LillyBeth Filth

How arrogant is that? To ask that they favour people who make the most money and put their needs first ? If someone cashes out $10 a month it should be treat exactly the same as someone who cashes out $1000 a month. From what I can gather, they are currently dealing with the whole TAX form demand in stages. They slapped that on my out of the blue 2 days before my Paypal should have had the cash. But since I completed those forms and before that, it has always been 5 working days give or take one or two payments which I had to chase. I have no idea why they leave it for 5 working days but you can't compare it to websites like Contentparadise.com or Turbosquid.com that pay their merchants on a set date every month because there are thousands of people all selling money on Lindex every day of the month and then requesting payouts every day of the month, so that has to be time consuming. They don't just have one deadline to aim for, like a specific date in a month, they are dealing with a constant stream of cash out demands day in day out. That's a full time small department office in itself. As for week-ends. Yea, I find it weird that any website or e-commerce company shuts at week-ends when sales and transactions are occuring 7 days a week. I would never complain about Second Life or Linden Labs. Without them, none of us would have the luxury of working from home doing something we love AND getting a financial return. Never bite the hand that feeds you

In answer to your question. It's really quite simple. Virtual currency has zero value and is of no interest to the TAX authorities UNLESS you transfer it for real currency ie: sell it. So you can make as much L$ as you like and spend it all in SL and that's fine but if you start "cashing out" and that money is filtered through PayPal or any other online money transferring service there will be a record and you need to aware of it in case the tax man comes knocking. As it happens, he already has on Linden Labs door. I would imagine a certain amount of "mass exodus" of people from SL when this poo hit the fan. Years and years worth of unpaid taxes is enough to make anyone run for the Hills but I don't integrate with SL like I used to so I am clueless as to whether businesses have suddenly vanished. Anyway my story...shortly after I posted in these forums some weeks back in relation to the tax forms etc.. a SL person contacted me asking me about how she should do ABC She explained she did not "own a business" in SL but that she DID cash out a lot. She went on to say her money came from "gifts" ... long story short she was an escort. And she laughed at the idea of "Taxing sex" and how she should increase her rates if she now has to pay tax. Made me wonder if I was in the wrong profession! I had no idea escorts made THAT amount of money from "Cartoon sex" Jeez men are gullible! It could be a fat hairy bloke in a string vest for all the paying customer knows... why don't they just watch a porno of real people...? Anyway... I digress... Just wanted to share.. Edit: I have come to realise my initial frustration to peoples "shock and outrage" that they have to pay TAX was a bit harsh. I think it depends on what country you come from. Here in the UK you can't fart without being taxed so the concept was not alien to me and and I was not surprised when LL asked for the forms in fact, I am amazed this hasn't happened sooner as LL should have initiated this process considering the millions of RL dollars they have paid to people from all over the globe. How much as the TAX dept lost over those years? The delay in pay outs is as a result of this TAX issue.. I would imagine their staff are stretched to capacity with questions and support tickets all relating to TAX forms.

Andy Greenstein wrote: Oh LillyBeth! I'm sorry I missed your comment. Thank you so much! This is exactly what I was looking for. I had a general idea this is what was happening, but didn't know where to begin with it. You have helped me out a LOT. I just saw this post and I need to get to bed, but I will be messing around with this more tomorrow. Thank you again so much. :matte-motes-big-grin: No worries Had some time to kill and I rarely contribute to forums so glad I could help.

Andy Greenstein wrote: I;m just getting started with modeling and texturing, and I'm now trying to find ways to improve my textures. Right now my textures are pretty bland. I'm just assigning a texture to my materials and leaving it at that. I have messed around with normal mapping and stuff, but it only does so much. I'm interested in how effects like this are created: As you can see, they shaded it very nicely. I'm not sure how this is achieved. Is this something that is done in a program like Photoshop, or do they paint that all directly onto the mesh? Also, how do they get the texture to apply only to one face? By that I mean, each face has it's own full size texture, where as when I do it, it just lays out the texture over the UV map, and any of that type of material maps wherever it lands. It's like they have the full texture for each face. Are they assigning these in SL or making a UV map? I know there is no way to know this person did specifically, but I see a lot of pieces with nice shading like this, so I'm just looking for some generic advice. I don't even know what to look up for tutorials on how to do stuff like this. Could someone point me in the right direction? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Its the same texture used all over. It has nothing to do with Ambient or baking or if it has, there's no need for it to be. SL have been using 2D textures since the day it was launched and this whole "shade" and "light" is easily achieved with 2D textures. IMO it's a simple 2D texture that has a spot of light which may be from where the camera flashed when the wood image was photographed. This is usually the case with most 2D wood textures in SL that have this effect people cut them from photographs of wood furniture and make the texture seamless. Here is a classic example of the kind of Google derivative texture sourcing for those type of wood textures: http://www.kitchencabinetdiscounts.com/files/2766246/uploaded/Imperial%20Mahogany%2096.jpg A more skillfull and authentic technique is to apply a circle or shape of white in the middle of the wood texture and then Gaussian blur it and change the blending mode changed to Overlay/sheen/color dodge or Softlight and adjust the opacity to suit. (In Photoshop) I have made a very quick mock up of 2 textures created from scratch in Photoshop using the same technique. I suspect the image used in your sample was derived from a photo of wood planks and edited in Photoshop to add the light or "shading" Feel free to experiment with these to see if you can achieve the same result. I have attached a Normal and Specular (sperate post) but I have not tested these in SL so not sure how they will work out.

insilvermoonlight wrote: Can I list a piece of artwork that is copyright, but offer it for free? I certainly do not want to infringe on any copyright laws and I don't want to make money from this item. However I love the artwork and wished to offer it for use in world as a tribute to it's original creator. edit: I have read the marketplace selling policies and the rules seemed to be geared towards selling and making a profit of of another's copyrighted objects. I could be wrong, that's why I wanted to check here and get some opinions. Short answer. No. Sorry. Long Answers/lectures with lines and lines legal jargon and a whole heap of sarcasm and bitchiness thrown in comes from peoples frustration based on their experience of other people who didn't ask the questions and just did it anyway. Sadly, people will vent that frustration out on any person who dares to venture into the subject of Copyright and sadly that was you.

It IS shocking. I am lucky.. I sent the forms they told me it was fine now but I got no money so I opened a NEW case which included the ticket number from the TAX case so they could check and asked them to process my credit as I was overdrawn at the bank and they did, the same day which I think was a Friday! If I was to hazard a guess, I would say, the TAX dept has been onto LL and they have been blindsided by it and given a period of time to collect the data. They/we have got away with it for ten years after all. How much money has been lost or not paid in taxes over those ten years? I would not want to be LL as a big company they must have known this was a requirement.

As other's have said, you would need to create the platform yourself.. An in world ATM that was linked to an external website that ran the whole bitcoin payment system for customers. I am not sure that LL might at some point make an issue about it as this could potentially lead on to issues for them in terms of a conflict of interest as you are essentially using Linden Labs platform to make money on that is technically competing with their own currency. I, for example cannot make mention of my own external website on the SL Marketplace as it is in direct competition with LL marketplace. IE: I would be encouraging people to not spend on the SL Marketplace but instead spend their money directly with me cutting LL out of the deal but at the same time using their platform to advertise on. They had pulled a number of my listings down when they first took ownership of what was once X street so I can't see any reason why they would "welcome" the bitcoin into their platform, (Even in world) unless they would get a % of the sales at some level. But then again, if you are paying for land off LL it's really up to you what you do on it as many RL businesses use SL land to advertise on for external real life goods as long as LL gets the rent, in theory it should be Okay. Also, you could set it up and they may not notice or care about it for a long time if at all. In short, you're swimming against the tide and it won't be easy, cheap or even allowed long term IMO

It's not "odd" I just think they are overwhelmed with people sending in multiple tickets and questions about this sudden demand of TAX and ID documents. Unless your initial ticket where they requested the TAX and Photo ID been closed and have you been told your account has now been deemed as official then they won't pay you. DId you send 1) Scan/Photo of some Photo ID with your current address clearly visible? 2) Copy of 2 Utiity bills with your name and current address clearly visible? 3) A completed copy of the TAX form? If there is anything missing or the form was not completed correctly then this is why they are holding you up. My suggestion is keep your inquiry direct, clear and no emotional rants (I used to get angry and be pissy and it never did me any favours!) Telephone again and explain, you want to speak to one person who has the authority to give you straight answers. Take the name of that person. ALWAYS as they you have a point of reference and they know you know their name and they are then more likely not to pass the book if they understand you will be asking for that person by name each and every time you call. Good Luck.

Phil Deakins wrote: The test $500 went through to PayPal ok without me being asked to fill any forms in or provide any information. PayPal doesn't have a photo of me and they don't have any bank information for me. Perhaps LL only asks for the form to be filled in when a person cashes out more than $600 in total since LL started dealing with the forms, and not simply in the last year, which doesn't include the time when LL didn't deal with those forms. Perhaps the next $500, making a total in excess of $600 since LL started dealing with the form, will attract the form. I took a quick glance at the SL Universe forums and someone said they had got one of these forms back in August but because no one had said anything in the public forums she/he didn't bring it up. It's only since people have started posting about it that she/he realised it wasn't something unique to her/him. It makes sense to me that LL are required by law to gather peoples TAX ID as they are paying people in real currency. But perhaps they are doing it in stages to avoid an administration melt down or perhaps they only ask when people go over a certain threshold...I don't know but the way they have not gone public about it is not good. A blog announcement may cause mass hysteria but all of this "cloak and dagger" is creating more debate and conspiracy then if they just told us how it is...why they are doing it, who it will effect. If for no other reason other than to allow people the knowledge and understanding of running a business and what they should be doing in relation to the TAX. Phil Deakins wrote: The test $500 went through to PayPal ok without me being asked to fill any forms in or provide any information. PayPal doesn't have a photo of me and they don't have any bank information for me. Perhaps LL only asks for the form to be filled in when a person cashes out more than $600 in total since LL started dealing with the forms, and not simply in the last year, which doesn't include the time when LL didn't deal with those forms. Perhaps the next $500, making a total in excess of $600 since LL started dealing with the form, will attract the form.

AnaSmith12 wrote: Lilibeth, they paid you?, Which day you sent the Tax Form and the documents requested? thank you, kisses and hugs. Ana I sent TAX form the same day I got the request, the 20th Jan but I did not have an upto date photo ID. My passport has my previous address on as does my driving license so there was some time, perhaps 2 days of me asking what I can do instead of waiting the 3 - 4 weeks for my new passport to arrive and I was told to scan my photo ID and send it even if it had the previous address on and to send the upto date one when I got it. So I did that along with 2 utility bills with my current address and they told me on the 22nd that my account was now officially up to date and credits would be processed as normal. But no payment followed so I opened a new ticket today and included the ticket number linked to the original TAX/ID form request so they could check and see that my account was Okay to release my funds and they sent me the PayPal payment 4 hours ago along with this message in the comment section Hello, Lillybeth: It looks like your payout request #836519 will be included in today's processing batch. We're sorry for the delay, but any future requests (anything submitted since you completed the information collection process was completed on 1/22) should be within the usual timeframe of 5 business days. Regards, Linden Lab Hope that helps.

Well.. I hope you feel better for getting that off your chest.! But in the greater scheme of things (in particular within this thread) it's not really high on the list of priorities.. But for what it's worth and based on my own experience and that of watching fellow SL artists become "financially successful" a large % of those designers did not set off with the intention tof make content for profit. It usually starts as a hobby and because it was a hobby and something they enjoy, the quality of their work was good and people bought it and tada! A merchant is born. If you feel pressured or stressed then creativity is blocked... any designer will tell you that their moods effect their ability to "create" So it's not that unreasonable to assume that if people are creating purely for the purpose of money, then their creativity is not likely to be at its most fluent or best. I know I feel pressure to produce if I haven't created anything I consider "worthy" or new. And that pressure causes me to feel uncreative, like a creative block or a self fulfilling prophecy. I was much more creative and free thinking when SL was pure hobby. Fact. Here, if you're really interested, there's been some studies done on what motivates peoples creativity

EDIT I opened a new ticket today with the old ticket number from the request of my TAX and ID information and I have just been paid. Make sure they have the ticket to your TAX and ID information providing you have given that and the account has been deemed as acceptable. I am guessing they're overwhelmed with questions and demands and support tickets since they sent their TAX/ID emails out.

steph Arnott wrote: Paypal requires ones bank details, the bank requires id proof and residential address proof to open the account. The banks keep records for six years and any regular credits are flagged for the tax authorities when it reaches a limit. LL have to abide by tax laws. So I not sure why you find it an unusual practice. Something I can not understand is, I have an American friend in UK, he has lived here for thirty years and has to file a US tax return every year. Actually he has given up his US citizenship because he fed up with filing the returns. He did say he had pay income tax to the IRS. I can not work that one out. EDITED FOR TYPO I can only assume people don't read posts properly lol I have never said I think it's an unusual practice...in fact...if you take the time to read my post(s) you will find I am saying the exact opposite! I am not going to repeat what I have already written for those who can't or won't take the time to read my text properly. EDIT: I will however, copy & paste the paragraph from the post you are responding to: "There is some speculation as to whether ALL people who cash out will be required to provide this ID information. I believe; Yes. They will. I think this because as I have said in other threads, what LL are doing is not unique to LL. Its actually a very normal and typical requirement for anyone that tries to set up a seller account on e-commerce websites that sell digital content such as renderosity.com or any website whose website is registered address is in the USA and who allow third parties (merchants) to sell through their platform. I have completed 4 of these TAX forms when I went to start selling on contentparadise.com, turbosquid.com etc"

Phil Deakins wrote: LillyBeth Filth wrote: What makes me "bitter" is the amount of people who are up in arms and angry at the RL world and LL for asking them to declare their ID and complete TAX forms and their sense of entitlement as they claim they cannot afford to pay TAX and how it will put them out of business etc... So then you shouldn't be cashing out. It's not my law. Its just THE law. I completely agree (about those who say they can't afford to pay taxes). How dare you agree!? !!!!11111oneoneone!! lol :matte-motes-big-grin-wink: Sorry if I came over a bit snippy in the other posts about whether "everyone" will have to compete these forms. My good SL friend (And only! Can you believe that? :matte-motes-tongue: ) says she has had her account balance cashed out recently and they haven't asked her for anything. I don't know her financial details but I know she lives in the USA and is not a big business type so maybe you're correct. I don't know what the criteria is for the requirement of these forms. All I know all US based e-commerce websites that invite merchants to sell their digital goods on their platform, that it's a requirement to complete them before they even allow you to publish content for sale. If you do not they won't allow you to set up or they will deduct 30% from your 50% royalties leaving you with 20%! lol Turbosquid.com does this as I was required to send the form in via real mail and it would take six weeks and so I just gave up trying to sell on their website. Contentparadise.com just had me email the PDF W-8BEN form and that was that. It's something "they" have to do in order to trade as an e-commerce business that makes payments in US dollars to other people, from what I understand. So, my theory was that essentially, what LL are doing is exactly the same since they took over the SL Marketplace AND allow people to cash out in US dollars. The process may not be as linear as places like those I mentioned but the end result amounts to the same thing.

Zag Magic wrote: Waves Lilly with all your success, why do you sound so bitter ? Maybe you should spend more time dancing in SL, and not think about the money so much. lol I never once used the word "success" I work hard and I depend on SL for a large % of my income. So naturally it's a subject I am going to be passionate about. And success is relevant. Some think being able to pay for their tier makes them successful, others may think being able to pay for their tier and cash out $50.00 is successful.. And on it goes. I am actually very grateful for SL and LL for you are quite correct, had it not been for what I have learned over the years whilst in SL then my hobby would not have become my income. What makes me "bitter" is the amount of people who are up in arms and angry at the RL world and LL for asking them to declare their ID and complete TAX forms and their sense of entitlement as they claim they cannot afford to pay TAX and how it will put them out of business etc... So then you shouldn't be cashing out. It's not my law. Its just THE law. And for the record, I am not talking about this thread or this specific forum but rather, what I have observed since the news broke out about TAX form requirement in general. The main reason most of my SL friends haven't been cashing out all along, was the taxes are just too high. Makes it all not worth it. Albeit we are in the EU, where we have VAT ( Value Added Tax ), attached to our pay info, and the banks are very keen on all this. Taxes on our SL earnings aren't new for us. Depends also what country you're in, some pay more than others. I believe Denmark and Sweden want the most. I am from the UK and I don't pay VAT. VAT is applied to the sale of physical goods in England..not digital goods. A British person can earn around £7,450 a year before I am taxed and then I am taxed on anything above that threshold. So, people can cashout but as soon as they make over what they know to be their TAX theshold then they need to declare it. Furthermore, I get paid in USD which when converted to the British Pound, is halved. That is a major PITA but I don't kick off about it. It is what it is. If I was living in the USA I would be very happy with my US income but by the time it's halved and I pay my TAX and accountancy fees, I earn a part time income from SL. Just a FYI Your assumption that people don't need the money is wrong. Why do you want to divide people? To think we're all not kind hearted good honest people is ridiculous. No one I know came here for the "fame and glory" or the "feel good factor", that is just sad. What are you referring to? What divide? And WHEN did I say ANYONE was not kind hearted? If you look back, what I said was; " The flip side of the coin is There are just as honest and kind hearted people who are trying to make an honest living in SL" For clarification, I am referring to the many people both past and present who made and sold good quality content for free or 1 Linden Dollar and set up stores to do so and by default obtain a status of fame and a following of "the grateful" Why they give their skill, time and content away is debatable.. But it clearly wasn't because they needed an income. It's not a sin to want or need to make an income in exchange for your work, time and financial investment in software etc. And neither is it a sin to do all that for free. But both of have an effect on any economy and SL (LL) NEEDS an economy. LL would not be in business if people did not spend money in SL. Period. When we started SL as free players, we were helped along by mentors. People shared what they made with the community. We remade, and rebuilt things. This is how I was taught to make things in SL. Free scripts, free effects, free prims. Still I needed upload money. The way I understood all this was that SL is made up of mostly open source code, much like the internet. It would be hard to do anything without those who offered for free to everyone what they have made. Yes, it was exactly the same for well, everyone even back in 2004 albeit back then the freebies were few and far between and there was only a handful of people who actually ran serious businesses too. Many of my friends have created the greatest best things in SL, and have never asked for any money. Its all free, and with full permissions to this day. Free isn't always the best, so to charge much more hopefully you get new things with better quality, service, upgrades and the like. Just like in everyday real world life, some people have no income. SL is free to join, and you get free avatars to start, maybe a few free things along the way. No damage done, might even make people want better expensive new things. Obviously this is a real life business for you, how you pay for your housing and food. If the marketplace changed like it has for many of us, would you still come, play, dance and be part of the community ? Would it still be worth it to you ? Your comment, "Without the economy, SL would not be here. Fact". No, without the economy "you" would not be here. Or so it seems. Thieves and stolen software aside, your last words should have been your first. "The most creative people are those that don't have the NEED to sell what they create.. As soon as there is an obligation to create or a pressure to produce for an income, all those creative juices start to dry up. The most beautiful art has come from those that were poor and did it for the sake of art." There need be only one company making money from second life, and so far they have kept us floating. *Laughs* and how do you believe that company your refer to ie:Linden Labs are making money Zag? lol..It certainly isn't from freebie accounts sharing freebies on a LL owned Sandbox. LL need people who make goods to sell for real money. They make money from people who rent land from them, who make and SELL content on the Marketplace and then they make it again from those people who sell their L$ on Lindex. It would appear you have glanced over my post and made some snap decisions about my character or the point I am trying to make. Perhaps you think I am an evil greedy capitalist were as I might make the mistake of thinking you're a freeloader who has a sense of entitlement that "life should be free man!" Both are broad generalizations that neither of us should be making about each other based on a forum post

AnaSmith12 wrote: My case is no different from the others, my husband tried to process credit for paypal, one in 01/09 and another on 01/11, we note the delay of payment, then decided to search here in the forum if there was someone with the same problem when I found the post Lilibeth Filth (thank you), he immediately phoned Linden lab, and was informed that both payments were on hold until the completion of Tax Form, Linden lab sent the form he filled in and sent back to LL. My question: Anybody here who sent the completed form back to LL had any news about when they go to process payments on hold? They gave some time to pay upon receipt of the form? Will we have to wait another 5 working days? I'm worried, because as many here have expenses RL and SL, and are all delayed. My very Thank you all, and I hope we have solved our problems. Ana. Hi Ana I have had the same clarification that the account is "as was" and that pending payments will be issued as normal but they did not say how long. Like you, technically mine is overdue and I suspect LL are probably busy dealing with the rather out of the blue TAX form demand. I would assume worse case scenario and say 5 working days from the day you got the notice that your account was in order. I say this because, I was told my credit would be cleared as soon as they got the photo ID scan but other than the email to confirm my account is in order, nothing else has been sent. If you really are struggling I suggest telephoning them rather than opening another ticket. Good Luck!

Grammar police aside... (GOD FORBID if I be judged for my spelling & grammar!) Of course there is not going to be a 100% wipe of copybook theft.... I never said that so please don't mis quote me. As I said in my original post... Those that were doing it for the incentive of cold hard cash will potentially have no incentive anymore. I have been in SL since April 2004. Same account. I have traded in SL since 2005 again, with the same account. I have expanded beyond SL and sell on websites not affiliated with SL. I have my own two e-commerce websites selling what I make. I am not making this claim in some bid to say "I know it all" but rather to imply I have ten years experience of SL which is more than most and I would imagine and that by default this allows me a respectable amount of knowledge. SL has always had people who sell for the "fame and glory" or the "feel good factor" One can only assume they don't need the RL cash. Perhaps a retired or stay at home mom who literally are doing Okay on the financial front. Bully for them, I wish I was in their shoes! The flip side of the coin is there are just as honest and kind hearted people who are trying to make an honest living in SL because they don't have the luxury of financial comfort, who have RL rent to pay and utility bills and who are paying TAX and paying for the licensing for their software they use to make said content and who need to apply a fee to their skill and content. So regardless of whether the freebie givers are thieves or honest... Both are damaging to the SL economy. Without the economy, SL would not be here. Fact. People need their income in SL and a % of that income is being taken from people who use illegal software and dodge the TAX and can afford to drop their prices as a result of this and that is as annoying to me as the copybotters and the naive noob texture resellers... (We have all been there and I myself made some terrible noob mistakes back in the day when Copyright was just a word seen on the back of a DVD case) My original statement stands; For those dishonest people who make a false account with the sole intention of making a quick buck by stealing peoples skill and work to "cash out" that option has now ***potentially*** been removed. And that HAS to have an effect.. to what degree, time will only tell. Anyone who has been cashing out on content they sell and who is pissed off that they now have to pay tax.. Welcome to he real world. Paying TAX is a legal requirement and anyone who is dodging it or complaining about having to start paying it, has by default been dishonest. Just because they could get away with it and no one was asking any questions they felt it was their right. This attitude of "entitlement" is disturbing. NO ONE (inc me) 'likes" paying TAX but we have to accept it because its just the way it is... Its a legal requirement. Period. It appears people in SL have this belief that because we have a virtual ID and no one really knows who we are or where we live then our financial business should be the same. And it CAN if you don't want or need to cash out. As soon as you start making real money that you spend on real goods then I am afraid you can no longer claim anonymosity or "rights for privacy" My name and address is all over the internet and has been for many years because I wanted customers to know who and where I am for real. Trust is important. Anonymous Anonymous Anonymous And for that person saying something about "creation is born out of money" is absolutely wrong. The most creative people are those that don't have the NEED to sell what they create.. As soon as there is an obligation to create or a pressure to produce for an income, all those creative juices start to dry up. The most beautiful art has come from those that were poor and did it for the sake of art. I am done here... I have a job to do EDIT: Why am I bringing unlicensed software into the equation? Because I believe that those people who have been cashing out significant amounts of money and knowingly not declaring it to the TAX authorities because "They don't have to" are not likely to be the type to pay for legitimate software when they can DL it for free from a torrent site, for free. I am sure if LL had the reason or authority to check the licensing on software used for content created and published on the SLMP we would have another wave of: "Ooh nooo! Not Fair!! Booo!!" type posts. And yet I can't help but wonder; What percentage of those very people have been leading witch hunts for SL "thieves" ranting and raging about X Avatar who stole their content? (Which they made on illegal software as they dodged the tax) LOL We will never know.. But I for one and pretty sure it's a pretty significant percentage.

Oh! My Bad... I forgot how forums attracted that niche class of people that have way too much time on their hands to **bleep** and gripe and correct peoples spelling and grammar... WTF was I thinking? Tatti byes..

Linden Labs have started putting pending process credits (Money withdrawals) on hold until people complete the appropriate TAX documentation as well as provide evidence of their address and include a scan of some photo ID such as a passport or a driving license etc. I have had to do all this as have others here in the forums. There is estimated only about 5% of SL users visit the forums and even less who post in them so it's hard to calculate how many people have already had this information based on these forums alone. There is some speculation as to whether ALL people who cash out will be required to provide this ID information. I believe; Yes. They will. I think this because as I have said in other threads, what LL are doing is not unique to LL. Its actually a very normal and typical requirement for anyone that tries to set up a seller account on e-commerce websites that sell digital content such as renderosity.com or any website whose website is registered address is in the USA and who allow third parties (merchants) to sell through their platform. I have completed 4 of these TAX forms when I went to start selling on contentparadise.com, turbosquid.com etc. In fact, they would not even allow me to start publishing until they got the forms from me as it is a requirement by law for any USA e-commerce website to ensure they have collected this data to avoid people making money and not paying due TAX However I doubt LL will be doing this process all in one go. I would imagine they will do it in batches to avoid being overwhelmed with support tickets. But I DO believe that anyone who cashes out more than $600.00 a year will have to do the same or they will have their US Dollar credits put on hold. There is a possibility that LL may deduct 30% if you do not submit your ID and TAX information as this is what turbosquid.com does. They take 30% of your US Dollar credit and withhold it for the US Tax Dept. Beyond this, I think this is brilliant. Think about how this will effect theft in SL copybot and people who create false accounts with the sole intention to scam and rip people off. There is no incentive now because they are not going to prove who they are in RL and so they can't get their hands on the cold hard cash. This will be a positive thing long term for honest business people who aren't dodging the TAX man or trying to make a quick buck from stolen digital goods, something that SL has had a major issue with since it first allowed people to sell goods and convert L$ to US dollar.

Just a heads up. I sent two photos of my utility bills showing my current address but they needed a photo ID too and said even if it's out of date they can then process the credit I have on hold and I can send in the new passport/driving license when I get it. So at least my experience was they want the form completing, some form of address verification like a bill AND photo ID too!

Ahhh that's good to know JamieLee Many Thanks... :matte-motes-big-grin:

JamieLee Larnia wrote: This was poorly executed. If LL needs vital information like this it should be flagged in the red banner that goes across the dashboard of an account. Waiting until residents call in looking for late process payments and then dropping this on them is ridiculous. This is the equivalent of having a late payroll check for some people. I have bills to pay and people depending on me. The callous nature of the phone support only adds insult to injury. HUGE FAIL on LL part. I know.. I have pleaded with them to release the credit I had filed with them on the 11th Jan as I got this demand the day that credit was due to be paid to me. I have completed the forms but if they need photo ID scanning, it's going to take me 3 to 4 weeks because my passport needs my new address updating. Like you, I have bills to pay and was depending my my payment to pay my bills. A 30 day notice would and SHOULD have been issued which would not have caused anyone financial issues, bank charges, unpaid direct debits etc. My credit is now a day late, they have not confirmed the receipt of my form and have not responded to my request to process what was due before they raised this demand. Their email says they apologies for any inconvenience but its much more than an inconvenience its a potential financial disaster. What if people needed to pay their RL rent and LL are holding their funds due to this "out of the blue" demand? I do agree and understand their need for the form but to put credits on hold AND give people zero notice is unbelievable.

I don't know or even care how the US TAX law works all I know is this requirement by Linden Labs is not new. Every website based in the USA which allows third parties (merchants) to sell on their platform has to ensure their legal papers are in order to continue trading. If you set up a seller account on Renderosity.com or contentparadise.com you are required to complete one of a hand full of TAX forms depending on where you live. Some will not allow you to sell on through their website until you complete and return the form and others may allow you but will deduct 30% of your royalties and "withhold" that money for the USA Tax department. EBay had a similar situation some years ago and it was speculated back then how long it would be before Second Life fell under the eye of the Tax offices. I have 4 of these W-8BEN forms completed for various websites over the years, it's not new or unique and be thankful you have not had to pay TAX until now. That said, it may open a can of worms if someone has made thousands of dollars over months or years and not declared it and now complete their TAX ID paperwork as every single Process Credit is on record under the Process Credit History and LL are required by Law to provide that information to any governing bodies Those people who are angry that they finally have to declare their secret and private income I say "Grow up" Seriously... There are people cleaning public toilets on minimum wage who pay TAX and don't grumble.. Why should we?

lol