Tax Information

1Your responsibility

You are responsible for determining, collecting, reporting, filing, and paying taxes, duties, levies, and governmental charges that apply to your income, sales, purchases, services, digital goods, subscriptions, marketplace transactions, sponsorships, affiliate commissions, wallet activity, and payouts. FocalShift does not provide tax, legal, accounting, or financial advice.

2Information we may collect

Before enabling commerce, payouts, wallet features, affiliate commissions, or seller activity, FocalShift or our payment processor, Stripe, Inc., may request tax forms, taxpayer-identification information, legal name, address, business information, certifications, and withholding information.

3Reporting and tax forms

FocalShift or Stripe may report payments to tax authorities and issue Form 1099-K, Form 1099-NEC, Form 1099-MISC, or another applicable form when required or permitted by law. The party responsible for filing can depend on the transaction and payment configuration. A form may be issued even below a generally applicable reporting threshold.

4Gross and net amounts

Tax forms can report gross payments without subtracting fees, refunds, credits, shipping, chargebacks, commissions, or reserves. Gross reported amounts may therefore differ from net deposits or wallet activity. Keep independent records of income, expenses, refunds, and transaction documents.

5Withholding and missing information

We may withhold amounts or restrict payouts when required by law, when tax information is missing or invalid, when backup withholding applies, or when a taxing authority directs it. Failure to provide requested information may suspend payouts, selling, or affiliate privileges.

6Sales tax, VAT, GST, and international obligations

Depending on the transaction and location, FocalShift, a payment provider, or a Seller may calculate, collect, facilitate, or remit sales tax, VAT, GST, or similar charges. Checkout and transaction records indicate how a charge is handled. Non-U.S. members remain responsible for local registration, reporting, invoicing, withholding, customs, and tax obligations that apply to them.

7Tips and gratuities

Money you receive as a tip is generally treated as business income to you, not as a gift, where you received it in connection with your trade, business, product, content, or service. This is a common misunderstanding: a payment described as “support” is still income when it arises from your business activity. Amounts you receive may be reported to tax authorities by FocalShift or a payment provider on a Form 1099-K or another applicable form, generally at gross before platform fees, processing costs, refunds, and chargebacks.

You are responsible for determining the correct character and timing of the income, for deducting legitimate expenses, for any sales tax, value-added tax, or goods-and-services tax that applies, and for any non-US obligation. A tip is not a charitable gift, and you must not describe it as tax-deductible unless a qualified organization is the actual recipient and you are authorized to say so.

8Кредиты

FocalShift Credits are limited service-use units with no cash value and are not money. Buying credits is generally a purchase of a service entitlement, and consuming them is generally a business expense if the underlying use is a business use; transaction records in your account show credit purchases and consumption. A credit transferred to you through the Shift feature is not a cash payment and is not reported on a payout tax form, but where you receive credits in exchange for goods, services, or promotional activity, the fair value may be taxable income to you and deductible by the sender, and both parties are responsible for their own treatment. Credits are not redeemable for cash and expire on termination, so a forfeited balance is generally not a deductible loss of money. See the FocalShift Credits and Shift Transfers Terms. FocalShift does not provide tax advice.

9Контакт

Tax-form and transaction-record questions may be submitted through FocalShift Contact. Consult your own tax professional for advice.