8 form is what Stripe Tax keeps on file. You handle income reporting under your own country's rules.

December reminder emails

If your tax info is missing, expired, or incomplete heading into year-end, we send you reminder emails on three dates so you have plenty of time to fix it before tax forms get issued:

• December 1 — first reminder
• December 15 — second reminder
• December 22 — final reminder

If you don't update your info by year-end, Stripe may withhold a portion of your payout under IRS backup-withholding rules (24% for US affiliates without a valid W-9). The withheld amount is forwarded to the IRS, not kept by us or by Stripe — you get it back when you file your tax return, but it's a hassle. Easier to keep your W-9 current.

What if I never set up Stripe Connect?

When you're first approved as an affiliate, we send you the Stripe onboarding link in your welcome email. You can do it right away or later — the program doesn't require you to onboard until you have a payout balance to receive.

But: you can't be paid until Stripe Connect onboarding is complete. If your balance reaches the $25 minimum and you haven't onboarded, the payout sits in your balance and we email you a "ready to onboard" reminder once a month until you finish.

Common questions

"Is there a fee to be paid out?"
No fee from us. Stripe takes a tiny fee per payout (it's the cost of running the banking rails) — for US affiliates it's around 0.25%, for international payouts it's a flat fee plus a small currency-conversion margin if you're paid in a non-USD currency. The exact amount is shown by Stripe before you confirm onboarding.

"Can I be paid in cryptocurrency / PayPal / Wise?"
Not today. Stripe Connect is the only payout rail we support. We'd add others if there's serious demand, but Stripe covers ~95% of affiliates' needs because it pays direct to a real bank account in 40+ countries.

"What if my bank account is in a different country than where I live?"
Allowed — Stripe lets you split: your country (for tax/identity) can be different from your payout bank's country. You set this up during onboarding.

"What if I'm a kid / minor?"
You have to be 18+ to open a Stripe Connect account in most jurisdictions. If you're a creator under 18, the workaround is to onboard under a parent's or guardian's account.

"I changed banks and forgot to update — what happens?"
Stripe attempts the payout to the old account. If it fails (closed account), the money is returned to Stripe and held until you update your info. You're not at risk of losing the payout, just delaying it. We'll email you when the failed payout comes back.